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A Solak or Kulkethüdagasi

Anonymous Greek artist

1809

watercolor

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Romanticism Early 19th Century Portrait

Dominant colour

A Solak or Kulkethüdagasi is a 1809 watercolor by Anonymous Greek artist, a Romanticism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: Anonymous Greek artist
When & what style?: 1809 · Romanticism
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

This watercolour portrait shows a Solak, one of the Sultan’s guards. The artist stays unknown, but their work was part of a larger set from 1809. Stratford Canning hired a local artist to record Ottoman life while he served in Istanbul. The pictures mix official duties and personal curiosity. Check the Victoria and Albert Museum for more from this 1809 series.

The story of this work

Overview

The work depicts a Turkish official, possibly a Solak or Kulkethüdagasi, wearing ceremonial robes and an elaborate headdress adorned with ostrich plumes, shown walking to the right. The anonymous Greek artist employed dense water and bodycolour techniques typical of Ottoman art while incorporating European methods of representation and perspective. The drawing was part of a larger series commissioned by Stratford Canning during his diplomatic mission to Istanbul in 1808–1809. It was later acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1895 from Charlotte Canning.

Read the full account in the museum source.