Ottoman Furniture is Opening to the World.
It is known that many around the world especially value Ottoman furniture and decoration models. Asortie Furniture Production Manager Feyyaz Anlı stated that much of the handcrafted furniture Asortie produces was inspired by the Ottomans. Feyyaz Anlı further adds that, it was up to the finesse of Ottoman art for the expert architects to be so magnificent and elegant while producing the models. Anlı, who stated that they were very impressed and inspired by the fine furniture workmanship of Abdulhamid Han II, one of the pioneering Ottoman Sultans in the art of wood, stated that they tried to bring this delicacy into practice in their own designs.
Let’s delve into the love of carpentry Abdulhamid Han II had.
The Carpenter Sultan; II Abdulhamid!
It is known that most of the Ottoman Sultans, who ruled the world for 700 years, were artistic and prone to crafts, apart from being good state administrators. Sultan Abdulhamid II, who ruled the state at the most strategic time among the Ottoman Sultans, was a versatile and extraordinary sultan. He continued to work as a carpenter, which he started during his princedom, throughout his sultanate.
He was producing furniture of his own designs in the workshop he established in the palace. He would send handcrafted furniture as gifts to many foreign statesmen. This situation revealed both the artistic side of Sultan Abdulhamit II and the statesman side that could establish multidimensional political relations.
Sultan Abdulhamid II is an Ottoman sultan who left important traces in the art environment as well as in the Ottoman political life. The main purpose of this study is to reveal the unknown or forgotten dimensions of his artistic patronage in the Ottoman palace, and also to evaluate the character and historical role of Abdulhamid II, his identity that protects art and the artist, as well as the works of art he created as an artist. .
It is known that he also produced furniture in the carpentry workshop that Sultan Abdulhamid II established in the palace. It is known that Sultan Abdulhamid II, who started this art because of the carpentry education he received in his princedom, was mostly a master in mother-of-pearl and carving works and made works using these techniques with new trials. Abdulhamid II; As a result of his mastery in the art of wood, it is understood that he aimed to learn and get to know the furniture, which is the symbol of the change towards the West in the country. In this way, it aims to tell its people how to be both artistic and productive. The fact that he follows and transfers materials, tools, masters and technology from different parts of the world, from the Far East to Europe for his carpentry works, shows us the importance of his art and the place of his art in his life.
Sultan Abdulhamid II not only produced works himself, but also had the Yıldız Palace furniture factory, called Tamirhane-i Hümâyûn, established shortly after he ascended the throne in his palace. The fact that he established such a well-organized and equipped factory immediately after his accession to the throne allows us to understand that the Sultan had been working for such a project for a long time, and that he had at least mentally completed his design. Masters who learned woodwork by working with Abdulhamid II in the palace, later created new furniture types. As a matter of fact, after the closure of this palace workshop, those who grew up there became important names in the new production by establishing their own workshops during and after the reign of Abdulhamid.
It is known that most of the most famous furniture masters of the 1900s were former apprentices of this palace workshop.
