Fabric

Types of Fabric


"Turkish fabrics are unique in weaving features, materials used, and designs reflecting Turkish taste. Research on the subject identified about six hundred and fifty names" (Ayasli, S., Ayasli, Y., & Jackson, C. A.).


Cotton


Common Turkish Terms:

  • Bez (linen and cotton)

  • Kutnu: cotton fabric with crosswise glossy silk or matte cotton strips. Term literal meaning cotton


“Although a great deal of cotton was produced in Anatolia, it was not sufficient to meet the demand and cotton was also imported from the East, India in particular. The same applied to wool supplies” (Ayasli, S., Ayasli, Y., & Jackson, C. A., The Art OF Turkish Textiles).


Linen


Common Turkish Terms:

  • Bez (linen and cotton)


Silk


Common Turkish Terms:

  • Atlas: Stiff silk fabric; known in Europe as satin; it is the oldest silk with a warp-faced weave in which the weft threads remain invisible.

  • Canfes: Knitted-like fabric in alternate layers of warp and weft; fine taffeta.

  • Citari: plain silk mixed with cotton and with narrow bands with flowers

  • Dibâ: Brocaded silk with silver and gold design

  • Gezi: plain watered silk or moiré silk

  • Kemha: silk brocade with a supplemental twill weave in silk with silver and gilt threads

  • Serenk: a thick, patterned fabric in which bright yellow silk is used in place of gilt thread

  • Zerbeft, Zerbaft: Silk fabric with motifs in gold thread


Ottomans loved silk and it reflects not only in court dress but the economics of the empire. Bursa, a major trade hub less than a hundred miles from Constantinople (Istanbul).


Wool


Common Turkish Terms:

  • Aba: a heavy wool cloth


Miscellaneous Types of Fabric


Fur


I haven't done much research at the moment on the different types of fur used but I do know that pine martins were used.


Other


Common Turkish Terms:

  • Bezayaǧı: The simplest weave of canvas

  • Çuha: broadcloth

  • Serâser: Cloth of gold and silver

  • Sip: A kind of coarse gauze

Weaves of Fabric


Brocade


Info coming soon!


Twill


Info coming soon!


Satin


Info coming soon!


Tabby


Info coming soon!


Damask


Info coming soon!


Serâser (cloth of gold and silver)


Info coming soon!


Velvet

  • Çatma : Voided Velvet, (velvet brocade); "A form of velvet that is deliberately woven with areas of ground that have no pile. Instead these areas are often produced with a tabby weave or satin weave in order to contrast with the piled areas" (Vogelsang).

  • Kadife: velvet


Osseman, D. (2014). Ottoman robe that belonged to Alaedin, son of Sultan Murad Iv, circa 1635 and a “takke” (skullcap) from the same period. PBase. https://pbase.com/dosseman/image/156139091.

Osseman, D. (2007). Kaftan. https://pbase.com/dosseman/image/39724103.

Colors

"Although Süleyman seems to have favored pistachio-green, he also wore red, blue, navy, white, and purple and in addition to black, brown, and pastel-colored robes" (Atıl, 1983, pg 183).


Extant Ottoman clothing and other textile pieces show that they wore a wide variety of colors as mentioned in the quote above however they did seem to favor red, then blue, emerald green, black, white, and bright yellow/honey color. The Turkish Cultural Foundation has established a project called the Cultural Heritage Preservation and Natural Dyes Project with the goal of analyzing dyestuff that was were used by the Seljuk and Ottoman for research, restoration, and conservation.

Commonly Seen Fabric Patterns

““Fabric designs are very much dominated by fashion, and are more exposed to outside influences than any other branch of the decorative arts” (pg 18), “But in spite of all the innovations and the general openness to new ideas, 15th-century Ottoman art remained strictly faithful to the principles of Islamic art and its traditional decorative styles” (pg 40)” (Nevber, G, The Art of Turkish Weaving: Designs Through the Ages)

Commonly Seen Symbols

- Flowers

  • Tulips

  • Carnations

  • Roses

  • Spring Blossom

  • Hyacinth

  • Lotus


- Trees

  • Apple

  • Date Palm

  • Cypress


- Animals

  • Peacock

  • Deer


- Crescent Moon


- Star Motifs


- Fruit

  • Pomegranate

  • Apple

  • Date

  • Artichoke

  • Pineapple


- Crowns


- Triple Circles


- Tiger Stripes

Patterns and Pattern Direction

Patterns

  • Rumi

  • Wavy Vine

  • Staggered

  • Staggered with Ogival Lattice

  • Staggered with Double Ogival Lattice

  • Horizontal

  • Stacked

  • Banded


Pattern Directions

  • Straight Repeat

  • Straight Repeat with Two Minimum Pattern Areas

  • Vertical Point Repeat

  • Vertical Point Repeat with Two Minimum Pattern Areas

  • Vertical and Horizontal Point Repeat

  • Horizontal Point Repeat

Akar, A. (1992). Authentic Turkish Designs (Ser. Dover Pictorial Archive Series). Dover. pg 36.