Album of Turkish Costume Paintings

Collection History

Many 19th century plate books on customs and costume came to NYPL from the founding Lenox and Astor library holdings, as well as the personal library of benefactor Samuel J. Tilden. Many of the titles chosen for digitization show dress in the context of ethnicity or nationality. Related dress materials, such as accessories and body ornamentation, are also included.

Related Resources

See also the following digital collections for additional regional works: [Africana & Black History; Asia and the Pacific Rim in Early Prints and Photographs; The Luso-Hispanic New World in Early Prints and Photographs; After Columbus: Four-hundred Years of Native American Portraiture; and Icons and Images of Cultures: Plate Books from the Russian Empire, Early Soviet Russia, and Eastern Europe, 1730-1935]

- 9/23/2004

Collection Data

Description
The drawings depict Mahmud II, members of the Ottoman court and officers of the Imperial household, from the grand vizir to valet de chambre; costumes of various vendors, merchants, army officers and religious persons; costumes of peasants from the Balkans and other areas of the Ottoman Empire. Plate 40 depicts a Janizary in service to European ministers smoking a long pipe. Probably executed between 1808 (beginning of the reign of Mahmud II) and 1826 (disbanding of the Janizaries), in Istanbul.
Names
Mahmud II, Sultan of the Turks, 1784-1839 (Patron)
Alexander III, Emperor of Russia, 1845-1894 (Former owner)
Sharapenko, Grigoriĭ (Inscriber)
Dates / Origin
Date Created: 1808 - 1826 (Approximate)
Place: Istanbul?
Library locations
George Arents Collection
Shelf locator: Arents 96-355
Topics
Clothing and dress -- Turkey -- 19th century
Costume -- Turkey
Costume -- Albania
Costume -- Armenia
Costume -- Bulgaria
Costume -- Greece
Janizaries -- Clothing
Turkey -- Court and courtiers -- Clothing
Women -- Turkey -- Clothing and dress
Genres
Drawings
Albums (Books)
Notes
Content: Titles in French below paintings; shorter titles in Italian and Russian on verso.
Citation/reference: Schmitz, B. Islamic manuscripts in the New York Public Library, IV.10; Davis, R.H. A dark mirror: Romanov and Imperial Palace library materials in the holdings of the New York Public Library, 40
Physical Description
Extent: 1 album (85 watercolor drawings) ; 30 cm.
Watercolors
Type of Resource
Still image
Text
Identifiers
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b12578496
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 2e9d11f0-c6d5-012f-2ce6-58d385a7bc34
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