The Textile Elements in Ottoman Miniatures

With the value given to the art and the artist, high quality works of art in many fields were produced in the Ottoman Era. The art of weaving also lived its brightest period in terms of color, design, and weaving techniques in the Ottoman Empire in XVI. Century. The weaving products shaped the lifestyles of the people in those times and received great interest in the Palace as well. Silk woven fabrics had become such a great power in those times that it became the greatest symbol showing the power of the Ottoman Empire to the foreigners, and the determiner of the social standing within the society. The Ottoman Sultans used their clothing, which they made to become flamboyant with embroideries, to distinguish themselves from the public, and make them accept their power. Among the presents that were presented to the Sultans, clothes, kaftans, and similar fabrics as well as other precious presents, were frequent. The miniature manuscripts that were produced in the Palace are in the quality of unique documents that transfer yesterday’s knowledge to the modern age. It is easy to decode the dimensions of the clothing habits, decoration elements and hierarchy concepts of the Ottoman Era, as well as the weaving activities by using the miniature manuscripts. On the other hand, these elements constitute a rich alphabet in transferring the emotional structure of the society in those times, the traditions and habits to our world today. The greatest share in this effort belongs to the artists who depicted the miniatures by staying loyal to the texts in the manuscripts as well as to their active participation in the events of those times and their narrating the events as the very first observers. In addition, the muralists depicting the manuscripts and their undertaking the job of drawing the designs on the original fabric helped them to reflect the richness in the design of those times to the miniatures. In this study, the weavings and the accessories, decoration elements, tents and furnishing elements used by the civilian people around the Palace, and the weaving of the textile industry which covered the 16th and 17th Ottoman Era mainly, have been examined in relation with the embroidery and embellishment arts of those times. In the scope of the topic, while the miniatures were being selected, special attention was given to the selection process in selecting the miniatures that included the messages in terms of color-model of the decorative elements and the clothes that emphasized the importance given to the weaving art and were worn on special occasions in the Palace like births, circumcision ceremonies, cülûs ceremonies and funerals.