Page 173 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

The hexagonal zone of transition to the dome shows mo-
saic stars and hexagons inlaid with ebony, and natural and
green-dyed ivory. Above it is a frieze of overlapping triangles.
The dome, rising from a band of intersecting ovals, has a se-
ries of diamonds and triangles inlaid with mother-of-pearl,
ebony, and ivory. At the apex is a large pear-shaped finial
decorated with ebony and ivory bands.
The interior of the dome is lavishly painted, and contains
a central medallion decorated with black rumis on a red
ground; enclosing it are four pairs of cartouches with gold
rumis on a black ground. The red field is sprinkled with gold
cloud bands; black rumis fill the corners. The base is also
painted red and divided into a central square surrounded by
four oblong compartments. The central square is covered and
painted with black, gold, and ivory motifs.
This Koran box with its harmonious proportions, contrast-
ing use of diverse materials and decorative themes, and infin-
itesimally detailed inlays represents the technical perfection of
sixteenth-century inlaid woodwork.

NOTES

1. A list of the Hazine inventories was published in Istanbul 1940; for the
1505 inventory see Rogers 1986a.
2. These manuscripts are identified by "H.," which stands for the Hazine,
and "H.S.," for the Hirka-i Saadet.
3. The same artist together with other Venetian jewelers had made a saddle,
a saddlecloth, and a mechanical doll in the hope of selling them to the sul-
tan. See Kurtz 1969.
4. Rogers 1983b, no. 81.
5. Kurtz 1969; and St. Glair 1973, no. 2.
6. Books on circumcision festivals of 1582 and 1720 not only record these
gifts but also illustrate them. Hundreds of bayram gifts are listed in Meriç
1963. Contemporary historians also mentioned items presented during spe-
cial occasions, including Arifi in his Süleymanname, Peçevi in his Tarih, and
Ahmed Feridun Pa§a in his account of the Szigetvár campaign.
7. Leithe-Jasper and Distelberger 1984, 24 and 25; and Çagman 1984,
fig- H.
8. Among them is the eighteenth-century Indian throne presented by the
ruler of Iran; the Byzantine reliquary with the hand and arm of Saint John
the Baptist; the famous "Ka^ikci" diamond, thought to be the one identified
as the "Pigot" gem once in the possession of Napoleon's mother; a pair of
gold candlesticks, each weighing forty-six kilograms (101 pounds) and en-
crusted with more than six thousand diamonds, intended as gifts to Medina.
Zinc vessels, steel belts, and a gold-inlaid jug made for Ismail were a part of
Selim I's booty when he captured Tabriz in 1514.
1
9. The throne's dimensions are 108 x 178 cm (42 /2 x 70Vs in.). The compo-
nents of the bedlike throne are as follows: front, two panels; sides, two
panels; side arms, two panels; back, two panels at lower portion and two
panels at the triangular upper portion. These panels, covered on both sides
with gem-encrusted gold plaques, fit together and are locked by the seat,
which is made of walnut and usually covered by a cushion.
10. Another portable throne is an eighteenth-century Indian one, which
may have been used by the sultans on some occasions.
11. Published in Çig 1976.
111. Inlaid wood Koran box from the Mausoleum of Sultan Selim II, second 12. Danis,man 1969-1971, 2:265 and 266.
half sixteenth century (Istanbul, Turk ve islam Eserleri Müzesi, 2) 13. Çagman 1984, 68-72.

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