Categories
Museum Object

32. Tulips

Gallery:

Islam

Room / Case / #

43 / 6

Tulips from the Pamirs

Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have more varieties of wild tulips  than anywhere else. They are depicted in 8th C Sogdian wall paintings from Tajikistan, seen in 11th C gardens in Isfahan (Iran) then in 14th C Ottoman Istanbul. In 1554  Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent  sent  the first tulips to Europe as a gift to the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand 1st in Vienna.  (History as it ought to be, one war lord sending another flowers). This album leaf shows a messenger wearing a high white turban, black sleeveless kaftan with brown and white fur lining, silver robe, and yellow shoes. Red tulip cut-outs on either side. This picture is from a book of 65 painted paper pages and was produced in 1618 in Istanbul. It has the self explanatory title of ” A briefe relation of the Turckes, their kings, Emperors, or Grandsigneurs, their conquests, religion, customes, habbits, etc” Book size about 20cm by 14 cms.