Islamic Art
Ehl-i Hiref: Artistic Patronage in the Ottoman Empire
Topkapı Palace in Istanbul was the symbolic and political heart of the Ottoman Empire, supporting guilds and artistic production through the Ehl-i Hiref. What was it, and what did it do?
The Ehl-i Hiref was the craftsman’s guild of the Ottoman Empire, run from Topkapı Palace in Istanbul. Rather than commissioning external, independent artists for Palace projects, the Ottoman Empire co-opted the best craftsmen into its own Palace workshops. We know from the records and wage books of the Ehl-i Hiref which types of artists were employed, their names and their specialities, as well as how the ottoman state organised, directed and financed the production of art.
The Ehl-i Hiref was divided into different sections based on their specialities: the designer-decorators (which included the book-makers), the jewellers and goldsmiths, the armourers and clothiers, textiles and costumes, carpet weavers and tile makers, metalworkers and silversmiths, turners and woodworkers, and miscellaneous.
The sizes of these sections waxed and waned over the centuries, depending on the State budget and court tastes; and whilst new sections were added in later…
