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Lot Essay
This firman deals with an investigation surrounding a group of, primarily Greek painters in the Galata district of Istanbul. It states that there ought only to be twenty five qualified masters, as opposed to the one hundred and sixty currently employed in the atelier and that all should be on the same wages. It also states that the illegal workshops that have been established in the same district should be shut down. The firman lists the certified ateliers, and gives a detailed description of the area of the workshops.
Another firman of Abdülhamid I is in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts (2295, Hazirlayan Ayshegül Nadir, Imperial Ottoman Firmans, exhibition catalogue, Turkey, 1987, no. 54, pp.132-33). A third, the illumination of which bears close resemblance to ours, is in the David Collection (Kjeld von Folsach (ed.), Sultan, Shah and Great Mughal, Copenhagen, 1996, no.387, pp.411-12). Both that example and ours are decorated with floral cartouches to the right of the tughras that reflect the European influence that Ottoman art was subject to from the beginning of the 18th century. The David Collection one, like ours has the hatt-i hümayun, the Sultan's signature contained in a cartouche at the top. For a brief discussion on tughras and another example offered in this sale, please see the following lot.
Another firman of Abdülhamid I is in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts (2295, Hazirlayan Ayshegül Nadir, Imperial Ottoman Firmans, exhibition catalogue, Turkey, 1987, no. 54, pp.132-33). A third, the illumination of which bears close resemblance to ours, is in the David Collection (Kjeld von Folsach (ed.), Sultan, Shah and Great Mughal, Copenhagen, 1996, no.387, pp.411-12). Both that example and ours are decorated with floral cartouches to the right of the tughras that reflect the European influence that Ottoman art was subject to from the beginning of the 18th century. The David Collection one, like ours has the hatt-i hümayun, the Sultan's signature contained in a cartouche at the top. For a brief discussion on tughras and another example offered in this sale, please see the following lot.