Janissaries with huge plumes

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Druzhina

Sergeant Knight at Arms
There is a belief that the huge plumes sometimes shown worn by Ottoman Janissaries were the invention of a west European artist. Is it so?

Swart-trumpeters_th.jpg

The earliest image with huge plume I have seen is Three Ottoman trumpeters on horseback, by Jan Swart van Groningen, 1526 This is probably not a primary source. Swart is not recorded as traveling further than Venice. He may have put together bits and pieces of oriental information he had e.g. Swart's Mamlukes have a Byzantine shield design and their zamt hats were banned by the Ottomans after their conquest of Egypt in 1517.
Swart was copied by Hopfer


Nicolay-folio_L3_137_th.jpg

Janissary going to war by Nicolas de Nicolay

Nicolay-folio_L5_140_th.jpg

Janissary guard by Nicolas de Nicolay

Nicolas de Nicolay travelled to Istanbul in 1551. His costume plates were first published in "Les navigations peregrinations et voyages, faicts en la Turquie" (Lyon 1567). Nicolay's Ottoman Peyk has a large but not huge plume. Coloured versions appeared in the Italian edition of "Le navigationi et viaggi nella Turchia" by Nicolas de Nicolay, 1577. Nicolay was copied by Vigenere, Bonnart & Knotel


A_Janissar_walking_th.jpg

A Janissary walking, by Melchior Lorck, 1581

In 1555 Melchior Lorck was assigned to the embassy that the German king Ferdinand I (from 1556 Holy Roman Emperor) sent to the Sublime Porte, the court of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in Istanbul. The Turkish Publication, as the work is entitled, did not come out until 1626, long after Lorck’s demise.
There is also a Janissary with smaller plume by Melchior Lorck, 1571. Other soldiers have large plumes, including on shields. Ferdinand of Tyrol held "Hungarian style" tournaments, in which the participants wore Hungarian and Turkish costumes and used sabres to strike off feathers attached to their opponents' helmets and to the apex of their shields. Perhaps this is a copy of Turkish practice?

Melchior Lorck's depictions don't have anything in particular that looks copied from Nicolas de Nicolay's. Is there any reason his should not be considered independent evidence?

I have not seen any Ottoman miniatures that show huge plumes in campaign, battle or ceremonial scenes, though some Solaks around the Sultan have large plumes e.g. The Siege of Rhodes, from the Suleymanname, 1588. But apart from ceremonies the Ottomans had parades, where strange things could be seen. The Codex Vindobonensis 8626 of c. 1586 to 1591 includes Janissaries with huge plumes
Codex_Vindobonensis-15-Ottoman_Janissaries-sm.jpg


Codex_Vindobonensis-Fannittcharnn.jpg

There are also Janissaries with ship and windmill headresses.

and more:
I%20Turchi-Codex%20Vindobonensis%208626;%20Der%20Fanitcharnn%20autzug%20Wander%20Firchila%20kaeyler%20ein%20einritt.jpg


I%20Turchi-Codex%20Vindobonensis%208626;%20Fanitcharun%20Autzug.jpg


The Ottomans seemed to like parades, there are entire books devoted to them and they could include "floats" displaying various trades etc.

It seems to me that these huge plumes did exist, but, they were for parades not every-day wear.

Anyone have a view on this?

Druzhina
Illustrations of Ottoman Janissaries
 
Last edited:
I%20Turchi-Codex%20Vindobonensis%208626;%20Der%20Fanitcharnn%20autzug%20Wander%20Firchila%20kaeyler%20ein%20einritt.jpg


What is that? :grin: I liked them! They look like from a Chinese festival :grin: But I don't think that there were some Ottomans wearing like this even for a parade.

By the way, there are 4 types of börk (I don't know how to call janissary helmets in English, we call them börk). Here is one of them:

fft5_mf622239.Jpeg


atat-rk-neden-yeni-eri-k-yafeti-giydi2.jpg

Mustafa Kemal in a fancy dress ball

Wikipedia said:
Janissaries wore special hats called "börk". These hats also had a holding place in front, called the "kaşıklık", for a spoon. This symbolized the "kaşık kardeşliği", or the "brotherhood of the spoon", which reflected a sense of comradeship among the Janissaries who ate, slept, fought and died together.

