Stories about conquests, battles and empires are full of great individual feats and heroic group efforts. In addition to the conformation of monarchies and the imposition of one civilization to another, each one had a conception of beauty but always with precious stones and metals. The jewels of the Ottoman Empire are no exception.
Also known as Ottoman Turkish Empire, it was a multiethnic state ruled by the Osmanlí Dynasty between the years 1299 and 1923AD. For this reason, the so-called House of Osman was one of the most powerful lineages during the Middle Ages and the Modern Age.
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the expansion of the Empire by the southwestern Europe, Middle East and North Africa put the Osmanlí family in the splendor of its Dynasty for three continents in 29 provinces, plus the States Vasallos, in which it did not exercise direct control, Moldova, Transylvania and Wallachia.
The Ottoman Empire, bordered Morocco to the west, the Caspian Sea to the east, and Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia and Arabia to the South. Its main characteristic is ornamentation products and bright and colorful jewelery decoration.
Secondly, a characteristic and distinctive feature of Ottoman jewelry is the use of almost rough gems in different pieces made of metal molded and adapted according to the size and shape of the stone.
Another particularity of that place is the attire of men and women adhered to the typical turban and tunics of the zone, decorated mainly with flowers and exotic birds made of diamonds, emeralds, turquoises, rubies or pearls in brooches and pins accompanied with feathers.
Among the jewels worn by the Ottoman courtiers and dignitaries were the different types of metals with natural floral or geometric allegories in gold or silver belts, buckles and buttons that distinguished them and distanced them from the jewels and garments of European monarchies.
A particularity in the Ottomans outfits is the use of the jewels in the knights’ belts, swords or dagger, as a symbol of power, in contrast with the adornment of the hair, nose, ears, neck, wrists, hands and fingers, as well as the phalanges and ankles of the ladies’ feet.
In relation to the crowns and tiaras worn by both men and women, and the long earrings or necklaces worn by women, adorned with emeralds, pearls and diamonds of up to 144 carats, which could go down to a person’s knees.
The jewels of the Ottoman Empire are not only related to the garments worn by the royal family and their glamour. Additionally, they decorated the utensils that surrounded them with stones as well.
For this reason, it is common to see inside the relics of the Empire, firearms, knives, cutlery, boxes, pipes, fans, combs, mirrors, candles and utensils in general decorated with ivory, gold, diamonds and rubies. All the splendor of an Empire that was defeated after World War I.
ALFA