Page 195 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

120. Embroidered ceremonial kaftan made for §ehzade Mehmcd, second
quarter sixteenth century (Istanbul, Topkapi Sarayí Müzesi, 13/739)

Seraser was the most valued gift. One stunning kaftan, Two of the most unusual kaftans in the Topkapi Palace are
woven in gold and silver with only pistachio-green used to made of ruby-red satin, their necks, fronts, hems, side slits,
outline large peacock tails used as the main design, must and cuffs banded with wide panels embroidered in zerduz. In
have been presented to a foreign emissary as a hilat. It is now this technique the entire surface is covered with heavy gold
divided among three collections, with parts owned by the thread couched with yellow silk, creating a twilled effect,
Textile Museum in Washington, the Metropolitan Museum of while the design is rendered in colored silks. Both are cere-
Art in New York, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. 52 monial kaftans with long sleeves and were made for §ehzade

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