Ottoman sultan’s kaftan
A kaftan of silk brocade with enormous tulips and pomegranates, woven for the sultan’s court.
The sultans’ kaftans were kept after their death in the Topkapı Palace, sometimes with labels naming the owner. The collection numbers over a thousand garments. They are shown in the Topkapı Palace Museum in Istanbul.
Materials: Silk lampas or kemha (silk with metal thread)
Manufacture: Woven in Bursa or Istanbul in large repeats; the patterns drawn by court designers.
The huge motifs – a single tulip can be half a metre high.
The metal thread shining in the pattern against the dark ground.