Painter Jean-Baptiste Van Mour's Ottoman dress album republished

ISTANBUL

Van Mour’s Ottoman dress album was a pioneer of Turkish fashion movement, which continued in Europe for many years.

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Kültür A.Ş. has published the facsimile of Flemish-French painter Jean-Baptiste Van Mour’s Ottoman dress album. The album titled “Lale Devri Ressamı Van Mour’un Çizimleriyle Osmanlı Kıyafet Albümü” (Ottoman Dress Album with drawings by Tulip Era Painter Van Mour), has been published for the first time in its original size in three languages.

According to a written statement by Kültür A.Ş., the first edition of the work was made in 1714 in Paris, and it has great importance since it was a pioneer of Turkish fashion movement, which continued in Europe for many years, and it displays Ottoman life. The publication, which has been used by westerners to understand the east, includes 102 drawings accompanied by a detailed narration from the French Ambassador to Istanbul at the time, M. de Ferriol. The publication is a kind of intelligence report for an era, the statement said.

The book’s project coordinator is Associate Professor Ömer Osmanoğlu and notes were taken by historian Sinan Ceco, according to the statement.  

“Painter Van Mour, who came to Istanbul with Ferriol in 1699 and stayed there for 37 years until his death, witnessed the sultanate of Ahmed II, the grand vizier position of Amat İbrahim Paşa, the Tulip Era and Patrona Halil riot. With the order of Ferriol, Van Mour painted the sultan as well as palace officials, religious men, dervishes, artisans, ethnic groups and social events. This caused him to leave a mark in history. Following his 12 year mission, the ambassador returned to his country in 1711 and presented Mour’s paintings to the French King Louis XIV. Some 102 drawings by Van Mour were published in Paris in 1714 with the title ‘Recueil de Cent Estampes Representant du differentes Nations du Levant.’”

Ottoman dress becomes fashion in Europe

The book, which received much interest from Parisians since the first day of its publication, has been so far published many times, in many countries, said the statement. The publication was released in Spain under the title “Collection de Trages de Turquia” and “Costumes of Turkey” in Britain.

The statement said this interest in this fashion album caused the birth of Turkish fashion in Europe and Ottoman wear was fashionable among Europeans.

In 1782, 68 years after the book was published, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed the opera “Abduction from the Seraglio,” which features Topkapı Palace, the statement said and continued:

“This important work by Mozart is one of the apparent evidences of interest in Turkish dresses and life in Europe in those years. The clothes in this opera, which drew great interest from the people of Vienna after its premiere, are the extensions of the Ottoman dress movement, pioneered by the drawings of Van Mour.” Also, porcelain bibelots appeared as a result of this “Turkish fashion” and they began to be produced in Germany’s Meissen Porcelain factory in 1740s. Designers of the factory, J. J. Kaendler and P. Reinicke copied the drawings of Van Mour when producing these bibelots, according to the statement.