"Kaşıklık" (for a spoon) is also known as "tüylük" (for a plume). So it is true that some börks had plumes. However, janissaries never wore börks with plumes. The börks wore by janissaries had a spoon (mostly a silver spoon) in their kaşıklık.

Börks with plumes wore by janissary officers and commanders according to their ranks in the military. Some of these officers and commanders were using long "sorguç" (the thing that they put to tüylük instead of a spoon, similar to plumes) down to the waist. But it is not that common. I mean most of Turkish people don't even know that there were very long sorguçs like that.

There are a lot of meanings of janissary clothes etc, so you need to make a comprehensive research to learn them :smile: I would like to help you but my English is not that good to explain everything with all the terms needed.
 
dragos said:
What is that? :grin: I liked them! They look like from a Chinese festival :grin: But I don't think that there were some Ottomans wearing like this even for a parade.

By the way, there are 4 types of börk (I don't know how to call janissary helmets in English, we call them börk). Here is one of them:

fft5_mf622239.Jpeg


atat-rk-neden-yeni-eri-k-yafeti-giydi2.jpg

Mustafa Kemal in a fancy dress ball

Wikipedia said:
Janissaries wore special hats called "börk". These hats also had a holding place in front, called the "kaşıklık", for a spoon. This symbolized the "kaşık kardeşliği", or the "brotherhood of the spoon", which reflected a sense of comradeship among the Janissaries who ate, slept, fought and died together.

"Kaşıklık" (for a spoon) is also known as "tüylük" (for a plume). So it is true that some börks had plumes. However, janissaries never wore börks with plumes. The börks wore by janissaries had a spoon (mostly a silver spoon) in their kaşıklık.

Börks with plumes wore by janissary officers and commanders according to their ranks in the military. Some of these officers and commanders were using long "sorguç" (the thing that they put to tüylük instead of a spoon, similar to plumes) down to the waist. But it is not that common. I mean most of Turkish people don't even know that there were very long sorguçs like that.

There are a lot of meanings of janissary clothes etc, so you need to make a comprehensive research to learn them :smile: I would like to help you but my English is not that good to explain everything with all the terms needed.
I have read this about the spoon holder on Wikipedia before, but the book referenced is not about Janissaries and not specifically about Ottoman Turkey. Do you have a contemporary or good source for this being a called a kaşıklık (spoon receptacle)?

Druzhina
Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers
 
Druzhina said:
I have read this about the spoon holder on Wikipedia before, but the book referenced is not about Janissaries and not specifically about Ottoman Turkey. Do you have a contemporary or good source for this being a called a kaşıklık (spoon receptacle)?

Druzhina
Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers

Hmm.. Actually kaşıklık is something everyone knows in Turkey. I mean there may be some information about it even in primary school history books. The thing that we are not familiar with is plumes in börks to be honest :smile: Specially plumes down to the waist.

The Janissaries by  David Nicolle said:
[...] A simple wooden spoon was attached to the front of this cap as badge, in yet another example of how the Janissary Ocak used culinary symbolism.

Edirne'li NazmÎ'nin TürkÎ-i Basit Divanı'nda Giyim Unsurları from Kırıkkale Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi said:
Sırma işlemeli bir börk olan üsküfün, kaşıklık-tüğlüğü vardır, buraya yeniçeri zabitleri rütbelerine göre turna kuşu teli, balıkçıl kuşu teli takmışlardır. (Koçu 1967: 236- 37).

Briefly, the second one says there is a kaşıklık where janissary officers put crane or heron bird screen according to their ranks.
 
dragos said:
Druzhina said:
I have read this about the spoon holder on Wikipedia before, but the book referenced is not about Janissaries and not specifically about Ottoman Turkey. Do you have a contemporary or good source for this being called a kaşıklık (spoon receptacle)?

