L.

Alisandre de la Chapelle
Barony of South Downs, Kingdom of Meridies
War of the Wings, October 2017
Version 1.0
https://runningwithscissorsandfabric.blogspot.com/

The Two Hour Tarpuş

Part 1: Historical Background

The style of tarpuş we are making is based on the drawings from Codex Vindobonensis 8626 (which dates to 1586-91)
and has the tarpus base, veil, kaşbasti (veil band) and decorative sorguç.

from Codex Vindobonensis 8626

unknown artist in
c 1586-91
possibly in the Österreichische
Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, Germany

image source:
http://greatestbattles.iblogger.org/Otto
man/Album/Codex_Vindobonensis.ht
m?i=1

A similar style of tarpuş can be seen in the drawings of Melichor Lorck from his time in Constantinople, an example of
which is below.

Group of Turkish Women at Prayer

Melichor Lorck
c. 1555-1559
Evelyn Collection, Stonor Park, UK

Photo source: Melichor Lorck Drawings

from the Evelyn Collection at Stonor Park,
England…
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War of the Wings, October 2017
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While this style of tarpus is most commonly seen in foreigner’s perspective of Ottoman clothing, it is also supported by
miniatures such as “Woman Gazing at Her Reflection”

Woman Gazing at Her Reflection

(Painting, recto; Text, verso of folio 23)
Illustrated folio from a manuscript of Rawda al-
Ushshaq (Garden of Lovers)
of Arifi
Ottoman, 16th century
Harvard University Art Museums
1985.216.23

Image source:
http://www.harvardartmuseums.org/collections/obj
ect/98182?position=38

The single extant tarpuş I am aware of is a smaller, shorter, “perch” style hat, with a bottom diameter of only 13.5 cm. Variou
16th century miniatures also show a perch style tarpuş.

Tarpuş
Silver Seracer (brocade) in a carnation pattern
Last quarter of the 16th century
Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul, Turkey
TSM 13/993

Height 7.5 cm
Bottom diameter: 13.5 cm
Top diameter: 9.9 cm

Photo source: 9000 Years of the Anatolian

Woman
 L. Alisandre de la Chapelle
Barony of South Downs, Kingdom of Meridies
War of the Wings, October 2017
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Kaşbasti

The kaşbasti is a heavily embroidered veilband worn over the veil and attached to the cap to cover the
forehead (Renda 262) I presume an additional function was to secure the veil to the tarpuş itself.

Turkish household embroidery (as opposed to embroidery done commercially in a workshop) was typically
done on fine linen or cotton with silk and small amounts of metal thread. The extant kaşbasti fit into this
category.

Based on the 6 extant examples in Berker, they ranged from 2.5cm x 48cm to 5cm x 61cm and were most
likely made within the Imperial Harem rather than being a product of a palace of public workshop (Eber 24).

Interestingly, the patterns on the extant kaşbasti bear very little similarity motif wise to the professional
embroidery output of the workshops but are similar to the motifs on the extant handkerchiefs, presumably
because the handkerchiefs are also made within the Imperial Harem. I suspect that the Harem embroidery is a
distinct style in and of itself, but need to delve deeper into the topic. At least one of the patterns has visual
similarities to Egyptian embroidery, which is not implausible since the Ottomans conquered the Mamluk Empire
in the early 16th century. However, any connection is currently conjecture on my part.

Kaşbasti from the tomb of Ahmet I

Late 16th -very early 17th century
3.5cm x 34cm
TSM Inv. 31/1504

Worked in red, blue, green and brown silks with

double darning, stem stitch and couched goldwork
(zerduz)

image source: “Kaşbasti (Diadem)”

translation source: Barbara Jeremyn

Kaşbasti from the tomb of Ahmet I

Late 16th -very early 17th century
3 cm x 47cm
TSM Inv. 31/1503

Worked in ruby red & blue silk with gold and silver
threads

drawing source: “Kaşbasti (Diadem)”

photo & description source: 9000 years of the

Anatolian Woman
 L. Alisandre de la Chapelle
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War of the Wings, October 2017
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Kaşbasti from the tomb of Hürrem Sultan

Mid16th century
4.5 cm x 53 cm
TSM Inv. 31/1480

Tapered ends with stubs of strips (presumably the

remains of ties) Design of intersecting and
interconnecting embroidered on beige linen in
black, blue, cream and ruby red silks and gold
thread, backed with plain cloth

drawing source: “Kaşbasti (Diadem)”

photo & description source: The Age of Sultan

Süleyman the Magnificent.

