A Group of Fifteen Ottoman Court Drawings, Turkey, circa 1660

Gouache heightened with gold and silver on paper, 15 individually mounted and framed leaves with a character drawing of an Ottoman notable, ruled in red, with identifying inscriptions above in naskh script in black ink and above and below in a European hand in English

In generally good overall condition, a few minor stains, colours bright, as viewed.
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During the seventeenth century, albums depicting members of Ottoman society from all ranks and backgrounds were often commissioned by foreign visitors to the Empire as both touristic records of their travels, as well as informative tools for European governments. The existence of inscriptions above and below the paintings in Ottoman Turkish and English in the present group, identifying the characters, bears out this hypothesis. Although they were often roughly drawn, they were accurate representations. Comparable drawings were in the collections of Jean Pozzi and Edwin Binney III (see Binney 1979, pp.98-101, no.62).