Although founded in the 13th Century in north-western Anatolia by the Turcoman tribal leader, Osman I, the Ottoman Empire did not reach its full prominent self as an empire until it crossed into the Balkans, defeated the Byzantines and took control of Constantinople in 1453.  

Once they had taken the city of Constantinople from the Byzantines, the Ottomans, who were followers of the Sunni branch of Islam, ruled over the city and the surrounding empire until the abolition of the sultanate in 1922.  At the height of the Ottoman Empire, which was during the reign of Süleyman the Magnificent, who reigned from 1520 to 1566, the area of jurisdiction was enormous and encompassed much of the land in the Near East, North Africa and south-eastern Europe. 

The Ottoman Empire was a place in which the wealth and flourishment of the arts furnished the manufacture of a splendid array of artefacts that still survive today.  In the documentations below, I explore a selection of them in detail. 

The Ottoman Empire was named after the Turkic tribal leader, Uthman.  From 1281 to 1324, he was the leader of a Turkic tribal confederation in Asia Minor that was one of many in conflict with the Byzantines.  The wars against the Byzantines lasted for close to two centuries, before Constantinople was captured by Mehmed II “the Conqueror” (r. 1444-81) in 1453.  What resulted was the city, that was once a bastion of Christendom, became under Islamic jurisdiction and Mehmed transformed the church of Hagia Sophia into a mosque.  

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Reigning over their empire, the main preoccupation of the Ottomans was the embellishment of their territory.  In 1517, Selim I “the Grim” (r. 1512-20) captured Egypt and Syria from the Mamluks.  Later, in 1526, following the battle of Mohács, his successor, Süleyman the Magnificent (r. 1520-1566), would increase the Ottomans' dominion yet further, bringing much of Hungary into the Islamic empire.  Their legacy in that region is manifested today in the resplendent bath houses constructed in Budapest.  

Elsewhere, the Ottomans made in-roads in Southern Italy and the Barbary Corsairs took Ottoman rule to North Africa.  Eastwards, in Iran, the battle of Chaldiran in 1514 took further territory from the Safavids and fluidly seized great quantities of plunder including opulent Chinese porcelain. 

The Ottomans' conquests around the Mediterranean, Near East and Middle East brought not just treasures to their empire, but also artisans and craftspeople, notably including the celebrated Iranian painter, Shahkulu.  He had joined the Ottoman cohort after his capture by Selim I in Tabriz along with other tilemakers in 1526 and, once in Istanbul, he was to head the court of artisans in the city.

It was the court of artists that brought the flourishment of the arts and dictated a coherent vocabulary of design across the empire.  This permeated the objects of the period, from ceramics to tiles and textiles.  

Broaching whole regions, the vocabulary was tolerant to different ethnicities and religions.  For example, Armenians constituted a large contingent of craftsmen and patrons, there was Greek aristocracy flourishing in Istanbul and a Jewish community, fleeing persecution in Spain and Portugal during the 15th and 16th centuries, who played a large part in banking.  In the analysis in the following section, I look at the Ottoman vocabulary of design across a range of objects and the precise character of each object.  

Ottoman ceramics were created using stone paste that was painted with coloured pigment before a transparent glaze was coated on top and the item heated.  Izmik, a town southeast of Istanbul, became the presiding centre of ceramic production within the Ottoman Empire.  From 1480 to 1700 was the so-to-speak “Golden Age” when production in this region flourished, leaving behind an array of resplendent ware.  

The demand came from the court at Istanbul.  The sultans’ favourite was Chinese porcelain, large quantities of which had been acquired from the Safavids after the battle of Chaldiran in 1514.  Within the organic production of ceramics inside the empire, different designs were gradually introduced during the 16th century, leading to a completion in around 1550 when the Armenia bole was introduced, which revolved around the use of iron-rich red.  

What is particularly noticeable and important about the Ottoman design on pottery was the juxtaposition of Ottoman ancestral motifs and Chinese motifs. These were traditionally known as rumi and hatayi.  Rumi motifs were traditionally characterized as a form of vegetal or arabesque decoration, which had been the iconic design of the Seljuk Rum sultanates in Anatolia where the early Ottomans had ruled from 1077 to 1307. Conversely, hatayi is the Arabic for Chinese and meant the Chinese elements, which could be commonly cloud scrolls or peonies.

An important artefact in the history of Iznik pottery is the Abraham of Kütahya ewer.  This is dated in Armenian to 11th March 915 (AD 1510) and was bequeathed to the British Museum by Edith Godman (G.1).  The item exemplifies the use of stone paste that is painted in blue under a transparent glaze.  The style of the decoration is known as ‘Baba Nakkas.  This name comes from the painter who was known to have made illustrations in this style and operated in the kitabkhana of Mehmed II (d. 1446).  

