Page 175 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

60. For a similar gem-encrusted piece inlaid with niello from the same mau- 81. This technique was popular in the late sixteenth century and was ap-
soleum see Istanbul 1983, E. 83. plied to mirrors, belts, handles of swords and daggers, scabbards, and even to
61. Forster 1968, 145 and 146. such objects in the round as rose water sprinklers. See Istanbul 1983, E. 118
and 119.
62. The Ehl-i Hiref register of 1526, published in Oz 1950, 52-53, lists the
following society members responsible for imperial arms and armor: 82. See, for instance, Washington 1966, nos. 246-250; and Istanbul 1983,
E. 221.
(
18 sword makers 11 masters and 7 apprentices)
18 dagger makers (12 masters and 6 apprentices) 83. The inscription, published in Istanbul 1958, no. 69, is translated as
7 scabbard makers (4 masters and 3 apprentices) follows:
3 shield makers (all masters) Side 1 of the blade: "For the treasury of the greatest sultan, the just, the gen-
17 mace makers (4 masters and 13 apprentices) erous, lord of [the] necks of the nations, master of the Turkish kings and the
14 arrow makers 11 masters and 3 apprentices) Arabs and the non-Arabs, defender of the noble and the pure, conqueror of
(
23 bow makers (18 masters and 5 apprentices) the infidels and the impious, protector of Islam."
6 cannon makers (all masters) Side 2 of the blade: "and the Muslims, shadow of God in the two worlds,
10 rifle makers (all masters) ebu'1-gazi [father of the warrior of the faith], the sultan son of the sultan, the
22 "damascene" sword makers (all masters) Sultan Süleyman bin Selim Han bin Bayezid Han, may his victory be glo-
These artists frequently presented their wares, particularly swords, to the sul- rious and his dominion be perpetual. In the year 933 [1526/1527]."
tan during bayram celebrations (Meriç 1963). Spine: "Work of Ahmed Tekelü."
84. They appear, for instance, in the headings of the Cahname discussed
63. For one of the tents in Krakow see Mackie 1980, ill. 221; another in
Budapest is published in Fehér 1975, pis. I, II, and ill. 1. For a study of Otto- above (32).
man banners sec Denny 1974b. 85. The poem reads: "May the world be as you wish and heaven be your
friend. May the creator of the world be your protector."
64. Part of this collection has now been moved to the Military Museum,
while some ten thousand more valuable items constitute the arms and armor 86. Archduke Ferdinand II (1529-1595) purchased the Ambras Castle, near
section of the Topkapi Palace, displayed in the former Inner Treasury build- Innsbruck, in 1564, the year he inherited the province of Tirol upon the
ing in the second courtyard. death of his father Ferdinand I, the former archduke of Austria who had
been the Holy Roman Emperor since 1558. Ferdinand II's collection of Otto-
65. For the arms and armor collection in the Topkapi Palace see Ü. Yücel
1970 and Tezcan 1983; for a study of known sword makers see Ü. Yücel man arms and armor, now housed in the Waffensammlung in Vienna, ap-
1964-1965; a group of Ottoman swords are also published in Tezcan 1982. pears to have been started in the 1550s, incorporating items that were pur-
chased or given as presents to his father and his ambassadors as well as
66. Ü. Yücel 1964-1965.
objects captured during the Habsburg-Ottoman wars between 1556 and
67. Ü. Yücel 1964-1965, figs. 16-19. 1566. Although the earliest inventory of the Ambras collection compiled in
68. Ü. Yücel 1964-1965, figs. 23a and b. 1564 does not seem to contain this and other sixteenth-century Ottoman
69. Ü. Yücel 1964-1965, figs. 38 and 39. pieces discussed here—such as the sword, a second dagger, and a plaque—
further research is required to properly identify the items listed in the regis-
70. Ü. Yücel 1964-1965, figs. 25-35. Yücel also states that there are a
number of fake "Haci Sungur" swords, most of which are dated 1550 and ter with the existing ones. Part of the collection was published in Sacken
dedicated to "Sultan Mehmed," which makes no historical sense; see Ü. 1855; and Grosz and Thomas 1936; the inventories, taken almost every ten
Yücel 1964-1965, fig. 35. years since 1564 and published in the nineteenth century, are compiled in
Luchner 1958.
71. There are also examples with horn hilts, most of which appear to be
the
later replacements. 87. The same medallions decorate 1986, frame of the exterior covers of the
reproduced
81.
Atil
in
Suleymanname;
72. Ü. Yücel 1970, fig. 3.
88. Among the most ornate examples are those in the Waffensammlung and
73. Slightly later examples just as splendidly decorated are in the Treasury of the Treasury of the Teutonic Knights in Vienna, Württembergisches Landes-
the Teutonic Knights (formerly the Knights of Malta) in Vienna. Other refur- muséum in Stuttgart, Historisches Museum in Dresden, and the Hermitage in
bished swords belonged to the Prophet Muhammed, their hilts and scabbards Leningrad. Some of these have been published in Sarre and Martin 1912,
made during the reign of Ahmed I (E. Yücel 1982, 15).
pi. 242; Gluck and Diez 1925, 472 and 473; and Ivanov 1979, pis. 62-67,
74. For the early examples of the turban-shaped helmet see Alexander 1983; 70, and 71.
imperial Ottoman helmets are described in Tezcan 1975. 89. See, for example, the illumination and bookbinding of a work dated
75. There are only two complete ones in the Topkapi Palace; they belonged 1465 reproduced in Atil 1980, ills. 65 and 66; and Istanbul 1983, E. 4. See
to Mehmed II and Murad IV. also Istanbul 1983, E. 12 for similar designs in another manuscript produced
76. A. U. Pope 1964-1965, pis. 1421 and 1422. during the reign of Bayezid II.
77. There is an arm guard inscribed with Süleyman's name in the Waffen- 90. Geneva 1985, no. 315.
sarnmlung of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, published in Sacken 91. Frankfurt 1985, vol. 2, no. 10/2.
1855, 212 and 213; Grosz and Thomas 1936, 95, no. 8; and illustrated in 92. The size of these hilts is all about the same, about 12.7 to 13.0 cm (5 to
Sarre and Martin 1912, no. 346. 5'/8 in.) high, including the unit inserted into the guard; and 2.0 to 2.5 cm
78. See, for instance, the section on Ottoman arms and armor in Karlsruhe ( / 4 to 1 in.) thick.
3
1977; Copenhagen 1980, 63-75; Vienna 1983, 181-212; and Frankfurt 93. Alexander 1983, fig. 1; the blade of this example has a Turkish poem
1985, 2:343-372. For gilded copper shields and horse's frontals see Istanbul composed by Necati, its mystical contents analyzed in that article. The same
1983, E. 228-230. poem appears on a dagger in Edinburgh that has a beautifully decorated six-
79. Even Benvenuto Cellini, the renowned sixteenth-century goldsmith, teenth-century blade and a later jade handle; this example is published in
attempted to imitate a gold-inlaid Ottoman dagger. Sec Allan and Raby London 1976, no. 232.
1982, 42. 94. See, for instance, the two examples reproduced in Zaky 1979, pis. 203
80. This helmet, in the Waffensammlung in Vienna, was made around and 206.
1560-1570; it is published in Sacken 1855, 210 and 211; and Grosz and 95. Illustrated in Sarre and Martin 1912, pi. 242; and Glück and Diez
Thomas 1936, 93, no. 7 and pi. 11. Other examples are illustrated in 1925, 473.
Tezcan 1975.

174