ISTANBUL, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- A magnificent dining table embellished with unique examples of fine glass art from several European manufacturers, reflecting the power of the Ottoman sultans, is on display at a glass museum in Turkey's biggest city Istanbul.
The pieces made of the French Baccarat and Czech Bohemian crystals, combined with gold and silver, were set on a table to revive a banquet given in honor of foreign visitors at the 19th-century Ottoman palaces.
"Here, we created a replica of a palace table during the reign of Sultan Abdulaziz," Osman Celaleddin Urhan, head of the Asian side department of the Directorate of National Palaces, told Xinhua at the Beykoz Crystal and Glass Museum.
"The sultan's banquet table exactly looked the same," Urhan stressed.
The museum hosts 1,500 artifacts of the Seljuk and Ottoman eras between the 13th and 19th century. The venue has been transformed from a barn of a historic Ottoman-era mansion on the Asian side of the Beykoz district and inaugurated recently after three-year restoration.
"All sorts of glass items, including demijohns, crystal dishes, plates, glasses, coffee cups, ice cream bowls, and sauce boats, used in the Ottoman palace kitchens are on display at the museum," Urhan pointed out.
Some personal items used by the sultans, such as perfume bottles and other objects made of Venetian Murano glass, are also on exhibit.
A 13th-century glass plate attributed to the Anatolian Seljuk Sultan Giyaseddin Keyhusrev II is among the most ancient pieces of the museum.
Historians consider the plate unearthed during the excavation works in the Anatolian province of Konya in 1966 as a priceless example of the Seljuk glass art.
The honey-colored plate holds an inscription wishing for the sultan health and well-being in its center, while around the outer edge, there is an undulating border with floral motifs.
This piece is also significant in revealing the initial samples of the glass art of Turks as they first met with the material during the Seljuk period, according to a museum press release.
Various gorgeous oil lamps of all sizes presented to Osman I, the founder of the Ottoman dynasty after his numerous conquests, are among the most valuable objects of the museum, Urhan noted.
Meanwhile, a carriage used by an Ottoman sultan is a big attraction for visitors.
"This carriage used by Sultan Mahmud II is one of the rarest artifacts of the museum, as it possesses abundant glass objects," Urhan noted.
"The Ottoman sultans liked to display their power. They placed orders for the custom production of numerous glass objects to the world's leading manufacturers, to show off their brilliance and their prestige," an official of the Directorate of National Palaces told Xinhua.
"That is why these manufacturers produced for the sultans without compromising the art of exaggeration," she said, referring to the extravagant decorations on the exhibits. Enditem