Page 167 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

flexibility. Overlaid appliqués were generally used for pieces
that required stiffness, such as bow cases, quivers, and can­
teens. At times both techniques were combined on footwear,
working into the design pieces that fit together where flexibil­
ity was desired and overlaid appliqués where the shape had
to be more firm. Leather boots and shoes were also decorated
with stamped designs, embroidered with silk and metallic
threads, and encrusted with gems. Their stylistic features sug­
gest that they were made in the second half of the sixteenth
century.

Furniture

The Hazine collection also contained inlaid wood furnishings
and accessories, which employed different techniques and
materials than those used for precious objects and arms and
armor. Most of the artists responsible for their production be­
longed to the kündekari society and were renowned for cre­
ating designs in which various panels with interlocking
shapes were joined, the grain of woods and other materials
placed in such a manner that they expanded and contracted
in unison when exposed to fluctuations of humidity and heat,
and remained intact for centuries. The kündekari technique
was used primarily for geometric patterns, either totally cov­
ering the pieces or in combination with inlaid components.
The latter were executed by hollowing out from the panels
106. Appliquée! leather boots made for Sultan Selim I, mid-sixteenth the required patterns and embedding into them precut wood,
I
century (Istanbul, Topkapi Sarayi Miizesi, 2/4447)
ivory, mother-of-pearl, and tortoiseshell plaques, which lay
flush with the surface. Inlay was more adaptable for curving
designs, and thus was employed for floral motifs and inscrip­
tions. These two techniques had been practiced to some ex­
tent by Seljuk and Mamluk woodworkers.
lier and exemplifies the shade preferred in the latter part of Both kündekari and inlay were applied to thrones, chairs,
the sixteenth century. chests, writing boxes, bow cases, and other secular pieces as
Leather appliqués were employed on a variety of riding well as to lecterns, Koran boxes, book stands, and storage
equipment, including saddles, saddlecloths, coats, hats, caskets made for mosques and mausoleums. The same tech­
i
I
gloves, and boots, including a pair worn by Selim I (106), niques and materials were used n doors, window shutters,
according to the Topkapi Palace registers. Made of tan leather and cupboards decorating secular and religious buildings.
lined with pink satin, they are appliquéd with dark red scrolls Frequently the inlays were enhanced by silver, gold, and
bearing rumis and palmettes outlined with thick silver lead strips; the ivory tinted green; the tortoiseshell lined with
threads that create an effect not unlike twisted wire around gold foil; and the mother-of-pearl inlaid with black organic
the motifs. The soles, constructed of thick leather, are flat, materials, gold, and gems. Diverse woods such as sandal­
and the toes are slightly pointed. This extraordinary pair of wood, mahogany, walnut, and ebony were also combined,
high boots is among the earliest examples of Ottoman foot­ producing a rich and varied surface tonality and texture.
wear surviving from the sixteenth century." Carved and inlaid woodwork was produced throughout Ot­
i
The appliqué technique used n the boots is different from toman history. Examples dating from the late-fifteenth and
that seen on the canteen. The red scrolls were not applied early-sixteenth centuries are inlaid with ivory and made of
over the tan leather; the pieces were cut to fit together in jig­ walnut or ebony. Mother-of-pearl appears to have been
saw-puzzle or mosaic fashion, secured by zigzag stitches and added to the repertoire by the 1550s, and tortoiseshell began
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covered by heavier silver overstitching. Most of the footwear to be widely used n the third quarter of the century. After
made for the court employed this technique, which provided the 1600s mother-of-pearl and tortoiseshell were the two

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