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拍品專文
A miniature in the Tarih-i Sultan Süleyman of Luqman, painted in 1580, depicts Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent praying in the Mausoleum of Eyup Ansari (The Age of Süleyman the Magnificent, 1987, no.43a, p.94). The official immediately behind him is holding the sword from the Has Oda and immediately next to him is a similar official holding a golden matara of a form very similar to the present example. Earlier sultans including Bayezid I (1389-1402), Murad II (1424-1451), Mehmet II (1451-1481) and Selim I (1512-1520) are all similarly depicted in the 1580 Hunername of Luqman (Rado and Anafarta, 1969, pls. 7, 12, 15 and 34). The matara, the bottle carrying the water for the Sultan to drink, was clearly one of the most important emblems of royal power from the early days of the dynasty.
Filiz Çağman wrote an article concentrating on the matara and its appearance and role in the palace in Istanbul (Çağman, 1987). Starting from a leather prototype of considerable antiquity, by the high Ottoman period the matara had achieved considerable status at the Ottoman court. She demonstrated that the first examples were registered in the court records during the reign of Sultan Bayezid II (r.1481-1512). There was no official ‘holder of the matara’ as a specific title at court, but it is most frequently depicted in the care of the çuhadar, the Master of the Imperial Wardrobe, the official second in importance after the hasodabaşı.
The early examples that are noted were made of leather, often covered with cloth, or of copper (ibid, p.87). Luxurious leather examples were produced, with excellent quality appliqué, such as one that was sent around 1590 by Sultan Murad III to the treasury of the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II, now in Vienna (Turks, 2005, no.357, pp.365 and 466). Further very fine leather examples of similar quality have survived including two in the Furusiyya Collection (Mohamed, 2007, nos.272 and 273, pp.280 and 281). In the first half of the 17th century the form was sometimes embellished with metal-thread and applique gemset jade panels, such as an example in the Moscow Kremlin that was given by Tsarevich Said-Burkhan Arlanovich to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in 1653 (The Tsars and the East, no.25, pp.66-67). The form was prestigious and was thus also copied in gilt-copper (tombak), as here, and also, in one magnificently opulent version dating from the second half of the 16th century, in repoussé gem-encrusted gold inset with gemset jade panels (Rogers and Köseoğlu, 1980, pl.49). Further examples were made for the treasury copying this or related leather forms, including a number different examples that use rock crystal as the main element (Rogers and Köseoğlu, 1980, pls.56, 66 and 67). Examples were commissioned from the potteries at Iznik, and prized imported Chinese porcelain was also adapted with the addition of tombak or silver spouts and thus converted into mataras for use in the court (The Anatolian Civilisations, 1983, nos.E.130 and E.131, pp.186-187). Specially embroidered red velvet covers were made so that they, like the swords, could be covered during public displays (The Anatolian Civilisations, no.E.132, p.187; Turks, 2005, no.356, pp. 364 and 466).
There are two other known examples of this form in tombak. One, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, (inv. no. 1984.100) is of closely related but more rounded form. The other is in the British Museum, on show in the new galleries, of almost identical form and size to the present example (inv.1897.0320.1; Petsopoulos, 1982, pl.13c, p.35). Each has overall surface decoration of panels enclosing floral designs in comparable technique to each other; the Metropolitan Museum example has prominent tulips under the spout clearly indicating a date from the second half of the sixteenth century or later, much more probably well into the 17th.
The technique of the decoration on our matara however is very different, with densely hatched and pounced grounds against which the designs stand out much clearer. Furthermore, there are groups of short parallel lines used to shade each element. Both these elements come straight from the earlier Central Asian heritage of the Turks and can be found in numerous 14th century Golden Horde silver vessels including a number in the Hermitage (Usmanov, 2000, cat.54 and 109 among many others). This design feature, coupled with the complete absence of any of the vocabulary of the saz leaf style that was introduced in the early 16th century, indicates that this tombak matara dates from earlier than it has previously been catalogued. The respect with which tombak was regarded in the early Ottoman period is demonstrated by a pair of magnificent large candlesticks donated by sultan Bayezid II to his mosque in Edirne, (Turks, op.cit., no.256, pp.299 and 442), and an almost matching pair donated to the mosque in Amasya. Furthermore, the similarity of the fleshiness of the split palmettes and the energetic flow of the vines on our matara are closely related to the drawing on a small group of early Ottoman brass candlesticks which have been dated to around 1500, for example one in the Freer Gallery (Atil, Chase and Jett, 1985, no.27, pp.191-194; Petsopoulos, 1982, pl.22). The catalogue entry on the Freer candlestick also discusses and illustrates a similar example in the Victoria and Albert Museum. All are engraved with a fluidity of line that really stands out, and all have a gently pounce-matted ground – in the present case a different pounce was used for the main panel as for the border, to give a slightly different texture. All are examples of metalwork from before the advent of the saz style.
