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Lot Essay
Fine silk kemhas of this type would have been made into garments, such as the luxurious robes worn by the Sultans at the Ottoman court. They were precious possessions and amongst the valuables kept in the royal treasury. Silk kaftans (hil’at) and fabrics were presented to high-ranking state officials, foreign rulers and ambassadors – and the ceremony associated with this presentation became a central part of Ottoman palace protocol (Hülya Bilgi, Çatma & Kemha. Ottoman Silk Textiles, Istanbul, 2007, p.18).
In the double interwoven lattice of the panel, the decoration here resembles that on a silk in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs now deposited in the Louvre (inv.13923; Three Empires of Islam. Istanbul, Isfahan, Delhi, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 2007, pp.100-101, fig.41). A similar double lattice, also seemingly including cintamani roundels can been seen in a miniature dated to circa 1570, depicting ‘Prince Selim practicing archery, watched by courtiers’, now in the Topkapi Palace Library, Istanbul (MS.H.2134, folio 3; Nurhan Atasoy Walter B. Denny, Louise W. Mackie and Hülya Tezcan, Ipek. The Crescent and the Rose. Imperial Ottoman Velvets, London, 2001, p.226, fig.128). One of the more remarkable features of our silk are the bold cintamani roundels that form part of the undulating lattice. They are filled with exquisite rumi scroll. Similar cintamani, though with the arabesque reserved against a dark ground, are found on a silk panel – fragments of which are in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Fen Arts in Boston and the Victoria and Albert Museum, dated to the late 16th century (inv.no.85/237.1; Esin Atil, The Age of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, exhibition catalogue, Washington DC, 1987, p.208, fig.141).
In the double interwoven lattice of the panel, the decoration here resembles that on a silk in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs now deposited in the Louvre (inv.13923; Three Empires of Islam. Istanbul, Isfahan, Delhi, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 2007, pp.100-101, fig.41). A similar double lattice, also seemingly including cintamani roundels can been seen in a miniature dated to circa 1570, depicting ‘Prince Selim practicing archery, watched by courtiers’, now in the Topkapi Palace Library, Istanbul (MS.H.2134, folio 3; Nurhan Atasoy Walter B. Denny, Louise W. Mackie and Hülya Tezcan, Ipek. The Crescent and the Rose. Imperial Ottoman Velvets, London, 2001, p.226, fig.128). One of the more remarkable features of our silk are the bold cintamani roundels that form part of the undulating lattice. They are filled with exquisite rumi scroll. Similar cintamani, though with the arabesque reserved against a dark ground, are found on a silk panel – fragments of which are in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Fen Arts in Boston and the Victoria and Albert Museum, dated to the late 16th century (inv.no.85/237.1; Esin Atil, The Age of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, exhibition catalogue, Washington DC, 1987, p.208, fig.141).