The parade of the guildsmen: Coppersmiths, goldsmiths, tailors, and silk-workers

 

121a

 

120b

The sultan and two of his sons appear in the upper right corner of (120b) along with attendants. On the carpet before the throne is a large, heavily decorated circular object that must be a copper tray presented as a.gift by the members of the Coppersmiths guild that we see in the foreground of the frame. In the foreground at the right, guildsmen are shown putting on an incredible performance. According to Vehbi, a guildsman stripped to the waist and lay down on swords set on the ground with their blades pointing up. A copper ingot weighing the equivalent of about 60 kilograms was then set on his belly and other guildsmen began beating it into a copper tray with their hammers. To the left of them, a group of sackers are horsing around a large model of a castle that Vehbi tells us was fashioned from copper. More guildsmen appear in the corner carrying examples of their work or possibly.gifts. In (121a) four musicians playing stringed instruments head the procession of the Goldsmiths guild, which has shown up with a shop on an ox-drawn wheeled cart in which a craftsman is fashioning a vessel. The cart is followed by guildsmen carrying.gifts and examples of their work. Next come the tailors followed by a crowded contingent of silk-workers with two floats in which we see silk being spun into yarn and yarn being fashioned into cord.


Images index

Return to Surname-i Vehbi index

Return to Kanyak's Doghouse