Lampas-woven textile with tulips, silk and silver lamella

Although this textile was cut down a couple of centimeters on the sides, its large, stylized tulips make it a fine example of the highly original and magnificent patterns that were designed in the Ottoman court studios. The point of departure for the patterns was often a fairly true-to-life depiction of local Turkish plants, but frequently – as here – combined with more abstract elements such as scale patterns, cloud ornaments, and other features like the little growths that resemble stamens.

So much gold and silver thread was used for certain textiles that the sultans prohibited their production for periods, since they drained the reserves of precious metals.