Topkapi Palace Museum

The Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul. The Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul.

The Topkapi Palace in Istanbul was the centre of Ottoman power from 1465 until 1853, when the sultan moved his court to the Dolmabahçe Palace. In 1924 the Topkapi Palace was made into a museum. It houses a large collection of the sultans' and the princes' clothing, representing the finest examples of Ottoman textile production and needlework.

The kaftans of each sultan of the Ottoman empire, from Mehmet II in the late fifteenth century onwards, were traditionally preserved in the Palace Treasury. The textile collection includes children's kaftans, ceremonial and everyday kaftans and other items of royal costume, such as shirts and pantaloons, caps, pouches and turbans, as well as household fabrics in the form of quilts, sheets and prayer rugs, decorative cushion covers, wall coverings and floor rugs. Many of these items are beautifully decorated with needlework.

Source: ROGERS, J.M. (1986). The Topkapi Saray Museum. Costumes, Embroideries and Other Textiles. London: Little Brown.

Museum website (rerieved 19th July 2016).

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 16th July 2016).

WV

Last modified on Wednesday, 20 September 2017 17:19