#ottoman art

[thevampiricnihal]

Sometimes you learn valuable information in your academic life.

Today I learned in class that the figures in Ottoman miniatures looked East Asian (despite neither Ottomans nor the Persians who inspired them looking like that) because of a concept called Nigar-ı Çin (Chinese Beauty).

I always thought that Nigar looked like Ottoman miniatures:

And I always thought that Nigar looked a bit East Asian (which the show also acknowledges with Ibrahim’s “almond-shaped-eyes” speech). I don’t know if this was intentional, probably not, but it makes sense!

@redxluna @fabrizio-art

[gracelyngrausamkeit]

I just seem to have a thing for ridiculously long-mustached villains in high heels.

So, I finally started my next tabletop roleplaying project after the hiatus year that followed the conclusion of my previous one. As I intended, the players took the role of to-be- Ottoman Janissaries in Constantinople/Istanbul in a timeline where most other nations have succumbed to the influence of devils and demons.

From sesh one, I presented the players with XYZ (pronounced Huz) - the first major recurring villain they will be facing. Boasting skinwalking abilities that allow him to turn into a perfect copy of someone just by putting on their skinned face as a mask, he could be anywhere anytime. Hellbent on doing the dark bidding of the Devil himself, XYZ is dead-set on undermining the Empire.

As for the meta information, he is obviously meant to represent the iconic clash between the Polish hussars and the Janissary corps. For his look, I went with the most over-the-top comically-hard-going design I could think of. The idea of him wearing a skirt with a flame-pattern and summoning a flaming skeleton, which he uses to light a cigar seemed just right.

[arthistoryanimalia]

#TwoForTuesday on #TilesOnTuesday:

Tile Decorated with a Fountain between Two Parrots, 1580s

Iznik kilns, Bursa Province, Türkiye (Ottoman Empire)

Fritware with white, green, blue, red, and transparent glazes

on display at Baltimore Museum of Art

[desimonewayland]

Iznik border tile, Turkey circa 1575

Sotheby's

[paletapessoal]

Ottoman mother-of-pearl-inlaid wooden child's cradle - 18th/19th century. Turkey

Via Sotheby's

[careful-disorder]

Melchior Lorichs, Panorama of Constantinople, Fatih Mosque

"... the Islamic characteristics are best represented by the Ottoman cities: "The ones who build the paradise where there exist no conflicts but all the beauties, tried to rise and open the Gates of paradise by accomplishing the task of beautifying the world." Ottoman architecture

[withoutzeuzey]

Dilruba in harem🌱

(pls click for better quality😭)

[kleioscanvas]

Kedioğlu Pasha surveys his troops before the assault on Catstantinople, 1453 CE

[love-for-carnation]

Ottoman Traditional Turkish Tiles

[u-mspcoll]

An outstanding icazetname in Isl. Ms. 438

First part of a calligraphy license or diploma (icazetname) in naskh (nesih) script, mounted in fol.17b in Isl. Ms. 438, Islamic Manuscripts Collection 

Second part of a calligraphy license or diploma (icazetname) in naskh (nesih) script, mounted as a separate piece in fol.21a in Isl. Ms. 438, Islamic Manuscripts Collection 

Enjoy this post by Sumeyra Dursun, 2023 Heid Fellow, from her research in the Islamic Manuscripts Collection. Sumeyra is a doctoral candidate in the history of Islamic arts at Yildiz Technical University in Istanbul.

Read more!

[lotussed]

Damascus tile, Ottoman style

[thevampiricnihal]

In Persian “miniaturists” are literally called “nigarger”. “Nigar” literally means “miniature” (as in the Ottoman and Persian artworks).

I have always linked Nigar to Ottoman miniatures in looks, as early as when I started to write my (not very good) first Nigar fanfic in February of 2022.

I am even starting to think that Meral Okay might have been intentional in her naming. I have read (don’t ask for my source, but it was a very good one) that Filiz Ahmet had first been considered for the roles of Gülfem and Gülşah and then it was decided for her to play Nigar. I unfortunately don’t know whether the role of Nigar (who is after all an originally-created side character) was created for the actress herself or merely that she hadn’t been considered for it initially, but if the role were created for Filiz Ahmet, maybe the naming was intentional.

But in my headcanon-land, in-universe, Nigar was absolutely given the name because she looked like a miniature.

And maybe Matrakçı was her true love (just kidding…).

[vulturesouls]

Tile fragment with an Armenian deacon holding a cross.

Kütahya, Aegaean region of Turkey, ca. 1720

British Museum

[nancydrewwouldnever]

Osman Hamdi Bey, A Young Emir Studying, 1905, oil/canvas (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool)

[womblegrinch]

Osman Hamdi Bey (1842-1910) - Ottoman lady preparing for an outing

Oil on canvas laid on board. 26.8 x 17.7 inches, 68 x 45 cm.

Estimate: €1,000,000-1,400,000.

Sold Dorotheum, Vienna, 2 May 2023 for €1,275,000 incl B.P.

[archiveofcyp]

Ottoman-era oil portrait of a lady found at the Ethnological Museum’s House of Hadjigeorgakis Kornessios in Nicosia. This is an oil on wood portrait, found on a grandfather clock’s wooden case. The clock was made by British clockmaker Isaac Rogers, and was previously owned by Michael de Vezin, the English Consul to Aleppo and Cyprus. 

The lady’s dress resembles a caftan dress worn during Ottoman rule called ‘anteri/entari’ which is characterized by the long, oval neckline and a light chemise underneath. The style of this outfit is similar to the ‘sayia/üç etek’, a staple of Cypriot traditional dress. She also wears a long robe lined with fur called a tzouppe/cübbe. The style of the headdress and jewellery indicate her higher social status. 

Image source: Department of Antiquities in Cyprus.

Source information provided by Euphrosyne Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou’s research on 18th and 19th century Cypriot dress and the House of the Dragoman of Cyprus Hadjigeorgakis Kornessios. 

https://books.openedition.org/pur/99860?lang=en

https://www.boccf.org/publications-holder/Guides-to-Archaeological-Sites-and-Monuments/The-House-of-the-Dragoman-of-Cyprus-Hadjigeorgakis-Kornessios/