We know from ancient Greek poetry and leg end that tapestries were woven in Asia Minor in ancient times, and that these textiles were used not only as wall or floor carpets but aiso as garments. Textile fragments found by Mellaert at Troy, as well as Phrygian textiles found at Gordion, show that the art of tapestry weaving in Anatolia dates back to at least the seventh century B.C.
In Egypt the Copts came under the hegemony first of the Greeks, then of the Romans, and finally of the Arabs, and the influence of each of these is to be clearly seen in their weaving. Hellenistic influence produced tapestries with classical and mythological themes and a naturalistic approach to human and animal figures. This later gives way to portraits dis playing the large eyes with black contours typical of Roman mosaics, while finally we come to a period of decorative stylisation and abstraction.
A curious resemblance is to be found between Coptic tapestries from Egypt and Inca tapes tries of early Peru dating from the 6th century B.C. These sim ilarities are no doubt due to common climatic conditions and a number of common cultural features.
Tapestry weaving entered Europe through the Islamic hegemony in Spain and possibly as a result of the Crusades, and developed parti cularly in France and Flanders. By the six teenth century Renaissance values had entered tapestry weaving in the form of pers pective, and tapestries were made in the style of raphael and other Renaissance painters. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the famous Gobelin factory produced tapestries remarkable for their delicate nuances of
colour and play of light and shade.
Work continues at the moment on the produc tion of tapestries in conformity with contem porary taste, and in this connection we may mention the work of Elizabeth Kadow in Ger many, Magdalena Abakanowich in Poland, Mi lan Kajovic in Yugoslavia, Joseph Grau Gar riga in Spain, Seika Jamage in Japan and the painter Özdemir Altan in Turkey.
THE ARTIST
SPEAKS :
MUSTAFA ASHER
After finishing primary school in Çataklar I moved with my family to Bursa, where I en tered Middle School. Here I had the great good fortune to have Kenan Özbel as my art teaecher, and although he taught me for only one year he aroused in me a love of art that was to last for the rest of my life. After Middle School I went on to the Primary Teashers Training Shool, which had very well equipped painting and sculpture workshops. Sirri Özbay, who taught painting there, liked my drawings and water-colours, and it was here that I had •ny first exhibition.
After this I went to the Gazi Teachers Training College in Ankara, where I entered the Art section. Here I became acquainted with the work of foreign artists such as Daumier, Re mbrandt and Goya, and I became particularly interested in printing techniques. The college was poorly equipped in this respect, but I
managed to find the opportunity of working on lithography in a local printing house.
On graduating from the Teacher’s Training College I entered the School of Printing to study graphic art. Here. I had ai the necessary equipment at my disposal and made con siderable progress in both lithography and metal engraving.
In 1953 I won a competition for a shcolarship to Germany, and, after studying for eighteen months at a language school in Munich, during which time I also attended a studio of graphic arts as a guest student, I entered the Stuttgart Higher School of Graphic Arts. Great stress was laid here on technology and its application After graduating I spent eighteen months in
artistic work in Germany, where I opened my first oneman exhibition in the Senatore Galery in Stuttgart. Pictures from this exhibition were chosen for an art calendar published in Ger- many.
On returning to Turkey in 1958 I was appointed to the Higher School of Applied Fine Arts in Istanbul, where I am still working, having been
promoted first to head of department and then, for two terms, to the post of director. The school is very well equipped for various types of printing, and it soon became an active centre not only for students studying these techniques but also for established artists such as Bedri Rahmi Eyuboglu, Aliye Berger and Cihat Burak.
THE GATES OF TOPKAPI SARAY
FİRDEVS ÖZKA
Topkapı Saray has three gates: the Bab-ı Hü mayun (Imperial Gate), the main gate opening from the city through the outer defence walls of the palace, the Bab-ı Selam (Gate of Peace) leading from the first courtyard into the se cond, and the Bab-ı Saadet (Gate of Felicity) opening into the Enderun, or private apart ments of the Saray.
The Bab-ı Hümayun was built by Mehmed the Conqueror in 1478. It was originally surmoun ted by a kiosk with two rows of windows looking out over the square in front of Aya- sofya. This was later replaced by a parapet, which was itself removed in 1951. It is a very fine stone construction with dome and arches in brick. Extensive repairs were carried out by Sultan Aziz in 1868.
The Bab-ı Selam also dates from the reign of the Conqueror, but the towers, which lend the gate a rather foreign air, were added by Su leyman the Magnificent on his return from the Hungarian campaign. On the other hand the lead-covered cones, the capitals in the arches, the battlements and the hour-glass motifs are all typically Turkish. The gate is adorned with 48
the tughras of Mahmut II and, on the marble slab to the right of the gate, of Mustafa III. On the side facing the second courtyard there is a wide portico added by Mustafa III during repairs. The arches are surmounted by wide eaves, and the decoration is one of the finest examples of 19th century woodwork.
The Bab-i Saadet was also built in the reign of the Conqueror, but lost its original form in the course of subsequent repairs. In the time of Selim III the portico was widened by re moving the six original columns and placing four rather higher columns further out into the courtyard. The corniches contain very in teresting landscape paintings, and in the reign of Mustafa III marble fountains were added on each side of the gate. Above the keystone is to be seen the tughra of Mahmud II, with other tughras on each side.
Other interesting gates in the Saray include the gate into the Baghdad Kiosk, built by Mu rat IV in 1639, the gate opening into the Ha rem from the Enderun Courtyard, the Carriage Gate, built by Murat III in 1588, and the doors of the Ahmet III Library and the Revan Kiosk.
İstanbul Şehir Üniversitesi Kütüphanesi Taha Toros Arşivi
