Tezhip sanatı ve tezhip sanatçısı Rikkat Kunt

Abstract

5. THE ART OF OTTOMAN ILLUMINATION In Ottoman art, as in that of the entire Islamic world, illumination (Turkish: tezhip) played an integral role in the decoration of manuscripts and calligraphic panels. The most outstanding Ottoman examples of this art were produced in Istanbul by illuminators called müzehhip, who numbered among the court painters and designers known as nakkaş. Working along with them were other illuminators who were not bound to the Palace but worked in the markets of Istanbul. Illumination, which in many respects is the fountainhead of Ottoman decorative arts, finds its primary application in the embellishment of Korans, mu rakkas (calligraphy collages), and various other manuscripts. Illumination frequently appears in a book's zahriye, usually the first and more rarely the last pages of a manuscript that may include its dedication (Turkish: temellük kaydı). In some cases these pages contain no inscriptions and were intended solely as surfaces for decoration. At the beginning of the text itself is an illuminated page or pages called the serlevha, sometimes referred to in older sources as the dibace. Some serlevhas make up the initial double folio, with the illumination forming a frame around the entire text. Others, called 'headings', occupy only the first page of text; they may be either plain or domed. The illumination of what is usually the final page of a manuscript is known as the hatime illumination. In some cases a seperately illuminated page or pages containing the epilogue (Turkish: istinsah kayidi) follow the hatime; these pages, as indicated above, are also called zahriye. In Korans the begining of each sura and in other manuscripts the beginning of each chapter is also decorated; the term applied to these headings is serberk. Koltuk is the name given to triangular or rectangular fields of illumination placed in blank spaces in some Korans and other poetic works and in tit'a (small calligraphic folios of special format). The margins of Korans, moreover, contain various floral illuminations that govern the manner in which verses are recited; these bear such names as hizb gülü, secde gülü, vakif gülü, asir gülü, and sure gülü, a güi being a rosette. Duraks that mean stops used to indicate the end of - 118 -Koranic verses, are also illuminated and likewise have taken on specific names. In the arts of the book, illumination is also used to apply decorative detail to miniatures, where slothing, wall decorations, carpets, and covers are meticulously rendered in keeping with taste of the times. Outstanding examples of illumination can also be found on imperial documents, such as fermans (imperial edict with the tuğra of the Sultan placed at the top, validating its contents) and berats (certrvifates), which bear the saltan's decorative monogram, or tuğra. Seperately painted oversize tuğras provided another field for the illuminator to embellish. Several of these-the tuğras of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent (1520-1617)-are masterpieces of Ottoman court art and illumination. Large-scale inscriptions, which became fashionable in the 18th and 19th centuries, provided a new medium for illumination and fostered design experimentation. These inscriptions also made use of a type of gold gilt illumination known as halkir, freer in form and generally confined to the margins. When lightly colored, the technique is known as sikaf and as tahrir H halkir when motifs are outlined in black ink. Illumination and halkir were often used to decorate lacquer works. Lacquer bookbindings, which are primarily embellished with gilding, can be found from the late 15th century onward. Sikâf, the tinted variant of gilding, was extensively used on objects other than books. Both halkir and sikâf can also be found on such disparate items as cupboard doors, decorated ceiling, bows, quivers, mirrors, writting pads, and Various types of pen cases (Turkish :kalemdan, kubur, and yası kutusu), all made of wood or pasteboard covered with a lacquer surface. More unusual is the illumination of Talismanic shirts (tılsımlı gömlek), made of soft, white cotton were used to protect the wearer against illness and enemy alike. The entire surface of the shirts, particularly those made for the sultans and members of his entourage, was covered with illumination and Koranic verses. A number of these garments survive today, the most important of which are preserved in the Topkapi Sarayı Müzesi. - 119 -A SHORT HISTORY OF OTTOMAN ILLUMINATION There were four main Influences on the development of the art Turkish Illumination. 1- The first of these stems from Central Asia and the Far East, artistic influence of the Uyghurs, the Huns and the Chinese have never disappeared from Turkish decorative arts, and the source of many motifs and designs are to be sought particularly in Uyghur paintings. 2- The development of Turkish arts was also effected by the cultures* religions and art of the Near East. Turkish art shows very clearly he influences of the artistic concepts peculiar to the Persian Seljuks of the 11th and 12th centuries, the bold and elegant art of the Mon gols, the highly successful achievements of the Akkoyunid and Kara- koyunid Turcomans and, finally, the decorative art of the Safavids. 