Machine summary:
Review Essay Contemplation and Craft in Turkish Material Arts Books Reviewed: Mehmet Zeki Kuşoğlu, The Ottoman Touch: Traditional Decorative Arts and Crafts (Istanbul: Blue Dome Press, 2015); Mehmet Zeki Kuşoğlu, Silver in Turkish Art (Istanbul: Blue Dome Press, 2015); Sema Onat, Islamic Art of Illumination: Classical Tazhib from Ottoman to Contemporary Times (Istanbul: Blue Dome Press, 2015); Laurelie Rae, Islamic Art and Ar- chitecture: Memories of Seljuk and Ottoman Masterpieces (Istanbul: Blue Dome Press, 2015).
The unusual aspect connecting these four books is not the fact that they share the same publisher or even the same general scope of Turkish arts, but that they have been authored by practicing artists who have featured some of their original works between their covers.
The important fact that practicing artists have authored the four books under review is not immediately evident, nor do they elaborate to any great degree upon their own creative process and inherent analysis that comes from contemplating historical material in this manner.
The Ottoman Touch, Silver in Turkish Art, and Islamic Art of Illumination all examine craftsmanship in a variety of material arts from Turkish history, ranging from the filigree silver- work found in jewelry to illuminated manuscripts to the elaboration of surfaces on objects and architectural elements.
Part 1, “A Short History of Turkish Illumination Art,” provides a brief overview of its centuries-long use in Ottoman and Turkish arts and images from historical manuscripts (with notations) and concludes with a brief refer- ence to contemporary artists working with these motifs both in Turkey and abroad.