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An official of the Sultan

Anonymous Greek artist

1809

watercolor

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Orientalism Romanticism Early 19th Century

Dominant colour

An official of the Sultan is a 1809 watercolor by Anonymous Greek artist, a Orientalism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

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

About this work

Around 1809, an unknown Greek artist painted an official for the Sultan. It’s a watercolour, part of a big set Stratford Canning asked for. Canning worked in Istanbul and hired locals to sketch what he saw. The painter mixed Ottoman bright colours with European perspective. No one knows the artist’s name, but some think he worked near Kapidagli. Look up the Victoria and Albert Museum next.

The story of this work

Overview

An official of the Sultan is depicted wearing a pink robe with a fringed apron, carrying a ceremonial axe, and wearing a plumed headdress. The work is part of a series commissioned by Stratford Canning during his diplomatic mission to Istanbul in 1808, with the artist likely associated with Konstantin Kapidagli’s circle. The drawing combines Ottoman artistic techniques with European perspective and was later acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1895 from Canning’s daughter. Originally bound in a volume, the series was purchased for 10 guineas.

Read the full account in the museum source.