Istanbul Glass and Porcelain Ware

          






                                                               










The Istanbul Glass and Porcelain Ware collection is made up of approximately 2,000 pieces, with a large part of the collection being exhibited in the palace kitchens and in the Sherbet Chamber (Þerbethâne) and the Confectionery House (Helvâhâne), which are connected to one another.

The production of glass in Istanbul began with the Mevlevi dervish Mehmet Dede, who was sent to Italy by Sultan Selim III (r. 1789–1807) to learn glassmaking techniques; having studied these techniques in Venice, Mehmet Dede returned to Istanbul, where he began making glass pieces that, though at first resembling the glass products of Venice, soon began to show a distinct Istanbul style. In the glass workshops that were founded in Beykoz and that became synonymous with Istanbul glassmaking from the 19th century onwards, three different techniques were used: çeþm-i bülbül (“eye of the nightingale”) glass; opaline glass; and crystal and transparent glass. Of these, it is çeþm-i bülbül glass—in which colored sticks of glass are bound with the body of the glass piece and then twisted—that is most identified with Beykoz glass.

The Ottoman porcelains in the collection, which were highly valuable and thus designed exclusively for use in the palace, can be classed into two separate groups: those branded as Eser-i Ýstanbul (“Product of Istanbul”), and Yýldýz porcelains. The Eser-i Ýstanbul porcelains were the first Ottoman porcelains to be produced, beginning production in the time of Sultan Abdülmecid (r. 1839–61) in the workshops of Beykoz. The porcelain objects made in these workshops were produced using the underglaze technique and bear the “Eser-i Ýstanbul” brand on their bottoms; the color of the paints used to decorate the piece are typically the same as the color found in the brand. The production of Eser-i Ýstanbul porcelains, which are distinguished by their patterns of large flowers, lasted just thirty years before production was ended due to ongoing financial difficulties.

Yýldýz porcelains comprise the second group of Ottoman porcelains. Production began in 1890, in the time of Sultan Abdülhamid II (r. 1876–1909), in a factory established in the garden of Yýldýz Palace; the name of the factory was the Imperial Yýldýz Factory of Chinaware (Yýldýz Çini Fabrika-ý Hümâyûn). Though the Yýldýz porcelains were primarily produced to satisfy the need for porcelain of the palace residents, they were also given as gifts to foreign statesmen and high-level Ottoman dignitaries. Additionally, Yýldýz porcelains were sent to the kings, queens, tsars, and tsarinas of Europe as gifts of state, and can still be found in European palaces today, albeit in small numbers.