Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

The Metropolitan Museum of Art


    • Velvet fragment, late 15th–early 16th century; Ottoman
    Anatolia (Bursa)
    Silk and metallic thread

    L. 27 3/4 in. (70.5 cm), W. 25 in. (63.5 cm)
    Rogers Fund, 1908 (08.109.23)

    A popular pattern in Turkish decorative arts, particularly textiles, was the cintamani ("auspicious jewel"). Of Buddhist origin, it consists of three balls or circles, originally representing pearls, and a pair of wavy bands, representing flames or waves of the sea. In Ottoman Turkey, the meaning had evolved into a token of good luck, with a suggestion of strength and courage through association with tiger stripes and leopard spots. Perhaps this is the type of fabric called pelengi ("leopard-like") in early Ottoman sources.

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    This work has been published in the Museum's Bulletin or Journal. These articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship.
  • Ettinghausen, Richard. "Islamic Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 33, no. 1 (Spring, 1975).
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  • Velvet fragment, late 15th–early 16th century; Ottoman
    Anatolia (Bursa)
    Silk and metallic thread

    L. 27 3/4 in. (70.5 cm), W. 25 in. (63.5 cm)
    Rogers Fund, 1908 (08.109.23)