T U L I P (TULIPA TURCARUM)

Şevket Peya's sketch (c. 1950)
The word (tulip) in European languages derives from the earlier Turkish expression (türban lale). 'Türban' became 'tulipa' in latin, hence tulip in english. In the 16th century 'lale' meant wild flowers in general, in contrast to 'gül' which referred to cultivated flowers. In time red lale in particular became, as the 'flower of blood' or the 'flower of suffering', a symbol of the soul in search of the Divine (while gül symbolized the soul in state of grace); through further evolution the word 'lale' was extended to mean all sorts of tulips just as 'gül' came to specify the rose. Busbecq, the Flemish ambassador of the Habsburg emperor Ferdinand I. to the Sublime Porte in one of his 'Turkish Letters', dated 1555 noted: "The tulip has little or no scent but it is admired for its beauty and the variety of its colours. The Turks are very fond of flowers and they do not hesitate to pay several (aspres) for a fine blossom".

Busbecq himself is considered to have been instrumental for introducing the tulip from Istanbul to Europe by sending Turkish bulbs to C. Clusius, renowned scholar and head of the Imperial Gardens in Vienna; later Clusius was appointed to the University of Leiden in Holland, laid out a botanical garden there and it is known that he cultivated the bulbs he brought with him. A particularly beautiful and early sample described by the famous humanist K. Gesner (Epistula de Tulipa Turcarum, 1561) was named 'Tulipa turcarum' meaning Turkish type tulip. The tulip flower as a decorative motif enjoyed great prestige, so that it is ever present in all branches of art, almost always stylized. The interest in raising tulips was shared by many people, including the dignitaries, even the Sultan himself. The cult of tulip in Turkey reached a peak under Sultan Ahmet III (1673-1736); this period was aptly dubbed as 'The Tulip Era' by a later historian. From price registers it appears that extremely rare types of bulbs could be valued up to 500-1000 gold coins ($40.000-80.000). In order to avoid speculation and to make up lists of those tulips which constituted a healthy and desirable kind, an 'Academy of Flower growers' was formed. From their records it appears that through cross-breeding and raising cultivars of the wild forms, roughly 1500 varieties of tulips were available at this period.

The socalled 'ISTANBUL TULIP', considered of very high value, had to have almond shape body, thin waist, dagger-like tips of petals; M. Lalezarî, an expert at the Flower Academy during the reign of Ahmet III, states actually 20 criteria for the perfect Istanbul tulip. The two colour-marbled kinds such as red and white, yellow and purple, etc, might have been also fashionable but are not commonly represented in art work (perhaps they suspected that the 'breaking' effect could be due to a virus!). Today, all those tulips have become excinct. And unfortunately, Ottoman made albums with accurate representations of specific tulips are scarce. One such book, prepared in 1725, called 'Lale Mecmuası' (Tulip album) containing 49 labelled kinds with exquisite illustrations was tracked down in 1987 by the tulipofilo-botanist Dr.T.Baytop to be in a private collection in Belgium. A facsimile edition of it was published in Turkey in 1992. Here is the page where we can see the 'Nize-i Rummanî' (pomegranate lance) in a 'Laledan', the lovely vase with a long neck invented to hold a single tulip.

Tezhip Introduction

Şevket Peya's sketch (c. 1950)	The word (tulip) in European languages derives from the earlier Turkish expression (türban lale). 'Türban' became 'tulipa' in latin, hence tulip in english. In the 16th century 'lale' meant wild flowers in general, in contrast to 'gül' which referred to cultivated flowers. In time red lale in particular became, as the 'flower of blood' or the 'flower of suffering', a symbol of the soul in search of the Divine (while gül symbolized the soul in state of grace); through further evolution the word 'lale' was extended to mean all sorts of tulips just as 'gül' came to specify the rose. Busbecq, the Flemish ambassador of the Habsburg emperor Ferdinand I. to the Sublime Porte in one of his 'Turkish Letters', dated 1555 noted: "The tulip has little or no scent but it is admired for its beauty and the variety of its colours. The Turks are very fond of flowers and they do not hesitate to pay several (aspres) for a fine blossom".
Busbecq himself is considered to have been instrumental for introducing the tulip from Istanbul to Europe by sending Turkish bulbs to C. Clusius, renowned scholar and head of the Imperial Gardens in Vienna; later Clusius was appointed to the University of Leiden in Holland, laid out a botanical garden there and it is known that he cultivated the bulbs he brought with him. A particularly beautiful and early sample described by the famous humanist K. Gesner (Epistula de Tulipa Turcarum, 1561) was named 'Tulipa turcarum' meaning Turkish type tulip. The tulip flower as a decorative motif enjoyed great prestige, so that it is ever present in all branches of art, almost always stylized. The interest in raising tulips was shared by many people, including the dignitaries, even the Sultan himself. The cult of tulip in Turkey reached a peak under Sultan Ahmet III (1673-1736); this period was aptly dubbed as 'The Tulip Era' by a later historian. From price registers it appears that extremely rare types of bulbs could be valued up to 500-1000 gold coins ($40.000-80.000). In order to avoid speculation and to make up lists of those tulips which constituted a healthy and desirable kind, an 'Academy of Flower growers' was formed. From their records it appears that through cross-breeding and raising cultivars of the wild forms, roughly 1500 varieties of tulips were available at this period.
The socalled 'ISTANBUL TULIP', considered of very high value, had to have almond shape body, thin waist, dagger-like tips of petals; M. Lalezarî, an expert at the Flower Academy during the reign of Ahmet III, states actually 20 criteria for the perfect Istanbul tulip. The two colour-marbled kinds such as red and white, yellow and purple, etc, might have been also fashionable but are not commonly represented in art work (perhaps they suspected that the 'breaking' effect could be due to a virus!). Today, all those tulips have become excinct. And unfortunately, Ottoman made albums with accurate representations of specific tulips are scarce. One such book, prepared in 1725, called 'Lale Mecmuası' (Tulip album) containing 49 labelled kinds with exquisite illustrations was tracked down in 1987 by the tulipofilo-botanist Dr.T.Baytop to be in a private collection in Belgium. A facsimile edition of it was published in Turkey in 1992. Here is the page where we can see the 'Nize-i Rummanî' (pomegranate lance) in a 'Laledan', the lovely vase with a long neck invented to hold a single tulip.