Abstract
Ottoman Leather Bookbinding Art and the usage of Sahtiyan-Mesin
Raw leather was used for basic needs such as shelter and basic clothes in the early ages, by the improvement of the tannery in the progress of time, leather became a material that can be used either for basic belongings of humanity or artworks. Turkish Islamic Guild system (ahilik) was firstly founded in the Seljukian period in Anatolia and, during the Ottoman period, it was continued. This tradition made a great contribution to the profession of the tannery. Moreover, nearly in most of the settlements of the Anatolia tanneries were established and, the profession of tannery became important. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Ottoman Empire became a dominant figure in Anatolia. The expansion of the Empire also helped to the growth of the economy. Therefore, with the help of the authority, tannery both as an art and craft gained importance. Although different materials were used in Ottoman bookbinding art, with the variety of characteristic features of leather (such as elastic, soft, protective, and durable), leather became the main material of the Ottoman bookbinding art. Therefore, both the livestock and hunted animals were used to produce a variety of leather. However, goat and lamb leather is mostly preferred. Because of the characteristic features of goat leather (sahtiyan), the leather is more durable when compared with other types of leather. On the other hand, lamb leather (meşin) is softer and more elastic than others. In this paper, the qualities, advantages, and disadvantages of both goat and lamb leather in Turkish bookbinding art were tried to be introduced. All of the data that were collected in the research were shown in the paper with their images. This paper was written to help both the artists and conservators of Turkish bookbinding art.
Keywords
Binding, Leather, Sahtiyan, Leather, Ottoman Leatherwork, Ottoman Binding Art
