Find books, articles, and websites about houses and housewares in Ottoman Turkey in the 16th century. Because of the limited information from the 16th century, I have included resources covering the early 17th century as well. The mid-17th century appears to be when fashions change enough that houses definitely no…
For centuries, outsiders have envisioned the Turkish house as a man’s world, a lushly carpeted, cushioned paradise with, off to the side, a sort of fancy rec room where they keep the women. Probably naked. Now switch up the scene a little. Imagine you’re the man at the right, with…
The Ayşe Kadın House, in Manisa, is a 17th-century house of the simple external-sofa type typical of the 16th century.
Eldem documented a house in Bursa that neighborhood legend dated to 1555, largely on the basis of the style of its decorations. It’s uncertain whether the house was genuinely that old, but it was clearly among the older houses in existence. Unfortunately, Eldem provided only a limited record, focusing on…
16th-century court artists’ interiors tended toward the palatial, but they crammed in a lot of little details. I haven’t been able to trace this image, which is a shame, because it’s a great depiction of a wealthy man at leisure. He leans against a cylindrical pillow (balin), listening to musicians.…
Outside the heart of the city, most houses in 16th-century Istanbul were a semi-rural type: One to three rooms, on average, with a small courtyard and possibly a veranda-like indoor/outdoor room called a sofa. The courtyard and sofa were as much a part of the house as the enclosed rooms…