Lot 6
AN OTTOMAN VOIDED SILK VELVET AND METAL-THREAD (ÇATMA) CUSHION COVER
TURKEY, BURSA, EARLY 17TH CENTURY
Auction: 10 December 2025 from 14:00 GMT
Description
of rectangular form, brocaded and voided crimson and green silk velvet with a field pattern of a central roundel and smaller cartouches with medallions and stylized trees and corner-pieces with tulips
Dimensions
110cm x 59cm
Footnote
The stylized medallion motif in the centre of the present cushion cover is known as şemse in Turkish, a word deriving from the Arabic shams (‘sun’). In Ottoman art, they have been used as frame for diverse designs and arranged in various ways which are fundamental to visual compositions. Foremost among the arts in which şemse medallions have been used is bookbinding. In time, these medallions became oval and round in shape and sometimes pendants were added at both ends. They frequently feature darts drawn around the edges that are assumed to represent rays of light.
Two comparable 17th century Ottoman velvet cushion covers the Bädisches-Landes Museum, Germany, (inv. nos. D.201 and D.202) are published in Nurhan Atasoy et al. İpek – The Crescent & the Rose: Imperial Ottoman Silks and Velvets, Azimuth Editions, 2001, p. 251, figs. 67 and 68. For another closely related example see Hulya Bilgi, Catma & Kemha – Ottoman Silk Textiles, Sadberk Hanim Museum, 2007, pp. 104-105.