3- The influence is also to be seen of the old civilisations of Anatolia and the Middle East-the Hellenistic Creeks, the Hittites, the Sumeri- ans and, later, the Sassanids and Byzantines. 4- A fourth influence was exerted by styles of art arising from purely local factors such as climate, vegetation, the importance accorded by the Emperor, particular needs etc. Local schools of decorative art where to be found in Baghdad, Musul, Tabriz, Diyarbakır, Central Anatolia (Konya, Kayseri, Sivas), Amasya, İstanbul, Bursa and Edirne. In addition to these four main ifluences there are also factors peculiar to a given period. New inventions and discoveries, and the increasingly close contacts with the West assisted in the development of new colours, motifs and designs in Turkish decoration. Looking at Turkish art from the chronological point of view, we may divide its development into five main periods. 1- Decorative arts prior to the 13th century. 2- Decorative arts of the 13th and 14th centuries-Seljuk and Emirate periods. 3- The Early Ottoman period and the 15th century. 4- 16th and early 17th centuries. It was during this period that Turkish illumination arts reached their highest peak of development and - 120 -displayed outstanding achievements in every branch. This may thus be defined as the 'classic1 age of Turkish illumination. 5- The Turkish 'Rococo' of the 18th and 19th centuries. 6- 20th. century Turkish illumination. - 121 -Rikkat Kunt: Rikkat Kunt was born in Beylerbeyi on 27 April 1903. Her name was given to her by the Poet Tevfik Fikret, one of her father's closest friends. Her father was Hüseyin Kazım (1870-1934), the writer for the Grand Turkish Dictionary, a governar, and a man of ideas and science. Since as a government officer her father constantly changed cities, it was not possible for her to study in any particular school. She learned French from her governess. In 1913 she went with her family who migrated to Beirut, which that time was still part of the Ottoman Empire. Since both her parents knew French and French was mostly spoken at home, Rikkat Kunt learned that language together with her native tongue Turkish, and she entered a French School in Beirut. Then she entered a German School, where she completed her high school education. Six * months after the Armistice the family returned to Istanbul in 1919. In Istanbul, she studied literature with Mehmed Akif Ersoy, and improved her Turkish. At the same time, she olso began taking drawing lessons from the artist Sami Boyar. In 1936 Rikkat Kunt entered the state Academy of Fine Arts. Here under the tutelage of her first teacher of illumination, ismail Hakkı Altunbere (1872-1946), who had been an employee in the Sultan's Monogram Office during Ottoman times, she began working in illumination. Never theless, Rikkat Kunt fond her teacher's style of illumination and his manner of teaching un satis factory, and she transferred to the tile section, where she began working with the tile teacher Feyzullah Dayigil with the support of the teacher Necmeddin - Okyay. They began to take up primarily traditional Turkish motifs. Since at that time there were no written sources on this art. Rikkat Kunt made copies of all the tile designs on tissue paper and thus relearned the art of 16th century tiles. It was around this time that she produced an article entitled Lale (`Tulip`) together with Feyzullah Dayigil in the first and second issues of the Magazine of the pious Foundation. - 122 -Since she knew French, German and English, she worked for four years in the Academy's Library after graduating from the Academy in 1944. Her heart was in teaching though, and in 1948 she began working at her chosen profession-teaching Turkish illumination and tile in the Academy. This duty she successfully carried out untill her retirment in 1968. Even after retiring however she continued her efforts, producing valuable work. It was Rikkat Kunt who made most of the illuminations of the Fatih Divanı, prepared by Professor Ismail Hikmet Ertaylan, in which were collected poems written by the greatest calligraphers of the age. In 1968 the Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon (Which contains mostly Turkish Works of art) suffered a flood, and in 1970, Rikkat Kunt went to Lisbon with Emin Barın upon an invitation by the Portuguese Government for the repair of the works which were damaged. Nevertheless, the climate there effected her health, and she returned to Istanbul, where she continued working on the repair of the works. On 14 Jenuary 1986, Rikkat kunt who produced so many valuable, works, embarked upon her last vogaye at the age of 83 while in her home in Beylerbeyi where she lived with hero son and doughter in low. She burred in Küplüce cemetery in Beylerbeyi. By Means of the unique desins which she personally used and by means of the beauty and hormony of the colours which she employed, she created a `Rikkat Kunt` style. Rikkat Kunt gave a new direction to the art of illumination. She was a prolific and hard-working artist. - 123 -