A digital archive showcasing the extensive collection of jewellery and adornment images shared on the former Ethnic Jewels Ning site over the years. These images have significantly enriched discussions on cultural adornment and its global dispersion.
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The photos following this one I have just taken from a Bulgarian folder of illustrative cards I received recently. Since it was published in 1981 I`m hoping theat no copyright issues arise. Not that it will be out of copyright but I`m hoping distance of time will soften any desire to sue!
I own NONE of them.
A splendid piece! I especially like the bottom pendant's tulip-like dangles.
A big favourite of mine, too. Even the flat bottomed lamels interest me. They are such a good foil for the richness of the rest. Do they derive from highly stylised khamsas I wonder.
Frankie, I like all these Bulgarian pieces. It would probably be possible to workshop them a little, so that they become clearer - if you are game. Anyway, my further main point is that in practice you need not worry about copyright issues as long as you are re-publishing only for educational reasons: it is when you are damaging the commercial rights of the owner that problems tend to arise. Or, admittedly, sometimes for other reasons, e.g. privacy. As these seem in the public domain and as there are other such folders regularly copied on the internet you are unlikely to have a problem. And they are very interesting jewellery! Ottoman, I'd say - that explains why they are what they are, with Bulgaria following Turkish examples.
Thanks for the clarification on copyright issues, Joost, Though I should say that wasn`t exactly shivering in my boots over it. My photographic skills aren`t up to much and that combined with the rather poor quality of the original reproductions have compounded here. But, believe me, they are best left alone, the way I "improve" things.
I find this whole Ottoman nomenclature problematical. If we take the example of the Bulgarian bracelets I have shown here. They are frequently referred to as Ottoman particularly when being for sale (Ottoman sells!). I have tried long and hard to find them referred to as Turkish or seen them worn as part of Turkish traditional dress with no success. On the other hand they are more often referred to as Bulgarian, as opposed to Ottoman, and are sold as Bulgarian.
Some of the ancient Bulgarian Orthodox Church jewelled items I have seen distinctly bear traces of what is often thought of as Ottoman, hence Islamic, style. I think this is not as contradictory as it might seem since there is bound to have been cross national boundaries influence - Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia often seeming to merge into a stylistic hotch-potch. It seems to me that the style has evolved from earlier beginnings. I don`t feel that any of the previously mentioned countries followed Turkish style, I think the style evolved as an interegional development. I think the description of Ottoman has come about due to the extent of the Ottoman empire hence Western Europe`s greater familiarity with it.
While most of the items I`ve shown were produced in Bulgaria while under Turkish sway, I have the feeling they are partly born of an indigenous style too. Though not entirely analogous, things produced in France whilst under German occupation weren`t suddenly referred to as German.
Certainly the composers of my catalogue of cards had no intention of referring to any of it as Ottoman but perhaps their motivations were not exactly unbiased.
I must confess that it`s a topic I need to research more.
Frankie,
Interesting. For me Ottoman is "better" than Turkish on two grounds:
- first its probably older (something coming from Turkey under the Ottomans would have been referred to as "Ottoman", not as Turkish.
-second it is -in my personal opinion- richer in that the Ottomans were an empire, i.e. they included a great variety of lands, cultures, artistic traditions, religions etc..........And that mixture was often reflected in their ornaments.( A bit like Roman art, not as "pure" as Greek art but including also , -apart from Greek-, African and Eastern influences in their productions......). To me it makes them more interesting/creative/original.............some would say "decadent" -because of the mix with a variety of foreign elements-.
I think this maybe why "Ottoman" sells.........What's your idea about why its more popular?
@Chantal and Frankie on the use of the word "Ottoman" in discussing works of art: Chantal, I think your idea of the function of the word "Ottoman" in referring to works of art is in general the right and accepted one. In general, the word refers to works made during the existence of, and in countries belonging to, the Ottoman Empire. That was one of the largest empires in the world, and also one that was one of the most long-lasting. Obviously, during its history there were artistic changes (though also much continuity) and not all of the objects made showed a marked "Turkish" influence. However, as the empire was in essence controlled from what we call Turkey, many objects show that country's pronounced influence radiating from the powerful centre outwards into the countries under Ottoman rule. So, even allowing for many differences in many countries, many objects from the Ottoman Empire (which included European countries like Bulgaria) can be recognised as "Ottoman" because they share a common style. This is particularly the case with many objects, in jewellery, that were produced during, say, the 19th c, many of which survive. A good many objects from Bulgaria, for example, look far more "Turkish" , than "European", and that fact is to be remembered, as otherwise many "European" objects are in danger of being wrongly classified: they are often Islamic, non-European in look, even though not necessarily wholly Oriental/Islamic in appearance either. Nevertheless, the Oriental/Islamic (essentially Turkish) component is dominant in almost all Ottoman art, which refers far less to a period than to a culture. It is entirely appropriate, Frankie, to see the Bulgarian objects from the cards which you have posted as predominantly "Ottoman" (i.e. "Oriental/Islamic") in cultural and aesthetic terms rather than anything else. They are not typically in tune with European traditions, even if they may show some European - including local - traits. In the next post I shall simply copy a relevant portion of the Wikipedia entry.
The Ottoman Empire acc. to wikipedia: "a Turkish empire which lasted from 27 July 1299[8] to 29 October 1923.[9]The Ottoman Empire was one of the largest and longest lasting empires in history; such that the Ottoman State, its politics, conflicts, and cultural heritage in a vast geography provide one of the longest continuous narratives. During the 16th and 17th centuries, in particular at the height of its power under the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the empire became the most powerful state in the world – a multinational, multilingual empire that stretched from the southern borders of the Holy Roman Empire to the outskirts of Vienna, Royal Hungary (modern Slovakia) and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the north to Yemen and Eritrea in the south; from Algeria in the west to Azerbaijan in the east;[10] controlling much of southeast Europe, Western Asia and North Africa.[11] The empire contained 29 provinces and numerous vassal states, some of which were later absorbed into the empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries.[dn 6]
With Constantinople (present-day Istanbul, Ottoman Turkish: استنبول, Istanbul[12] and قسطنطينيه, Kostantiniyye) as its capital city,[13]
CONCLUSION OF PREVIOUS POST ABOUT THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE:
and vast control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, the empire was at the center of interactions between the Eastern and Western worlds for over six centuries." [DON'T KNOW WHY IT WOULDN'T GO INTO JUST ONE BOX ...]
Frankie: I managed to post this - after some work on it! - on our "Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment" page in an improved version. True, one starts with a bad image to begin with, and I am no wizzard (my son is), but I manged to "upgrade" this quite a bit! I have also posted other Bulgarian pieces in the Ottoman tradition on the same Facebook page.
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