The settlement of Kütahya was in Anatolia and had been captured from the Byzantines by the Saljuks in the 11th century.  Under the Ottomans, the town became a cosmopolitan area with a significant number of Armenian Christians. On the ewer’s base, there is an inscription in Armenian indicating the object commemorates an individual, “Abraham, servant of God, of Kütahya.”  The artefact, therefore, was most probably commissioned by a Christian member or a member sympathetic to Christians within Ottoman imperial court, and was most probably created by an Armenian in Iznik.  Kütahya, itself, is known to have been a centre of ceramic production later in the 18th century.  

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Having potentially once accompanied by ewers were large basins known as ayak tasi.  An example of one these is a large basin from between 1540 and 1560, bequeathed to the British Museum by Edith Godman (G.66).  These items were used for ablutions by members of the Ottoman court.  Precisely on the artefact, the decoration is a combination of serrated edge leaf, known as saz, and rosettes and other floral motifs taking influence from Chinese peonies.  The delicate turquoise and green of the colour scheme is typical of Iznik pottery from the middle of the 16th century, the same time as the Dome of Rock was covered with tiles in 1549.    

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After 1550, the style of Iznik pottery changed dramatically.  Arriving in a newfound manner, naturalistic floral designs became the norm along with the initiation of brilliant red.  The tulip was incorporated in and amongst the flowers, which had been brought to the Ottoman court via the Austrian ambassador. Joining the peony, the chrysanthemum and the hyacinth, the tulip developed into an aspect of the distinctive Ottoman visual language, permeating ceramics, textiles and other media.  This is exemplified on an Iznik dish, dated between 1550 and 60 and bequeathed to the British Museum by John Henderson (1878,1230.497).  The artefact, that is painted with green, blue and red pigments under a transparent glaze, illustrates these floral decorations at the centre, while the design around the rim is based on the Chinese “rock and wave”, constituting a hatayi element.

By the mid 17th century, the imperial court could no longer provide enough demand to solely sustain the ceramics industry at Iznik.  Consequently, craftsman looked for a wider source of patrons from different regions across the empire.  It marked the end of the period in which demand for ceramics came from the imperial court alone.  

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The mid 1550s marked also the emergence of decorated tiles within the Ottoman Empire. Prior to the mid 1550s, production at Iznik had been largely centred around vessels, ignoring the possibility of manufacturing decorated tiles.  This changed following the commission of tiles for the Süleymaniye mosque complex.  This was being built by Süleyman the Magnificent’s architect, Sinan I (d.1588), in the mid 16th century. Appropriating space within the mosque, the use of tiles would grow into a widespread Ottoman fashion.   

Something that were initially placed discreetly above doorways or windows, the use of tiles would develop into coverings for whole walls, exemplified in the Harem of Topkapi Palace and the mosque of Rüstem Pasha. It became the iconic design of Ottoman buildings, spreading across the entire empire from Istanbul to Aleppo.  While Iznik was a primary hub for the production of these decorated tiles, production also spread to workshops in Jerusalem, Damascus, Diyarbakir in Anatolia and elsewhere across the empire.  

An example of one of these tiles, that still exists today, is found in the form of a hexagonal tile that, along with others, would have covered a wall in the Çinili Hamam in Istanbul. This was a building commissioned by the Ottoman admiral Hayrettin Barbarossa (d. 1546) and designed by the architect Sinan.  What the artefact illustrates is the painted design of ducks and serrated-edged saz leaves that largely suggests court artists were involved in the manufacture.  We can probably surmise that the tiles were created in Iznik and date to the 1540s around the time the building was being constructed.  The artefact was donated by Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks to the British Museum (1892,0613.69).  

That tile is painted in a light blue colour design, which is rare for the number of tiles manufactured in the 16th century.  A tile that showcases the blue, red and green colour scheme that developed after the mid-1550s is found in the form of a panel of four tiles that would have covered an unknown building (British Museum, bequeathed by Edith Godman G.77).  These were manufactured at the height of the Iznik tile production, and showcase the resplendent amalgamation of hatayi and rumi elements.  Precisely on the artefact, vegetal arabesque forms of rumi character combine with peonies and the saz leaf that constitute the hatayi elements.  Virulently enlightening the artefact, the brilliant colours pervade the tactile white of the background, that wholesomely characterise the objects as the most avant-garde of Iznik design.  The objects were made between 1550 and 1600 at a time when different pigment colours had been introduced. 

