Ipek : The Crescent and the Rose

by Julian Raby

"Figured silk fabrics were among the most powerful and most characteristic artistic products of the Ottoman empire. Through their role as diplomatic gifts, silks came to symbolize the Ottoman imperium to foreigners, while at home they were an important vehicle for the transmission of artistic ideas, and a key factor in the economy. Wars were fought for control of silk revenues, and governments devoted major bureaucratic efforts towards the organization, regulation and taxation of silk production. Silks took a major role in Ottoman public ceremonies and in upper-class culture, denoting...

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