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Lot Essay
Ottoman embroideries were generally woven in the home for a range of functions, ranging from towels and napkins to underwear and turban covers (Marianne Ellis and Jennifer Wearden, Ottoman Embroidery, London, 2001, p.14). While earlier motifs were organised by lattices or ascending vines, by the 17th century, motifs tended to be grouped into repeated motifs, such as those seen here. Similar designs, however, were also used in the early 16th century court workshops, as seen on a gilt-metal thread zerbaft kemha closely related to ours and attributed to 1520 in the Topkapı Palace Museum, Istanbul (13⁄1902; Nurhan Atasoy, Walter B. Denny, Louise W. Mackie and Hülya Tezcan, Ipek. The Crescent & The Rose, Istanbul, 2001, p.218, fig.106). This in turn has been placed within a group categorised as "eccentric variations on the ogival lattice layout," whereby large scale motifs were superimposed on the lattices, eventually creating a horizontal design, "a lively contrast to the standardized Bursa velvets" (Atasoy et al., op.cit., p.289; see lots 59 and 60 in this sale). Emulating the Topkapı example is a kemha in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (52.20.20) dated last quarter of the 16th or early 17th century (ibid., fig.259). Our embroidered panel seems to be the following generation of weaves, an almost identical example sold in these Rooms, 27 April 2023, lot 147.
Here, the cintamani roundels play a central role in the design. Although usually accompanied by a wave- or lip-like motif , the cintamani here is found alone. Originally a Buddhist symbol of auspiciousness and referenced in Ottoman sources as benekli (spotted) or pelengi (leopardlike), it entered Ottoman art through the Timurids, reaching its climax in the 16th century. However, it maintained its original talismanic function across a variety of artistic media, and over time became equally associated with masculinity, courage and strength through depictions of the leopard-dotted helmet and tiger-skin coat of the popular Persian epic hero Rustam (Yuka Kadoi, 'Çintamani: Notes on the Formation of the Turco-Iranian style,' Persica 21, 2007, 33-49; Walter B. Denny in Maryam D. Ekhtiar et al., Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2011, pp.324-25). Other contemporary cintamani silk embroideries are in Victoria and Albert Musuem, London (Circ.92-1953) and the Topkapı Palace Museum (J.M. Rogers, Hülya Tezcan and Selma Delibaş, The Topkapi Saray Museum. Costumes, Embroideries and other Textiles, London, 1986, pl.100).
Here, the cintamani roundels play a central role in the design. Although usually accompanied by a wave- or lip-like motif , the cintamani here is found alone. Originally a Buddhist symbol of auspiciousness and referenced in Ottoman sources as benekli (spotted) or pelengi (leopardlike), it entered Ottoman art through the Timurids, reaching its climax in the 16th century. However, it maintained its original talismanic function across a variety of artistic media, and over time became equally associated with masculinity, courage and strength through depictions of the leopard-dotted helmet and tiger-skin coat of the popular Persian epic hero Rustam (Yuka Kadoi, 'Çintamani: Notes on the Formation of the Turco-Iranian style,' Persica 21, 2007, 33-49; Walter B. Denny in Maryam D. Ekhtiar et al., Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2011, pp.324-25). Other contemporary cintamani silk embroideries are in Victoria and Albert Musuem, London (Circ.92-1953) and the Topkapı Palace Museum (J.M. Rogers, Hülya Tezcan and Selma Delibaş, The Topkapi Saray Museum. Costumes, Embroideries and other Textiles, London, 1986, pl.100).