Hope in the East A dandy on the grand tour, Thomas Hope and the Benaki drawings by David Watkin and Fani Maria Tsigakou
In 1983 Fani-Maria Tsigakou of the Benaki Museum in Athens found five volumes of late 18th-century drawings of Ottoman Empire subjects by Thomas Hope. So finely drawn were they that they had been mistakenly catalogued as engravings. Hope had travelled to Turkey on his Grand Tour, falling in love with the customs, costumes and artefacts of the Ottoman Empire, influences he took back with him to London. David Watkin assesses Hope's orientalism and its place in the development of Regency style, and the artist's depictions of Istanbul, among them this pen-and-sepia drawing, are published here, courtesy of the museum, for the first time
Related books
Anastasius Thomas Hope's Byronic novel Elibron Classics, 3 vols.
Palaces of Diplomacy
The Embassies of Ottoman Pera by Patricia Daunt with photographs by Fritz von der Schulenburg
The former embassies of Ottoman Istanbul, like opulent country houses in national costume, have more of a consular role today but their vast chambers still evoke the diplomatic rituals of their nineteenth century heyday. In the first of two articles Patricia Daunt traces the history of these spectacular winter palaces, and Fritz von der Schulenburg assembles a unique photographic record of the treasures they contain.
Polishing the vast parquet floor of the ballroom of Pera House, the former British Embassy
Cornucopia 6 for Patricia Daunt on the summmer residences on the Bosphorus, and Cornucopia 39 for Ankara's Embassies, photographed by Fritz von der Schulenburg Palaces of Diplomacy Three Issue Special Offer
By Hali writ The story of Hali magazine by Madelaine Marsh
Rug enthusiasts have their own unique bible in Hali Magazine -not a staid academic journal but an accessible and even irreverent guide to the global antique textile scene.
Anatolian kilim, before 1750 (203 x 223cm)
Hali's 157th issue Autumn 2008
Wildlife
Life in the Sultan Marshes The migrating birds of central Anatolia Text and photographs by Chris Hellier
Turkey's Sultan Marshes are a veritable magnate for countless flamingos, teals and other winged visitors, all of them enriching these wetlands with colour and sound. Chris Hellier moves in for a closer look
Thousands of Greater Flamingos appear as a narrow strip of white at the foot of Mount Erciyes, the volcanic mountain that dominates the Sultan Marshes
Travel notes:
The Sultan Marshes (Sultan Sazligi) lie south-west of Cappadocia, 4-5 hours drive from Ankara. The regions best hotels are at Urgup. SeeCornucopia's hotel directory
Cookery
Soul fruit Pomegranate recipes Text and photographs by Berrin Torolsan
Pomegranates, long enjoyed for their succulence and their inner beauty, have been credited with uplifting properties. Berrin Torolsan presents a selection of recipes using these fascinating jewelled winter fruits Pomegranate recipes:
A tale of two countries Turkey's Abkhazians by Jeremy James with photographs by Simon Upton
The Abkhazians are among they many peoples who have fled in waves from the Caucasus to find refuge in Turkey. The photographer Simon Upton captures the rural face of Abkhazian culture as it has survived in the valleys of Adapazari east of Istanbul since the 1860s. And the writer Jeremy James crosses the Black Sea to discover the proud people's original homeland in the former Soviet Union and witness their struggle to preserve it
See The People That Time Forgot: Russia's Love Affair with the Caucasus, Cornucopia 28
Connoisseur
Art from a distance Vanmour and the Guardis by Jean Michel Casa
An exhibition at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice
In 1699, when the Marquis Charles de Ferriol d'Argental was appointed French ambassador to the Ottoman court by Louis XIV, he took in his entourage a little-known artist from Valenciennes to paint the costumes and customs of the Ottoman capital and to record his mission. The marquis returned to France in 1711, but Jean-Baptiste Vanmour stayed on in Istanbul... Vanmour was never a great artist, but he was in effect the first of the orientalist painters. Charles de Ferriol, for his part, was whimsical and quick-tempered. But in 1712, soon after his return to Paris, he did have the genius to publish engravings of a hundred Ottoman portraits which he had ordered from Vanmour in 1708 and 1709. The work was an overwhelming success. Jean Michel Casa tells the story of how many years later it came to the aid of the celebrated Guardi brothers, then at the height of their fame, commissioned by the great marshal von der Schulenburg, who had defeated the Ottomans at Corfu and retired to a palazzo in Venice, to paint fourteen oriental scenes.
See Philip Mansel's review of Eyewitness of the Tulip Period, Jean Baptiste Vanmour, in Cornucopia 30
Interiors
Bars and stripes Nisantasi's bars and cafes by Nicholas Haslam with photographs by Simon Upton
Coffee has come home to roost (and to roast) in the smart new haunts of Istanbul, where the chattering classes meet for conversation over steaming cappuccini and filling fettuccine. Nicholas Haslam discovers the latest café society.
Right: Susam in Cihangir is just one of the many haunts to have taken stripes as a theme.
More textile design in this issue:
Istanbul Design Directory: a 9-page guide introduced by Amicia de Moubrey with photographs by Simon Upton
Hidden Treasures of the Seraglio: Dyala Salam's London shop, replete with riches from the Eastern Mediterranean, by Patricia Jellicoe
Bagging the best: Penny Oakley picks the cream of carpets and textiles
Trail of Silk: A mission to tie up the loose ends of Ottoman silk weaving, by Tim Stanley see cover story, Cornucopia 23
Book reviews
John Carswell reviews Sinan: Ottoman Architecture and its Values Today, by Godfrey Goodwin and A Late 19th-century Tailor's Order Book, by Hülya Tezcan, published by the Sadberk Hanim Museum, Istanbul
Penny Oakley reviews carpet and textile books from ICOC Hamburg
Plus books in brief: Splendours of the Bosphorus: Houses and Palaces of Istanbul, by Chris Hellier ; Flammarion's L'Art de Vivre a Istanbul, with photographs by Jerome Darblay; Ottoman Embroidery, by Roderick Taylor; Kaitag: Textile Art from Daghestan, by Robert Chenciner
Making airwaves: Turkish satellite TV, by David Barchard
Waterway madness: The Bosphorus shipping crisis, by John Murray Brown
Restaurant reviews: The Gravy Train, by Christopher Ryan, including Club 29, Kuruçesme Divan, the Marmara and the Tugra Restaurants
