Silks for the Sultans
Visiting Dr Hülya Tezcan, curator of the Textile Department at the Topkapı Palace, I saw an old piece of cloth woven in bright turquoise and pink. The combination of colours had a deep effect on me and found expression in this book. The bright textile reproduced on the slipcase is of a 16th-century kaftan. The book cloth is a turquoise shantung from Japan, embossed with the background motif of the same kaftan.
read more
The essays at the beginning of the book are printed on Tintoretto textured paper. The photographs of the garments, taken by Ahmet Ertuğ at the Topkapı Palace are printed on coated Scheufelen paper in ivory.
The titles are set asymmetrically, at the height of the shoulders. Thus the horizontal line created by the open sleeves of the garment, is extended into the opposite
page and the two pages become one unit.
The drop cap is centred, like the neckline of the garment. Centering the drop cap pushes the text sideways,
creating a well-defined space, similar to the
cut of the fabric at the waist.
Text is spaced generously, like the horizontal
fastenings of the garment.
Photography by Ahmet Ertuğ, texts by Patricia Baker, Jennifer Wearden, and Dr Hülya Tezcan.
Published by Ertuğ & Kocabıyık, printed by Amilcare Pizzi in 1996.