Paintings17th-18th century

A Turkish Princess

18th century

Description

Dressed as an upper-class woman of Istanbul, the subject of this work gazes directly at the viewer from under prominent arched eyebrows. She wears a collared red kaftan, the right hem of which is tucked into a low-slung golden belt. The kaftan is loosely fastened at the bust to reveal a low décolletage. A gossamer fabric serves for flaring sleeves and a gold-edged skirt, beneath which appear billowing trousers patterned with floral designs. Her headgear consists of an upward-tapered hotoz sheathed in gold fabric, held in place with a headscarf or sarık edged with gold beads. Her costume is completed with teardrop earrings, gold bracelets, and yellow çedik on posed feet, all signaling high status. She stands on a balcony with European-style balustrades overlooking the Bosphorus from Üsküdar on the Asian side of Istanbul. In the distance, beyond her left hand proper, stands the Maiden’s Tower as it appeared before it was rebuilt in the early 19th century. Directly below her hand, on the Üsküdar shore, can be seen a minaret, a lead-clad dome, and brick buildings which likely represent the Atik Valide mosque-madrasa complex. The painting combines elements from a series of engravings printed in Receuil de divers portraits des principales dames de la Porte du Grand Turc (Paris: Antoine Estienne, 1648).

Classification

Paintings

Medium

Oil on brass

Period

Ottoman period

Century

17th-18th century

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Islamic & Later Indian Art

Dimensions

20.6 × 15.2 cm (8 1/8 × 6 in.)

Provenance

Edwin Binney, 3rd, San Diego, California, (by 1986), bequest; to Harvard University Art Museums. NOTE: Stored at the San Diego Museum of Art from some time before 1986 until 1991, then at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art from 1991 -- 2011.