I am doing some freelance work on some Ottoman style illustrations and I have been trying to find out what the Ottomans did when it came to flower arranging. My Turkish horticultural expert (you know who you are!) tells me that tulips were quite the thing then. In fact, the wealthiest period of the Ottoman empire was even called the tulip era.
Further research has shown that hyacinths, saz leaves and of course roses were popular. Some of the early Ottoman paintings have an almost gently lyrical Chinese aspect to them and were filled with lotuses and peonies but I don't know if those flowers were around in Turkey then, or how they displayed flowers. If any readers of this blog know more, I would love to hear from you! Please email me, Ellen at info@anzu.co.uk
Above images: A detail of a painting of mine from a previous project and a stunning Iznik tile
No comments:
Post a Comment