Cultural heritage restored at Mother of Pearl Lab

ISTANBUL

Master artisans restore historical works with skill and care in the Mother-of-Pearl Lab, preserving Türkiye’s rich heritage for future generations..

In the Mother-of-Pearl Lab, one of the 32 restoration and conservation labs under the National Palaces Presidency, works from pavilions, mansions and museums are skillfully restored to their former splendor.

In the lab, located within the Yıldız Palace Chalet Mansion, restorers bring worn, damaged or degraded works back into the inventory, making them displayable again with universal principles such as authenticity and minimal intervention.

Cemalettin Ünal, the Head of the National Palaces Mother-of-Pearl Lab, said that they are working on the Harem (seraglio) Door of the Topkapı Palace and a throne with a tughra belonging to Abdulhamid Han from Yıldız Palace.

"We are fully restoring pianos, sofas, chairs, doors and all decorations on these items, bringing from the National Palaces Presidency. We generally work on baroque-style pieces, but we also restore boulle-style pieces, like the piano we are now working on," Ünal said. 

 Organic materials are used

Ünal pointed out that the most challenging work so far was the restoration of six candelabras in Küçüksu Pavilion, adding: "My favorite piece was the table in the Mother-of-Pearl Room in Dolmabahçe Palace. It was a beautiful table with 16 column decorations, made entirely of mother-of-pearl. I restored it with great pleasure. As materials, we use organic wood materials like mother-of-pearl, rosewood, ebony and boxwood. Apart from these, we also do silver ornamentation as metal. We cut, shape and place the mother-of-pearl, ivory, vine and silver according to the original pattern."

Noting that parquetry is also among the lab's works, Ünal said: “Our materials are organic. No chemical or synthetic material is used. I have been doing this work for 45 years. I served in National Palaces for 32 years and worked in various restoration fields at Topkapı Palace for five years. There are four of us working in this lab, and we are currently working on three pieces. In the center, we have the entrance door to the harem of Topkapı Palace. It is a door approximately 400 years old, carrying all the features of the period. Of course, there are mother-of-pearl, ivory, vine and silver as metal ornamentations on it."

No room for waste

Emphasizing that restoration work requires focus, Ünal stated: "First, you need to do it with love. Of course, some experience is also needed. Since the material is both natural and very valuable, there is absolutely no room for waste here. Everything is planned, measured, and shaped accordingly."

Feeling very lucky to work in a job that directly touches history, Ünal said: "We are honored and delighted that rare pieces, which most people cannot handle, pass through our hands, and we work in a palace. For this reason, I feel very lucky. Seeing the pieces on display also brings separate joy. We touched almost all the mother-of-pearl work in the mansions and pavilions. Hopefully, it will continue in the future as well."