Druzhina
Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers

Hmm.. Actually kaşıklık is something everyone knows in Turkey. I mean there may be some information about it even in primary school history books. The thing that we are not familiar with is plumes in börks to be honest :smile: Specially plumes down to the waist.

The Janissaries by  David Nicolle said:
[...] A simple wooden spoon was attached to the front of this cap as badge, in yet another example of how the Janissary Ocak used culinary symbolism.

Edirne'li NazmÎ'nin TürkÎ-i Basit Divanı'nda Giyim Unsurları from Kırıkkale Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi said:
Sırma işlemeli bir börk olan üsküfün, kaşıklık-tüğlüğü vardır, buraya yeniçeri zabitleri rütbelerine göre turna kuşu teli, balıkçıl kuşu teli takmışlardır. (Koçu 1967: 236- 37).

Briefly, the second one says there is a kaşıklık where janissary officers put crane or heron bird screen according to their ranks.

The trouble is that what a lot of people believe is not actually backed up by evidence. David Nicolle may be just repeating folk tales, and he does not have the spoon in the kaşıklık but attached.

Your University source is interesting, and it includes the word "kaşıklık", but, it is about Crane & Heron plumes, not about spoons. Do you have something from this source that has (wooden or silver) spoons in the kaşıklık?

Druzhina
16th Century Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers
 
http://www.ottoman-uniforms.com/1600-till-1900-fantasy-janissary-costumes/
http://www.ottoman-uniforms.com/1600-janissary-ceremonial-costumes-orta-insignia-head-of-army-flag-s/
 
Druzhina said:
dragos said:
Druzhina said:
I have read this about the spoon holder on Wikipedia before, but the book referenced is not about Janissaries and not specifically about Ottoman Turkey. Do you have a contemporary or good source for this being called a kaşıklık (spoon receptacle)?

Druzhina
Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers

Hmm.. Actually kaşıklık is something everyone knows in Turkey. I mean there may be some information about it even in primary school history books. The thing that we are not familiar with is plumes in börks to be honest :smile: Specially plumes down to the waist.

The Janissaries by  David Nicolle said:
[...] A simple wooden spoon was attached to the front of this cap as badge, in yet another example of how the Janissary Ocak used culinary symbolism.

Edirne'li NazmÎ'nin TürkÎ-i Basit Divanı'nda Giyim Unsurları from Kırıkkale Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi said:
Sırma işlemeli bir börk olan üsküfün, kaşıklık-tüğlüğü vardır, buraya yeniçeri zabitleri rütbelerine göre turna kuşu teli, balıkçıl kuşu teli takmışlardır. (Koçu 1967: 236- 37).

Briefly, the second one says there is a kaşıklık where janissary officers put crane or heron bird screen according to their ranks.

The trouble is that what a lot of people believe is not actually backed up by evidence. David Nicolle may be just repeating folk tales, and he does not have the spoon in the kaşıklık but attached.

Your University source is interesting, and it includes the word "kaşıklık", but, it is about Crane & Heron plumes, not about spoons. Do you have something from this source that has (wooden or silver) spoons in the kaşıklık?

Druzhina
16th Century Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers

First, kaşıklık means the place for a spoon. So it makes sense that it's where they put some spoons :grin:

Second, carrying a spoon is like a tradition actually. Before Ottoman, our Alps (soldiers) were carrying a wooden spoons in the pockets of their armours. There is a background of all these spoon things of course but it's better if you make a research and find some academic information.

In brief, I don't have any source right now but I guess I can find some :smile:
 
Artizan said:
http://www.ottoman-uniforms.com/1600-till-1900-fantasy-janissary-costumes/
http://www.ottoman-uniforms.com/1600-janissary-ceremonial-costumes-orta-insignia-head-of-army-flag-s/

This site is poorly researched for anything before 1900.

dragos said:
Druzhina said:
dragos said:
Druzhina said:
I have read this about the spoon holder on Wikipedia before, but the book referenced is not about Janissaries and not specifically about Ottoman Turkey. Do you have a contemporary or good source for this being called a kaşıklık (spoon receptacle)?

