The Textile Museum in Washington, D.C. presents The Sultan’s Garden: The Blossoming of Ottoman Art, an exhibition on view September 21, 2012–March 10, 2013.
Square Ottoman-design carpet. Probably Cairo, Egypt. First half of the 17th century. TM R16.4.1, Acquired by George Hewitt Myers in 1924.
Ottoman art reflects the wealth, abundance, and influence of an empire which spanned seven centuries and, at its height, three continents. The Sultan’s Garden chronicles how stylized tulips, carnations, hyacinths, honeysuckles, roses, and rosebuds came to embellish nearly all media produced by the Ottoman court beginning in the mid-16th century. These instantly recognizable elements became the brand of the empire, and synonymous with its power. Incredibly, the development of this design identity can be attributed to a single artist, Kara Memi, working in the royal arts workshop of Istanbul. The Sultan’s Garden unveils the influence of Ottoman floral style and traces its continuing impact through the textile arts—some of the most luxurious and technically complex productions of the empire.
The 2012 Textile Museum Fall Symposium will be held in conjunction with this exhibition. The Sultan’s Garden is a participating event of Turkish Heritage Month (September 2012), organized by the American-Turkish Association of Washington, D.C.
THE TEXTILE MUSEUM
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