Kaşbasti from the tomb of Hürrem Sultan

Mid16th century
4.5 cm x 53 cm
TSM Inv. 31/1478

Blue and red silk with gold and silver thread.

Ribbons were attached to the points to tie behind
the head.

drawing source: “Kaşbasti (Diadem)”

photo & description source: The Age of Sultan

Süleyman the Magnificent.
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War of the Wings, October 2017
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Kaşbasti from the tomb of Hürrem Sultan

Mid16th century
4.5 cm x 53 cm
TSM Inv. 31/1479

Linen, embroidered in counted stitchwork with

colored silks & gold and silver thread

drawing source: “Kaşbasti (Diadem)”

photo & description source: Topkapi Saray

Museum: Costumes, Embroideries and other
Textiles

Kaşbasti from the tomb of Safiye Sultan

Last quarter of 16th century
5 cm x 61 cm
TSM Inv. 31/1477

embroidered black, blue, ruby red and pistashio

green silks & gold and silver thread

drawing source: “Kaşbasti (Diadem)”

photo & description source: The Age of Sultan

Süleyman the Magnificent.

There are also examples of kaşbasti with crownlike points in Codex Vindobonensis 8626, but this is a style that is seen
more frequently in Safavid miniatures than in Ottoman.

Detail from Codex Vindobonensis

8626
unknown artist in
c 1586-91
possibly in the Österreichische
Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, Germany

image source:
http://issendai.com/ottoman-
turkish/harem-scene-from-codex-
vindobonensis-8626/
 L. Alisandre de la Chapelle
Barony of South Downs, Kingdom of Meridies
War of the Wings, October 2017
Version 1.0
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Veil covering the tarpuş

Based on 16th century Ottoman miniatures, the tarpuş could be worn alone, with a kaşbasti, or with a kaşbasti
and a veil.

There are no extant examples that I am aware of, and based on the Ottoman miniatures I have looked at,
tarpus veils were predominately white, mostly decorative in function and came to approximately the shoulder.
The woman in “Woman Gazing at Her Reflection” (in tarpus section) is clearly wearing a pale blue veil, but it is
consistent in shape and size to the white veils in Ottoman miniatures. Colored veils with a tarpuş appear in
various versions of de Nicolay’s drawings and the Codex Vindobonensis 8626, but I am relatively sure that the
originals drawings were black and white, so I am discounting these sources as evidence of coloured tarpuş
veils.

What they were made of is currently just conjecture on my part; my guess is silk or fine, sheer cotton.

What they were called is a very good question. Kass McGann in the Pattern Notes to Reconstructing History’s
Ottoman Turkish Woman’s Accessories calls this veil a Nezkep. However, she also says that it was a “Brightly
coloured small scarf decorated with borders of gold or embroidery” (McGann 2) which is in contradiction of the
visual evidence of the veils in 16th century Ottoman miniatures being white.

This is further complicated by Tezcan defining a nezkep as “lined, trimmed and fringed and only 40 cm in
width, which means these narrow and long headscarves must have been worn by wrapping them around the
head” (Tezcan 10) Her source is the 1640 price-fixing book the Nahr Defteri which also mentions a nezkep
being made of “European satin of red, crimson and violet…or other colors” (Tezcan 10)

Nezkeb, makrama and çenber are all listed in various 16th century inheritance inventories with a loose
definition of “woman’s headscarf”.
 L. Alisandre de la Chapelle
Barony of South Downs, Kingdom of Meridies
War of the Wings, October 2017
Version 1.0
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Part 2: Making the Tarpuş

Materials:
Tarpuş base: Wool Fez from villagehatshop.com

You can find them on Amazon and ebay but most of the ones I’ve seen there have been polyester and
available colors are kind of hit or miss. If you’re OK with polyester, that is a cheaper option than Village Hat
Shop.

