SELİMİYE

Selimiye weavings are the fabrics woven on the looms in the weaving studios established around the Selimiye Mosque which was got built by Sultan Selim III. While the pattern is created through wefts in Ottoman fabrics, the patterning of thin strips from warps in Selimiye fabrics is regarded as a technical feature coming from the West. Sultan Selim III (1789-1807), who came to the throne in 1789, was an open-minded, Western-oriented ruler. He was closely interested in the developments in his country. While he was getting the Selimiye Mosque built in Üsküdar in his name, he had weaving studios set up around it and commissioned professional and successful masters from France as heads of these studios, the role of Nakşidil (Aimee) Valide, who is of French origin, is highly likely in this choice. The fabrics woven on these looms and later called Selimiye are in the Western weaving technique. The studios outside this mosque were burnt down during a Janissary uprising in 1814. Selimiye, whose warp and weft are made of silk, is woven in plain weave, has generally longitudinal paths with flower water patterns inside. Thin strips of small boxes that separate the paths are the hallmark of this fabric. Selimiye weavings are woven in cream, black, naphtha green, pink, and red colors. The fabrics are characterized by their longitudinal paths between which flower patterns in tambour embroidery exist. The patterning of flowers from the warp is a European style of weaving and unfamiliar to Ottoman weaving which is patterned from the weft. Selimiye weavings were used in clothing as women’s dresses and children’s caftans and for upholstery purposes.