Kaftan thumbnail 1
On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Kaftan

1550-1600 (made)

Middle East, Textiles. Child's kaftan in two parts, brocaded silk with design of 8-pointed stars in blue and gold against cream ground, probably Istanbul or Bursa, Turkey, 1575-1625

Object details

Object type
Kaftan
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Kaftan
  • Kaftan
Brief description
Middle East, Textiles. Child's kaftan in two parts, brocaded silk with design of 8-pointed stars in blue and gold against cream ground, probably Istanbul or Bursa, Turkey, 1575-1625
Gallery label
(17/08/2012)
Jameel Gallery

Princes’ Kaftans from Ottoman Turkey

These three kaftans were worn by Ottoman princes who died when they were children. They were preserved in imperial tombs where, in accordance with Ottoman custom, they were placed over the graves of the deceased.

The kaftans may have come from the graves of the 19 younger sons of Sultan Murat III, who were executed at the succession of their half-brother, Mehmet III, in 1595. This practice, designed to avoid a struggle for the throne, caused public outcry and was never repeated.

The kaftans, woven of silk and metal-wrapped thread, show that even in childhood, Ottoman princes were dressed in the same lavish style as the sultan and his courtiers. The kaftans demonstrate a variety of designs of the time. The kaftan in the centre has a dense pattern of roundels that can also be seen in contemporary velvet (see case opposite).

Museum nos. 752, 761, 771-1884
Bibliographic reference
Patricia Baker, Jennifer Wearden, Ann French. "Memento Mori. Ottoman Children's Kaftans in the Victoria & Albert Museum", HALI, 51 (June 1990) 130-140
Collection
Middle East Section
Accession number
771-1884

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O319498/kaftan/
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