Page 158 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

90. Kihç and scabbard with gilded silver components, stamped with the seal
of Sultan Siileyman, mid-sixteenth century (Vienna, Kunsthistorisches
Museum, A. 1341)

details was observed in the helmet (see 84); here, however,
these two techniques are superimposed, creating a richly tex-
tured surface. The Topkapi Palace owns a number of swords
decorated in this manner, some of which have rubies and
turquoises set into the gold-inlaid steel components.
Among the more unusual swords produced for Siileyman
in the mid-sixteenth century is an example in Vienna (90),
recorded as having entered the collection of Archduke Ferdi-
86
nand II at Ambras Castle in Tirol by 1583. Its faceted wood
hilt is covered with black leather and embellished with a
gilded silver pommel and guard with elongated quillons that
terminate in rounded elements. The steel blade is undeco-
rated. The wood scabbard is also covered with black leather
and affixed with gilded silver chapes and a pair of ovoid sling
mounts. At the back of the lower chape is an assay stamp in
the form of a tugra identified as that of Siileyman.
The gilded silver components are chased with varied de-
signs. The rounded elements at the tips of the quillón have Detail of chape, 90
reciprocal palmettes, and the smaller lobed ovals on the
guard and upper and lower chapes contain saz scrolls on a
ring-matted ground. The larger ovals on the scabbard show a
more intricate composition. In the center of each is a cypress
tree flanked by two pairs of tulips and encircled by a beaded guard of the helmet (see 53, 64, and 84). The overlapping
band; the wide outer zone contains scrolls bearing multipe- feathery leaves were frequently employed in manuscript illu-
87
taled roses, enclosed by a remarkable frame composed of minations, bookbindings, brocaded silks, and tiles. Their ap-
overlapping feathery leaves, each overlaid with a spray of pearance on metalwork is unusual.
rounded blossoms; ring matting decorates the background. Some imperial swords of the period were ceremonial—
The sword and scabbard employ both the saz style and the such as the yatagan made for Siileyman and the refurbished
naturalistic genre that were created in the nakka§hane. This examples belonging to Sultan Osman and the Prophet Mu-
feature was observed on the gilded copper-alloy tankard, in hammed—while others were functional, used in warfare and
the enameled portions of the black stone jug, and in the neck hunting. Imperial Ottoman daggers, on the other hand, ap-

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