IMAGE DETAILS

Üçetek entari, Istanbul, late 19th century. Silk fabric and silk cord, 1.91m (6'3") long. Sadberk Hanim, SHM 12481-K618

| Click to enlarge

07 July 2010

This year sees Istanbul flaunting her charms as European City of Culture and awash with exhibitions of both the old and the new, in museums of all shapes and sizes. We focus on two that are direct opposites.

One was in the old palace of the Sultans, the fabled Topkapi Sarayi, or Palace of the Cannon Gate, where its martial content found a fitting showcase in this former nucleus of a mighty empire. It hailed from Moscow’s equally fabled Kremlin, once also an emperor’s palace, whose very name evokes a scene of raw power in the male dominated nerve centre of Tsarist Russia, of patriarchs and tyrants like Ivan the Terrible,

of bearded boyars (until Peter the Great lopped them off), big fur hats, and frozen steppes. The Tsar’s omnipotence was affirmed by the lavish regalia of a rigid court ceremonial designed to impress and intimidate, the objects mere jewelled endorsements of his sovereignty.

Church vestments, court robes, saddles and trappings, arms and drinking vessels, both Turkish and Russian made, are all of startling opulence, and of the finest quality. One is struck by the Russian passion for precious gems, and pearls in particular, with some objects almost obliterated by the encrustation. The wearing of Russian ritual dress, such as the sakkos of the Metropolitan Dionysius, of Bursa brocade and laden with pearls and gold plaques, must have taken great stamina (4).

Contemporary witnesses were awed by the large, gem-set jewels for both man and horse but, paradoxically, the arms and armour display some of the most exquisite work, notably a pair of 16th century Turkish vambraces or arm guards (2), and the saadak (bowcase and quiver) of Tsar Aleksey Mikhaylovich, made in Istanbul in 1656. The strangest object is a 17th century targe with a built-in vambrace and gauntlet, a shield with its own iron fist.   

The Kremlin’s rich holdings of Ottoman artefacts and textiles attest to centuries of diplomatic and commercial interaction between the Russian and Turkish courts, each capital busy with the envoys and merchants of the other. In an exchange, the Kremlin is showing ‘Treasures of the Ottoman Sultans’, with 16th and 17th century Ottoman works from the Topkapi Palace. Topkapi also has an exhibit, ‘Russia in the Ottoman Palace’, of later Russian porcelain and mostly golden objects covered in more bling, with diamonds now predominating.

The three shows were brought about by Topkapi’s indefatigable president, Professor Ilber Ortayli, who has even squeezed in a display of Japanese works of art from the Tokyo National Museum, which includes several fine robes.

At the Topkapi Palace, the Sultans ruled the Empire and their ladies ruled them, with the Padishah’s seraglio a hothouse of feminine intrigue where Imperial mothers, wives, and concubines connived and plotted for political gain.

However, it is at the Sadberk Hanim Museum, up the Bosporus and far away from the Sultan’s odalisques and macho spectres of the past, that we can observe the more modest world of well-to-do Ottoman women in the family harem, a microcosm of the Palace, where the senior lady was matriarch and boss, while the men were left to run the outside world.

Unlike the Palace, ordinary people rarely preserved clothing, so domestic dress is now scarce, but Sadberk Koç and her daughter, Sevgi Gönül, shared a love of costume, seeking and conserving the best examples, so the museum now boasts an impressive collection, which is the ideal material to mark its 30th anniversary while honouring mother and daughter.

The exhibition ‘Women’s Costume of the Late Ottoman Era’ is a bit of a girl thing, showing elegant and supremely feminine dresses and accessories, some with court connections and others from less opulent homes. It depicts a discreet milieu of silks and velvets and intricate embroidery, with no public parade, though much visiting occurred, but modestly covered.

The long entari was the staple of any lady’s wardrobe, a gown that could just cover the calf, or sweep grandly out behind. It had wrist length sleeves, though some reached the knee but were open from the wrist. The üçetek, or three skirt entari, opened right down the front, with side slits often up to the hip. This is an ancient dress dating back to the early days of the nomadic Turk in Central Asia, and the most elegant. It was worn over salvar, the baggy trousers that are so cool in hot weather, and girded by a decorative belt with huge silver and jewelled clasps. The ikietek (two skirts) entari is only open at the top and has slits up each side. This is usually a grand affair of dark velvet or silk with heavy gold dival embroidery. The most beautiful ones on show were from Ankara. There is even the later biretek (one skirt) entari, with no slits.

The muster includes several of the long, ?ared sleeveless Balkan piripiri kaftans with ornate metal-thread embroidery, worn over salvar, but the most fetching out?ts are the salvar and cepken (short jacket) ensembles. Our pageant proceeds with Ottoman fashion gradually absorbing the in?uences of corseted Victorian Europe, until it became hard to differentiate, although the salvar lived on as a sort of ornate bloomer suit.

The shoes are the really girlie part. Slippers and bootlets in gold embroidered velvet, the softest calf, or silk and satin with bows and rosettes, sequins and ruffles, some with labels from the smartest shoesmiths of Pera and Beyoglu. And the hats! Jaunty pillboxes and tiny fezzes adorned with silver and long flirty tassels.

The museum, in a fine old Ottoman yali, once a family home, is the natural context for such elegant gowns. Some rooms are still arranged as salons, so the tableaux are even more evocative, and the excellent catalogue by Dr Lale Görünür, with its wonderful photography, is nearly as good as owning the dresses.

Topkapi Palace, Istanbul

Treasures of the Moscow Kremlin at the Topkapi Palace

12 March – 7 June 2010

Russia in the Ottoman Palace

6 April – 26 July 2010

Kremlin, Moscow

Treasures of the Ottoman Sultans

26 May – 15 August 2010

Sadberk Hanim Museum, Büyükdere, Istanbul

Women’s Costumes from the Late Ottoman Era

Until 7 November 2010

Penny Oakley