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Zülüflü Baltaci, or Page of the first rank to the Sultan

Anonymous Greek artist

1809

watercolor

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Romanesque Romanticism Early 19th Century Portrait

Dominant colour

Zülüflü Baltaci, or Page of the first rank to the Sultan is a 1809 watercolor by Anonymous Greek artist, a Romanesque work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

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

About this work

This is a watercolor portrait from 1809 by an unknown Greek artist. It shows a page in Ottoman service. The painting is part of a series made for Stratford Canning, a British diplomat in Istanbul. He hired a local artist to document Ottoman life exactly as he saw it. This work blends Ottoman watercolor skills with European style and perspective. Look up the Victoria and Albert Museum to see more.

The story of this work

Overview

The work is an anonymous Greek artist’s depiction of an Ottoman page, featuring a tall cylindrical headdress, two thin pigtail-like lovelocks, and a drooping moustache. Part of a series commissioned by Stratford Canning during his diplomatic mission to Istanbul in 1808, the drawings blend Ottoman water and bodycolour techniques with European perspective. The Victoria and Albert Museum acquired the original set of drawings in 1895 from Canning’s daughter, Charlotte. Originally bound in a volume, the series includes 128 works purchased for 10 guineas.

Read the full account in the museum source.