Druzhina
Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers

Hmm.. Actually kaşıklık is something everyone knows in Turkey. I mean there may be some information about it even in primary school history books. The thing that we are not familiar with is plumes in börks to be honest :smile: Specially plumes down to the waist.

The Janissaries by  David Nicolle said:
[...] A simple wooden spoon was attached to the front of this cap as badge, in yet another example of how the Janissary Ocak used culinary symbolism.

Edirne'li NazmÎ'nin TürkÎ-i Basit Divanı'nda Giyim Unsurları from Kırıkkale Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi said:
Sırma işlemeli bir börk olan üsküfün, kaşıklık-tüğlüğü vardır, buraya yeniçeri zabitleri rütbelerine göre turna kuşu teli, balıkçıl kuşu teli takmışlardır. (Koçu 1967: 236- 37).

Briefly, the second one says there is a kaşıklık where janissary officers put crane or heron bird screen according to their ranks.

The trouble is that what a lot of people believe is not actually backed up by evidence. David Nicolle may be just repeating folk tales, and he does not have the spoon in the kaşıklık but attached.

Your University source is interesting, and it includes the word "kaşıklık", but, it is about Crane & Heron plumes, not about spoons. Do you have something from this source that has (wooden or silver) spoons in the kaşıklık?

Druzhina
16th Century Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers

First, kaşıklık means the place for a spoon. So it makes sense that it's where they put some spoons :grin:

Second, carrying a spoon is like a tradition actually. Before Ottoman, our Alps (soldiers) were carrying a wooden spoons in the pockets of their armours. There is a background of all these spoon things of course but it's better if you make a research and find some academic information.

In brief, I don't have any source right now but I guess I can find some :smile:

Yes it makes sense so people assume it is for that, but an assumption is not evidence and the meaning of words can change over time.

If you have not seen Janissaries with plumes - you need only look at Ottoman miniatures to find some. Many Janissaries do not have plumes but some do.  Here are 2 examples (there are many more):
Janissaries with feather or bristle plumes in Suleiman the Magnificent and the Battle of Mohacs, 1526 - Hünernâme of 1588 by Lokman 
Janissaries with feather or bristle plumes in Siege of Szigetvar, 1566 - Hünernâme of 1588 by Lokman

MIRROR SITE
Janissaries with feather or bristle plumes in Suleiman the Magnificent and the Battle of Mohacs, 1526 - Hünernâme of 1588 by Lokman 
Janissaries with feather or bristle plumes in Siege of Szigetvar, 1566 - Hünernâme of 1588 by Lokman

I am yet to see a contemporary picture of an ordinary Janissary with a spoon on his börk.

Druzhina
Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers
 
I examined Ottoman miniatures, there are many of them showing janissaries without plumes or plume holders. I think they began to be used towards the end of Suleiman I's reign.(late 1500s)
 
Artizan said:
I examined Ottoman miniatures, there are many of them showing janissaries without plumes or plume holders. I think they began to be used towards the end of Suleiman I's reign.(late 1500s)

Kanuni Sultan Süleyman reigned : 1520-1566. There aren't many Ottoman miniatures from before the latter part of his reign. Of the few that have Janissaries there aren't many plumes. Ottomans besieging the Mamluks in Damascus in Selīm-nāma by Şūkrī-i Bitlisī has 1 plume without holder on an Ak börk and Bayezid II fighting his son Selim at Uğraşdere in Selīm-nāma by Şūkrī-i Bitlisī has 2 plumes without holder on red börks from the 1520s for example.

Druzhina
Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers
 
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This is Sultan Suleiman during the Battle of Mohacs, 1526. Süleymanname of 1558, Topkapi Saray Museum ms Hazine 1517.
The black wings may be on the slung, blue shield with gold pattern of the cavalryman at top-left. His green robe can be seen to the left of the Janissary in red coat firing his musket. But, the wings may belong to that Janissary.

