Style and Status: Absolute power dressing

by Howard Kaplan

For those not in Washington for the New Year, Diplomat presents a flavour of the Sackler Gallery’s ground-breaking exhibition of 400 year-old Ottoman-made costumes. Social status oozes from these richly-finished robes with their dazzling designs. Worn for civilian and religious ceremonies, as well as on the battlefield, they recall a rigidly hierarchical society.

The opulence of the Ottoman Court fills the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., with a never-before seen exhibition celebrating innovative textiles that were designed to convey power. From the moment you enter the gallery space, the luxurious kaftans, displayed upright on specially-made mounts, take you into a vanished world where head-turning, colourful robes were the leading symbols of prestige and luxury. Nearly seventy textiles—ranging from the voluminous to those scaled-down for children—are presented in the museum’s main exhibition space, and create a journey into the very fabric of Ottoman society. Never before has the phrase “Clothes Make the Man” had such a perfect fit.

‘Style and Status: Imperial Robes from Ottoman Turkey’, on view through January 22, 2006, consists of kaftans, hats and even a velvet shoe primarily from the imperial wardrobe at the Topkapi Museum. Additional works are on loan from the Mevlana Museum, Konya, Turkey, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and several national collections. It is the first international exhibition devoted to the great achievements in Ottoman textiles during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Costumes of this age and quality have not survived as an integral collection anywhere else in the world.

Larger than life

On view are magnificent examples of the three major weaves: velvet (kadife), featuring a three-dimensional surface with some areas of pile and some of metal thread; brocade (kemha), and cloths of gold and silver thread (seraser)—the most expensive and luxurious.

The textiles have been selected to show how extraordinarily brave and assertive the Ottomans were with their designs, and how they were innovators in the creation of recurrent motifs – in today’s jargon ‘logos’. During the reign of Sultan Süleyman in the mid-sixteenth century, Ottoman art acquired a new and distinct shape. Small, intricate designs were out. Silks and velvets woven with large, bold motifs, in unheard-of colour schemes, became the fashion of the time. Oversized triangles, tulips, and tiger stripes dominate the kaftans, creating an overwhelming image that brings you one step closer to the larger-than-life court of the Sultans.

The finest and most precious robes were made for the Sultan and his family. The exhibition includes luxurious garments, worn by Sultan Selim (1512–1520), Sultan Süleyman (1520–1566) and his son Bayazid (executed in 1561). One seraser robe has a bright red lining, dramatically visible when the sultan was on horseback. A pair of silver-thread, tiger-striped, silk trousers demonstrates the care and attention devoted to all types of Ottoman imperial garments.

Textiles exports

Silks were the most visible symbol of the Empire’s wealth and power. They were also used as diplomatic gifts known as robes of honour, or hilyat, and were presented to foreign dignitaries, local courtiers, and state officials to show royal favour, political rank, and social status. The number and quality of robes a dignitary received were indicative of his status in the eyes of the sultan.

In addition to the royal robes, the Ottomans created luxurious fabrics for export to Europe, the Balkans, and especially to Russia, the empire’s largest market, where they were fashioned into elaborately designed chasubles and other ecclesiastical items. Those reserved for the Russian Orthodox Church are notable for their inclusion of religious figural imagery and were produced in Turkey by local weavers. Examples of these pearl-laced garments are on view as well.

Sponsored by Koç

‘Style and Status: Imperial Costumes from Ottoman Turkey’ represents the first in a new long-term cultural initiative between Turkey and the United States, with exhibition sponsor Koç Holding and the Freer and Sackler as partners. It is organized by the Freer and Sackler Galleries in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkish Republic, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkish Republic, the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C. and the Promotion Fund of the Prime Ministry of Turkey.

The exhibition has also enjoyed generous support from: ITKIB Association, USA (the Turkish textiles industry lobby group); the Turkish Cultural Foundation, the lead foundation sponsor; the Packard Humanities Institute; Turkish Airlines, and the Hagop Kevorkian Fund, and an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. The curators are Ottoman art Professor Nurhan Atasoy and the Gallery’s chief curator and curator of Islamic art Massumeh Farhad. Atasoy is lead author of "Ipek: Imperial Ottoman Silks and Velvets" (London: Azimuth Press, 2001).

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Some facts about Ottoman silks

• Bursa was the first major centre for the Ottoman silk industry. In the 16^th century, it was one of the richest cities in the world. Because of the increasing demands of the court for silk fabrics, Istanbul also became an important manufacturing centre.
• In the mid-16th century, Ottoman taste increasingly favoured large, bold designs, such as medallions, stylized tiger stripes, and a triplespot design known as ‘çintamani’ (literally, "auspicious jewel"), which probably originated in Central Asia.
• Patterns such as these inspired the leader of the British arts and crafts movement, William Morris, (1834–1896) to incorporate Ottoman motifs into his designs.
• Ottoman silks, both in raw and finished states, were coveted luxury items exported to Europe, the Balkans, Poland, and especially to Russia.
• The Ottomans, in turn, imported fur and ermine to line and adorn their outer garments. They also greatly admired Italian silks, especially velvets, which they imported in great quantity. Many Italian silks were made expressly for the Turkish market, where they were fashioned primarily into royal robes.

(DIPLOMAT  -  December 2005  -  Ankara)