Page 155 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

usual repertoire not used on other metal objects. The combat
between the dragon and senmurv and the animated scrolls
are exceptional, employing themes found in album drawings
and manuscript illuminations. The animated scroll, popularly
used in inlaid brasses produced in the central Islamic lands in
the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, became fashionable
in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century illuminations made in
Herat and Tabriz. Its appearance in volumes produced in the
Ottoman court in the second quarter of the sixteenth century
84
shows the impact of this tradition. Ahmed Tekelü must
have relied on manuscripts for his animated scrolls, since this
theme had not been produced on metalwork for the preced-
ing two centuries. This highly talented and creative artist is
only known through the yatagan made for Suleyman; if he
produced other pieces, they were either destroyed or await
discovery.
Another unusual sword made for Suleyman is a mec (87),
which has a cylindrical silver hilt with a gold pommel, the
latter decorated with floral scrolls encrusted with rubies and
turquoises set into plain collars and placed on a ring-matted
ground. The semicircular section between the hilt and blade
is embellished with rumis, executed in reserve on a gold
ground. One side of the blade is covered with gold-inlaid
cloud bands while the other has a long gold-inlaid inscription
extending to the point. The inscription begins with the bes-
mele, contains Koranic verses and prayers, states that it was
made for the Hazine of the "greatest sultan, Suleyman Han
bin Selim Han, may his victories be glorious/' gives the name
of the city as Kostantiniye (Istanbul), and concludes with the
date 1531/1532. The name of the maker is not given. The cy-
lindrical scabbard, which encases the sword up to the pom-
mel, is made of wood and is diagonally wound with gold
strips. Placed at the upper and lower edges are gold bands
decorated with palmettes and set with gems in round collars.
In the center is a wide gold sling mount, incised with floral
scrolls and affixed with a ring used to attach the piece to the
belt.
A more typical sword is the kihç with its distinctive curved
blade. Most of the examples in the Topkapi Palace bearing
Süleyman's name were repaired and their handles and guards
replaced in later periods. One of the few swords that retains
its original components (88) has a faceted wood hilt covered
with black leather, attached to the core with three gilded sil-
ver studs, and a gold-inlaid steel pommel and guard, the for-
mer bent out of shape during restoration. The edge of the
87. Jeweled and gold-inlaid mec and scabbard made for Sultan Suleyman in pommel has a beaded band; cloud bands decorate the central
1531/1532 (Istanbul, Topkapi Sarayí Müzesi, 1/74)
panel and hatayi scrolls with additional cloud bands appear
in the surrounding zones. The same scrolls, radiating from a
multipetaled blossom enclosed by a quatrefoil cloud band,
were used on the guard, which has relatively stout quillons
and short prongs extending toward the handle and blade. The
gold inlay is thickly applied and detailed with chasing and
punching, while the steel ground is blackened. The blade,

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