Not exclusive to Iznik, however, the production of painted tiles spread to Damascus among other regions.  This is apparent from a surviving collection of four tiles all painted in blue.  Ceramics and tiles had been made in Syria between the 12th and mid 15th centuries only to decline afterwards.  However, the Ottoman conquest in 1517 brought new life to the industry.  

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Spurring on the manufacture of tiles in Damascus most prominently was the refurbishment of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, instituted by Süleyman the Magnificent in the 1550s.  Once work on the Dome of the Rock was completed, tile makers migrated to Damascus where they began the manufacture of tiles for the newly arising buildings. This provided the catalyst for a blossoming Damascene tile industry.  Following the visual language of the entire Ottoman Empire, the Syrian tiles, exemplified by four constructed in Damascus between 1550 and 1600 (British Museum G.98.a-d), only differed from Iznik designs by the absence of brilliant red and the smaller presence of hatayi elements reflecting the artistic distance from the imperial court.  

Aside from great buildings and expensive porcelain, something that affected a great number of Ottoman citizens across the empire were the presence of public baths that allowed for communal bathing.  Ottoman baths, known as hammams, sprung up across the empire and were colloquially considered as omnipresent, with a legend stating that there were 365 baths in Damascus alone - one for each day of the year.  

Their popularity may have been down to the fact they allowed for Muslims to wash themselves prior to Friday prayers.  This theory is reflected in the fact a large number of hammams were constructed in close proximity to mosques or resided within Islamic education complexes.  In their nature, hammams differed from Roman baths in that they revolved around running water rather than steam. A typical Ottoman bath house was comprised of three rooms.  There was a hot room used for absorbing steam and deploying scrubs, a warm room where bathers washed with soap and running water, and a cool room that was usually a hall where bathers could swim, relax and socialise.  The Ottoman period would witness the foundation and endowment of hammams both in Istanbul and other regional administrative centres across the empire.    

The attendance of Ottoman citizens to public baths is attested in an Ottoman costume album from 1620 (British Museum 1928,0323,0.46.122).  This illustrates a woman and a young boy venturing to a hammam.  Above her head, the woman holds a container covered in red clothe that would have contained the items necessary for a trip to the baths.  This would have been a towel for each room along with other utensils such as a mirror, a comb, perfume and other cosmetics.  What the illustration most clearly demonstrates is that women and children would have attended bath houses as well as men.  While men would have been commonly separated from women and children, some complexes had different sections for women and children and different opening times accordingly.  

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Another central feature of Ottoman society was coffee drinking and coffee houses.  Coffee had been brought to the Ottoman Empire via a shaykh of the Shadhiliyyah Sufi order, Ali bin Omar al-shadhili.  He had returned to Mocha, in Yemen, from Ethiopia and introduced his friends to the coffee drink that was made from boiled coffee grounds.  This drink developed into a substance used by Muslims to dispel fatigue and enhance their state of mind during night-time dhikr performances in religious locations.  

Coffee spread into secular society and, through trade and pilgrimage routes, reached Istanbul in the early 16th century.  Thus, the coffee house became a newfound place to frequent, and, despite occasional religious and political decrees banning the substance, coffee became a mainstay of Ottoman life.  The drinking of coffee in the Ottoman empire is attested in a painting of a coffee brewer from 1620.  This depicts a female coffee brewer wearing an apron and holding a cup of coffee in either hand.  The painting is depicting the coffee brewer who was the single individual at the Ottoman court tasked with preparing the coffee and serving it to the sultan.  The artefact is derived from an album of 124 paintings, popularly known as costume albums which were created to provide information to Europeans who were fascinated with Ottoman society and customs (British Museum, 1928,0323,0.46.98).

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Thus, the Ottoman Empire was the home of the manufacture of resplendent collections of commodities.  While the demand for ceramics came from the imperial court in the 16th century, the establishment of the British East India Company in 1600 and the Dutch East India Company in 1602 ensured trade operated between the Ottomans and Europeans, allowing goods to travel further afield.  Joining alongside their Islamic counterparts, the Safavids, trade amongst Islamic nations and European nations blossomed as the years moved through the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, culminating in a spirit of globalization in the mid to late 19th century.   

The Ottoman Empire was at the forefront of Islamic creativity.  From the early stages of hatayi influxes, Ottoman ceramics grew from their origins at Iznik into production facilities across the empire.  Following the refurbishment of the Dome of the Rock in the 1550s, the production of tiles would also emerge and, equally, both coffee drinking and bath houses were a central part of Ottoman life.  The powerful empire, therefore, that exhibited unsurpassed wealth in the 16th century, has left behind across the museums of the world a range of artefacts that memorialise its grandeur.