Istanbul Küçüksu SUMMER PALACE GOKSU PAVILION POOL ~ 1839 Art Print Engraving

Description: PALACE OF THE SWEET WATERS Artist: W. H. Bartlett ____________ Engraver: W/ Mossman CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE ORNAMENTAL MIDDLE EASTERN PRINTS LIKE THIS ONE!! PRINT DATE: This engraving was printed in 1839; it is not a modern reproduction in any way. PRINT SIZE: Overall print size is 7 x 10 inches, image size is 4 3/4 by 7 1/8 inches. PRINT CONDITION: Condition is excellent. Bright and clean. Blank on reverse. Paper is quality woven rag stock paper. SHIPPING: Buyer to pay shipping, domestic orders receive priority mail, international orders receive regular air mail unless otherwise asked for. We take a variety of payment options. Full payment details will be in our email after auction close. We pack properly to protect your item! PRINT DESCRIPTION : Kyat-Khana, called by the Franks the "Valley of the Sweet Waters," is a lovely glen, nestled at the base of a chain of hills, and situated between Eyoub and Hassa Kui, the quarter of the Jews. It is entirely shut in on all sides; and looks from the heights above, which are bleak and arid, like a huge emerald. Through the thick grass of the valley, and under the shadow of its magnificent trees, flows the Barbyses ; a limpid, but inconsiderable stream, upon wliose banks rise two of the most fairy-like edifices that ever sheltered prince or peasant! The larger building is a summer-palace, where the favourite wives of the Sultan lounge away many of the long sun-shiny days of the warm season in comparative freedom; and exchange the closely-latticed apartments of the Imperial harem for the shady groves and grassy paths of the palace gardens ; dreaming through the hot hours in gilded kiosques* on the river bank ; or driving amid the tall jilane trees in arabas, bright wth gilding, and drawn by cream-coloured oxen. It must not be supposed, however, that, in addition to these enjoyments, the fair Sultanas are even here permitted to look upon a world from which they are elsewhere so jealously shut out; I have already enumerated all the privileges of their summer residence. When the harem is about to remove to Kyat-Khana, a military cordon is established along the whole range of the heights overlooking the valley, and the public are entirely shut out from that portion of it which immediately surrounds the palace. Occasional glimpses of the pretty prisoners may, nevertheless, be obtained, as they glide along the Barbyses, in their magnificent caiques,| closely veiled, and followed by other boats, filled with a portion of the negro guard of the household. The locality owes its name of Kyat-Khana, (literally signifying the House of Paper,) to the fact that a paper manufactory was formed in the valley by a renegade, named Ibrahim, in the year 1727, during the reign of Achmed III. It was, however, abandoned, as well as a printing establishment instituted by tlie same individual, in consequence of a refusal from the Ulema to permit theprinting of the Koran, which they declared to be too holy to be submitted to so infidel a process ; and the macliinery and buildings were in a state of almost equal dilapidation, when Sultan Selim, the uncle and predecessor of the present sovereign, anxious to revive so useful an art among his people, gave up the palace as a manufactory, and munificently encouraged the re-establishment of the fabric ; but he was fated to see this attempt fail, like many others which he made to ameliorate the condition of his subjects, and which he ultimately expiated with his life. All traces of the undertaking have now vanished from the valley, and the palace has become once more an Imperial residence. The smaller edifice to which allusion has been made, is a kiosque, also appertaining to the Sultan, and occasionally occupied by the high officers of the household : it stands on the very edge of the Barbyses, and the caiques glide under the windows, or shoot along beneath the thick branches of the trees on the opposite bank, with a velocity which, to the eye of a stranger, is perfectly surprising ; while the inmates of the kiosque smoke their chibouques in luxurious indolence, fanned by the air of the river, and amused by the passing groupes. The valley itself is delicious; the greensward is bright and rich, to a degree unknown in any other environ of the citj-. In spring it is the grazing-ground of the Imperial stud ; and the beautiful Arabians are installed with great pomp, picketted after the Eastern fashion, and superintended by parties of Bulgarians, whose tents are pitched in the valley, and who never quit it under any pretence until they are released from their charge. In summer it is the resort of all ranks; who, on every Friday (the Turkish Sabbath,) resort thither, to enjoy what none know better how to appreciate than the Orientals—a bright sky, a running stream, flowers, leaves, and sunshine. Bullock-carriages, covered with gaycoloured awnings of silken shag, fringed with gold ; gilded arabas, drawn by swift horses ; and caiques, the number of whose elegantly-clad rowers denotes the rank or wealth of their owners, pour forth their tenants every moment ; while the thick branches of the noble trees protect from the glare of the sun parties of white-veiled women, who, squatted on tlieir mats or carpets, and attended by their slaves, sit for hours listening to the Wallachian and Bulgarian musicians, who collect paras and praises at a very trifling expense of melody ; purchasing the prettily and significantly arranged bouquets of the dark-eyed Bohemian flower-girls ; or watching the ungainly dances of the Sclavonians, who, with their discordant bagpipes inider their arms, perform evolutions which resemble the saltatory attempts of half-educated bears. Here and there, a little apart from the crowd, may be seen a party of Greelcs, engaged in their graceful romaika ; while groups of lovely children, and water-venders, and sweetmeat merchants, wander up and down the greensward, and are greeted with smiles and welcome on aJl sides. It is, in short, a spirit-stirring scene; and the poorer classes who are unable to command a carriage, or a caique, will cheerfully toil on foot from the city, under a scorching sun, in order to secure their portion of the festival. AN EXTREMELY RARE PRINT ! VERY HARD TO FIND!

Price: 19.99 USD

Location: New Providence, New Jersey

End Time: 2024-12-16T18:57:11.000Z

Shipping Cost: 7.95 USD