I have a large head even for a man (24" circumference) and Village Hat Shop XXL fezes fit me.

Veil: 44”x44” silk chiffon veil from Dharma Trading Company

You could also roll hem a square of silk chiffon, but the $12 for a Dharma veil seems well worth skipping the
time and aggravation of roll hemming silk to me.

If you are OK with polyester, ebay has a wide variety of poly chiffon scarves in sizes & colors. I would not
suggest any smaller than a 36” square unless you have a very short tarpuş. When in doubt, put the tarpuş on
and measure from one shoulder, over the top of the tarpuş and down to the other shoulder (or wherever you
want the veil to fall).

Kaşbasti:
Ebay and Etsy studios have a vast selection of vintage saree trims and many offer free shipping even from
India. With some knowledge of Ottoman artistic motifs (see Appendix B), you can find trim that is “inspired by”
Ottoman motifs. If you want to be truly historically accurate, there is always embroidering a kaşbasti. ☺

Construction:

Step 1: Fold the veil in half, tack it to the hat in several places on the crown.
 L. Alisandre de la Chapelle
Barony of South Downs, Kingdom of Meridies
War of the Wings, October 2017
Version 1.0
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Step 2: Measure the circumference of the hat and cut the sari trim to that length

Step 3: Fold the ends of the trim into

points & stitch down. Stitch a 12"-16"
piece of narrow cord (lucet fingerloop
braid or kumihimo cords all work well if
you do not want to use commercial cord)
to the center of each point on the wrong
side so that the end result looks similar
to this:
 L. Alisandre de la Chapelle
Barony of South Downs, Kingdom of Meridies
War of the Wings, October 2017
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Step 4: Center the trim on the hat and

stitch down the bottom front edge
between the veil.

Step 5: Tie cords together loosely in back

 L. Alisandre de la Chapelle
Barony of South Downs, Kingdom of Meridies
War of the Wings, October 2017
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Step 6: Voila, the hat is complete

Optional: Adding an elastic band.

Note: This is definitely not historically accurate, but I find it very helpful to keep the hat secure on your head.

Step 7: Cut a piece of very narrow (1/16” works well) black elastic slightly longer than the diameter of the hat.
Tie a knot in each end and stitch through each knot to secure it to the inside of the hat.
 L. Alisandre de la Chapelle
Barony of South Downs, Kingdom of Meridies
War of the Wings, October 2017
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Appendix A: Other types of 16thc. Ottoman Hats, A Brief Overview

Tantour

Menavino in his I costumi, et la vita de Turchi references a type of “pointed caps, three spans in height, covered in silver
and resembling a unicorn.” (Renda 257) Bellini’s 1480 drawing of A Turkish Woman shows a similar hat to Menavino’s
description; general thought on the SCA Ottoman board is that the woman may be of the Druze faith, based on pictures of
Syrian Druze women out of period wearing a similar hat. 9000 Years of Anatolian Woman discusses this style of hat only
briefly in relation to Menavino’s quote and states that it was not worn past the 16th c by Turkish women, although it was
adopted by Syrian women. (Renda 257)

However, I have not come across other references or illustrations of this type of hat in Ottoman culture and my current
belief is that it not commonly worn by Ottoman women and its timeframe is limited to the late 15th-early 16th century.

A Turkish Woman, a drawing

Gentile Bellini
1480
British Museum, London, UK

Photo source:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection
_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=7
17802&partId=1&searchText=Gentile+Bellini&pag
e=1

Arakçin
Significantly taller than the tarpuş and generally thought to be slightly post SCA time frame. Multiple examples of it
appear in the 1620 album: The Habits of the Grand Signor’s Court, compiled by the English traveler Peter Mundy while he
was in Istanbul. Many examples in The Habits of the Grand Signor’s Court, show the arakçin worn without a veil or
kaşbati.
 L. Alisandre de la Chapelle
Barony of South Downs, Kingdom of Meridies
War of the Wings, October 2017
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From: The Habits of the Grand Signor’s Court

