158 - [Turkey - Armenia - Greece].

[Turkey - Armenia - Greece]. [Drawing]. [Ottoman Empire, costumes and views]. No place, no date. 19th century. 18 drawings (16.5 x 22.6 cm), mounted on 9 sheets of heavy paper; ink and watercolor on paper (a few very faint stains and foxing spots; otherwise, the drawings are in very good condition; the view of the Sultan Ahmet Mosque has been removed from its mount). A beautiful collection of original watercolor drawings depicting Oriental costumes and views of Constantinople. First half of the 19th century. They depict a wide variety of costumes and figures from the Ottoman Empire, notably the sultan, the grand vizier, the Kislar-Aga (chief eunuch), the Seliktar-Aga (sword-bearer), the sultan’s and pasha’s guards, the bostangis, the Janissaries, as well as artisans, a storyteller, a firefighter, and couriers. The plates also illustrate the diversity of the Empire’s populations and costumes, with depictions of Armenians, Greeks from Smyrna and Constantinople, Persians, Tatars, an Albanian soldier, and a figure identified as a “Vechabite.” Several plates are devoted to women’s costumes, notably those of ladies and young women from Smyrna and Cairo, Egyptian peasant women, and Arab women from Cairo. One plate, in particular, depicts a lady from Cairo riding a donkey and accompanied by two servants. The collection also includes several views of Constantinople and its surroundings: the Salely Mosque, a view of the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, a view of the Scutari Pavilion, a view of Hagia Sophia, and a view of the Arsenal.