An Ottoman carved marble funerary finial in the form of an örfi turban, Turkey, circa 18th century

The folds of the turban are in the örfi style indicating that the deceased was a high-ranking member of the Ottoman judiciary. The use of high-quality marble and the large size indicates that he was a man of means as well as rank.

"Turbans were worn until the reign of Sultan Mahmud II (1808-1839) when fezzes came into fashion. They had various names, depending on their shape and how they were wrapped, such as örf, kallâvi, selimî, mucevveze and horasanî. An örf is a muslin turban with broad bands of cloth, worn on ceremonial occasions by chief justices in the presence of the supreme religious functionary" (Istanbul. the City and the Sultan, exhibition at De Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam, 2006, p.122).

Related funerary finials are to be found in a number of museum collections, including the Wereldmuseum, Rotterdam (ibid., p.79), often acquired as exotica or curiosa by 19th-century European tourists visiting the Levant and Turkey.