THE STORY OF OTTOMAN CAFTANS

Chintamani caftan from Topkapi museum.

Most outer caftans were made of costly fabrics such as brocade, silk, velvet or satin and then decorated with furs and precious stones such as emeralds and diamonds.Silk brocade, known as 'seraser', was the most highly valued fabric among the Ottomans.And the finest brocades, which were interwoven with threads either of an alloy of gold and silver or of straight silver, were produced under the supervision of the 'Serasercibasi' or 'Head Brocade Maker' in textile workshops attached to the Place at Istanbul.Meanwhile another kind of brocade known as 'kemha' or silk velvet was woven mainly in Bursa and Amasya. The caftans that form the overwhelming majority of the imperial costumes however are those made of 'atlas' or satin.Made of satin, a stiff, shiny sort of silk fabric, in a solid color, they were usually red, blue or green since these were the colors favored by the sultans.Other fabrics used to make caftans include gold-threaded 'catma'(a form of silk brocade), velvet, 'hatai', 'gezi'(a silk-cotton blend), 'selimiye'(another form of silk) and 'cuha'(broadcloth).

     

But a caftan also had other features which were as important as its fabric, namely its color, design and motifs.In the early periods of the Empire, plane tree leaf,pomegranate and large pine cone designs were often used on fabrics that were extremely brilliant in color.Caftans with tulip, cloud and 'dot' motifs are frequently encountered in the 16th century when the Turkish art of the fabric was highly advanced.As a symbol of power, the sultans usually wore caftans displaying the 'chintamani' or Chinese cloud motif, which consists of three overlapping circles, to intimidate the enemy on the battlefield.