Peter Mundy
c. 1620
British Museum, London, UK

Photo source: British Museum Collection Online

Hanzade Sultan’s cap

c 1625
Silver seracer (brocade) lined in blue silk
H: 24.2 cm
Top dia: 8 cm
Bottom dia: 19cm
Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul, Turkey
TSM 13/792

Photo source: 9000 Years of the Anatolian

Woman
 L. Alisandre de la Chapelle
Barony of South Downs, Kingdom of Meridies
War of the Wings, October 2017
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Appendix B: Some common 16th century Ottoman artistic motifs

 L. Alisandre de la Chapelle
Barony of South Downs, Kingdom of Meridies
War of the Wings, October 2017
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Photo source: IPEK: The Crescent and the Rose Imperial Ottoman Silks and Velvets
 L. Alisandre de la Chapelle
Barony of South Downs, Kingdom of Meridies
War of the Wings, October 2017
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Sources cited:

Atasoy, Nurhan. IPEK: the crescent and the rose: Ottoman imperial silks and velvets. Azimuth Editions, 2000. Print. ISBN
1-898592-19-5

Atril, Esin. The Age of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1987. Print. ISBN 0-8109-
1855-2

Bellini, Gentile. “A Turkish Woman, a drawing”. Collection Online. The British Museum. London, United Kingdom. Web.
Accessed 20 Sept 2017.
<http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=717802&partId=1&sea
rchText=Gentile+Bellini&page=1>

Berker, Nurhayat. “Kaşbasti (Diadem)” Türk Etnografya Dergisi Saya. Sayi XIII. Istanbul: Milli Eğitim Basimevi, 1973.
Web. Accessed 20 September 2017.
<http://www.kulturvarliklari.gov.tr/sempozyum_pdf/turk_etnografya/13.turk.etnografya.pdf>

Erber, Christian, ed. A Wealth of Silk and Velvet. Bremen: Edition Temmen, 1993. Print. ISBN 3861085038

Fischer, Erik ed., Melichor Lorck Drawings from the Evelyn Collection at Stonor Park, England and from the Department
of Prints and Drawings The Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Copenhagen. Copenhagen: A.W. Henningsen, 1962. Print. No
ISBN

bint Rüstem, Mihriban “‘Harem Scene from Codex Vindebonesis 8626.” Ottoman Turkish Garment Database, Self
Published,2017. Web. Accessed 13 October 2017 < http://issendai.com/tereke/>

bint Rüstem, Mihriban. Ottoman Inheritance Inventories, Self Published,2017. Web. Accessed 13 October 2017
<issendai.com/ottoman-turkish/.>

McGann, Kass. Ottoman Turkish Accessories Pattern Notes. Harrisburg: Reconstructing History, 2008. Print. No ISBN.

Renda, Gündel, et al. Woman in Anatolia: 9000 Years of the Anatolian Woman. Turkish Republic Ministry of Culture,
Istanbul, Turkey. 1994. Print ISBN 975-17-1186-X

Tezcan, Hülya and Selma Delibaş. The Topkapi Saray Museum: Costumes, Embroideries and other Textiles. Boston:
Little, Brown and Company, 1986. Print. ISBN 082121634-1

Tezcan, Hülya. “Fashions at the Ottoman Court” P Magazine Arts Culture Antiques. Issue 3 Spring Summer 2000.
Istanbul: Raffi Portakal, 2000. Print. No ISBN

Thanks to
• Issendai Icchantika, for her research into 16th century Ottoman inheritance inventories, putting together the
Ottoman Turkish Garment Database (saving me considerable time and effort), offering to get me articles from the
Harvard Libraries and long, delicious sessions of geeking out about Ottoman stuff.
• Mistress Jadi Fatima, for reading the draft version of this, loaning me some of her library and directing me to
Scythia for the possible origin of Bellini’s unicorn hat.
• Barbara Jeremyn for introducing me to the Kaşbasti article
• The SCA Ottoman FB group and the Atlantian Madrasa guild for providing some helpful hive mind input
• Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya for giving Bellini’s unicorn hat a potential name
• Ashby 'Satine' McKenney for sharing her excellent research on Ottoman embroidery with the SCA Ottoman
board
• Mistress Alessandra Fioravanti, whose Historical Disney competition is what made me look into Ottoman in the
first place.