The technical quality of all aspects of this matara is outstanding; it is fully consistent with an object made for the Ottoman court at the highest level, created while the court taste still retained the ascetic elegance that was the mark of its earliest period under Sultan Mehmed II. The proportions are superb, but it also has wonderful details such as the imitation stitching, deriving straight from the leather originals, which runs along both sides of the upper ‘seam’. It is a really magnificent piece of early Ottoman metalwork.
Filiz Çağman wrote an article concentrating on the matara and its appearance and role in the palace in Istanbul (Çağman, 1987). Starting from a leather prototype of considerable antiquity, by the high Ottoman period the matara had achieved considerable status at the Ottoman court. She demonstrated that the first examples were registered in the court records during the reign of Sultan Bayezid II (r.1481-1512). There was no official ‘holder of the matara’ as a specific title at court, but it is most frequently depicted in the care of the çuhadar, the Master of the Imperial Wardrobe, the official second in importance after the hasodabaşı.
The early examples that are noted were made of leather, often covered with cloth, or of copper (ibid, p.87). Luxurious leather examples were produced, with excellent quality appliqué, such as one that was sent around 1590 by Sultan Murad III to the treasury of the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II, now in Vienna (Turks, 2005, no.357, pp.365 and 466). Further very fine leather examples of similar quality have survived including two in the Furusiyya Collection (Mohamed, 2007, nos.272 and 273, pp.280 and 281). In the first half of the 17th century the form was sometimes embellished with metal-thread and applique gemset jade panels, such as an example in the Moscow Kremlin that was given by Tsarevich Said-Burkhan Arlanovich to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in 1653 (The Tsars and the East, no.25, pp.66-67). The form was prestigious and was thus also copied in gilt-copper (tombak), as here, and also, in one magnificently opulent version dating from the second half of the 16th century, in repoussé gem-encrusted gold inset with gemset jade panels (Rogers and Köseoğlu, 1980, pl.49). Further examples were made for the treasury copying this or related leather forms, including a number different examples that use rock crystal as the main element (Rogers and Köseoğlu, 1980, pls.56, 66 and 67). Examples were commissioned from the potteries at Iznik, and prized imported Chinese porcelain was also adapted with the addition of tombak or silver spouts and thus converted into mataras for use in the court (The Anatolian Civilisations, 1983, nos.E.130 and E.131, pp.186-187). Specially embroidered red velvet covers were made so that they, like the swords, could be covered during public displays (The Anatolian Civilisations, no.E.132, p.187; Turks, 2005, no.356, pp. 364 and 466).
There are two other known examples of this form in tombak. One, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, (inv. no. 1984.100) is of closely related but more rounded form. The other is in the British Museum, on show in the new galleries, of almost identical form and size to the present example (inv.1897.0320.1; Petsopoulos, 1982, pl.13c, p.35). Each has overall surface decoration of panels enclosing floral designs in comparable technique to each other; the Metropolitan Museum example has prominent tulips under the spout clearly indicating a date from the second half of the sixteenth century or later, much more probably well into the 17th.
The technique of the decoration on our matara however is very different, with densely hatched and pounced grounds against which the designs stand out much clearer. Furthermore, there are groups of short parallel lines used to shade each element. Both these elements come straight from the earlier Central Asian heritage of the Turks and can be found in numerous 14th century Golden Horde silver vessels including a number in the Hermitage (Usmanov, 2000, cat.54 and 109 among many others). This design feature, coupled with the complete absence of any of the vocabulary of the saz leaf style that was introduced in the early 16th century, indicates that this tombak matara dates from earlier than it has previously been catalogued. The respect with which tombak was regarded in the early Ottoman period is demonstrated by a pair of magnificent large candlesticks donated by sultan Bayezid II to his mosque in Edirne, (Turks, op.cit., no.256, pp.299 and 442), and an almost matching pair donated to the mosque in Amasya. Furthermore, the similarity of the fleshiness of the split palmettes and the energetic flow of the vines on our matara are closely related to the drawing on a small group of early Ottoman brass candlesticks which have been dated to around 1500, for example one in the Freer Gallery (Atil, Chase and Jett, 1985, no.27, pp.191-194; Petsopoulos, 1982, pl.22). The catalogue entry on the Freer candlestick also discusses and illustrates a similar example in the Victoria and Albert Museum. All are engraved with a fluidity of line that really stands out, and all have a gently pounce-matted ground – in the present case a different pounce was used for the main panel as for the border, to give a slightly different texture. All are examples of metalwork from before the advent of the saz style.
The technical quality of all aspects of this matara is outstanding; it is fully consistent with an object made for the Ottoman court at the highest level, created while the court taste still retained the ascetic elegance that was the mark of its earliest period under Sultan Mehmed II. The proportions are superb, but it also has wonderful details such as the imitation stitching, deriving straight from the leather originals, which runs along both sides of the upper ‘seam’. It is a really magnificent piece of early Ottoman metalwork.