Druzhina
Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers
just noticed what you were talking about. but there is a second janissary on the bottom left corner with eagle wings attached to his cap and no cavalry there. and the other cavalry doesn't have any shield at all anyway.
and more miniatures of janissaries with plumes:
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-battle-of-mohacs-in-1526-ottoman-school.html

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/d/images/3/3b/Battle_of_Mohács,_Turkish_miniature.jpg
osmanlilar-ordu-yeni%C3%A7eriler-levni%20den-surname-i%20vehbi.jpg

dae-11066352.jpg


Ottoman_army_at_Tiflis_in_1578_%28Nusretname_miniature%29.jpg

01ARDPJ2
 
There is a belief that the huge plumes sometimes shown worn by Ottoman Janissaries were the invention of a west European artist. Is it so?

Swart-trumpeters_th.jpg

The earliest image with huge plume I have seen is Three Ottoman trumpeters on horseback, by Jan Swart van Groningen, 1526 This is probably not a primary source. Swart is not recorded as traveling further than Venice. He may have put together bits and pieces of oriental information he had e.g. Swart's Mamlukes have a Byzantine shield design and their zamt hats were banned by the Ottomans after their conquest of Egypt in 1517.
Swart was copied by Hopfer


Nicolay-folio_L3_137_th.jpg

Janissary going to war by Nicolas de Nicolay

Nicolay-folio_L5_140_th.jpg

Janissary guard by Nicolas de Nicolay

Nicolas de Nicolay travelled to Istanbul in 1551. His costume plates were first published in "Les navigations peregrinations et voyages, faicts en la Turquie" (Lyon 1567). Nicolay's Ottoman Peyk has a large but not huge plume. Coloured versions appeared in the Italian edition of "Le navigationi et viaggi nella Turchia" by Nicolas de Nicolay, 1577. Nicolay was copied by Vigenere, Bonnart & Knotel


A_Janissar_walking_th.jpg

A Janissary walking, by Melchior Lorck, 1581

In 1555 Melchior Lorck was assigned to the embassy that the German king Ferdinand I (from 1556 Holy Roman Emperor) sent to the Sublime Porte, the court of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in Istanbul. The Turkish Publication, as the work is entitled, did not come out until 1626, long after Lorck’s demise.
There is also a Janissary with smaller plume by Melchior Lorck, 1571. Other soldiers have large plumes, including on shields. Ferdinand of Tyrol held "Hungarian style" tournaments, in which the participants wore Hungarian and Turkish costumes and used sabres to strike off feathers attached to their opponents' helmets and to the apex of their shields. Perhaps this is a copy of Turkish practice?

Melchior Lorck's depictions don't have anything in particular that looks copied from Nicolas de Nicolay's. Is there any reason his should not be considered independent evidence?

I have not seen any Oatman burro art miniatures that show huge plumes in campaign, battle or ceremonial scenes, though some Solaks around the Sultan have large plumes e.g. The Siege of Rhodes, from the Suleymanname, 1588. But apart from ceremonies the Ottomans had parades, where strange things could be seen. The Codex Vindobonensis 8626 of c. 1586 to 1591 includes Janissaries with huge plumes
Codex_Vindobonensis-15-Ottoman_Janissaries-sm.jpg


Codex_Vindobonensis-Fannittcharnn.jpg

There are also Janissaries with ship and windmill headresses.

and more:
I%20Turchi-Codex%20Vindobonensis%208626;%20Der%20Fanitcharnn%20autzug%20Wander%20Firchila%20kaeyler%20ein%20einritt.jpg


I%20Turchi-Codex%20Vindobonensis%208626;%20Fanitcharun%20Autzug.jpg


The Ottomans seemed to like parades, there are entire books devoted to them and they could include "floats" displaying various trades etc.

It seems to me that these huge plumes did exist, but, they were for parades not every-day wear.

Anyone have a view on this?

Druzhina
Illustrations of Ottoman Janissaries

Fascinating insights! The analysis suggests that the portrayal of huge plumes on Ottoman janissaries may have been influenced by European artists for parades rather than reflecting everyday wear. The absence of contemporary Ottoman miniatures adds an interesting layer to the discussion, challenging the authenticity of this artistic choice.
 
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