TWELVE EUROPEAN ENGRAVINGS WITH THE PORTRAITS OF OTTOMAN AND TATAR GENERALS AND DIPLOMATS
Mostly Vienna and Bohemia, Habsburg Austrian Empire, mid to late 17th century
Comprising a group of twelve copperplate engravings on lined paper, each individually framed, depicting various Ottoman and Tatar high-ranking military and diplomatic figures, primarily from the 17th century, most portraits published in Historia di Leopoldo Cesare, a richly illustrated three-volume chronicle compiled by Galeazzo Gualdo Priorato and printed in Vienna between 1670 and 1674 by Johann Baptist Hacque, featuring engravings by Cornelis Meyssens, a renowned 17th-century Flemish engraver and printmaker in Vienna, the publication aiming to document the reign of the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I (1640 - 1705), including the Austro-Ottoman conflicts and major figures of the Ottoman Empire, most engravings with their original plate numbers, painter and engraver captions, and occasionally date.
Each 33.3cm x 21cm including the frame
These plates were engraved after drawings by Abraham Bloemaert, Frans van den Steen, and others, and reflect the Habsburg perspective on Ottoman military elites. The sitters are often depicted in stylised attires, with exaggerated turbans or tall kalpaks, within oval portrait frames, accompanied by descriptive Italian and Latin captions.
The subjects include:
These prints served as both documentation and political commentary in the 17th-century European imagination of the Ottoman East. They are valuable not only as visual records but also for their role in shaping the Habsburg public’s perception of its enemies and diplomatic counterparts. Examples of these portraits are held in the Albertina collection (Vienna), the British Museum, and various European print cabinets. For an earlier, 16th-century example of Viennese engraving with Suleyman the Magnificent, please see Sotheby's London, 24 April 2012, lot 100.
TWELVE EUROPEAN ENGRAVINGS WITH THE PORTRAITS OF OTTOMAN AND TATAR GENERALS AND DIPLOMATS
Mostly Vienna and Bohemia, Habsburg Austrian Empire, mid to late 17th century
Comprising a group of twelve copperplate engravings on lined paper, each individually framed, depicting various Ottoman and Tatar high-ranking military and diplomatic figures, primarily from the 17th century, most portraits published in Historia di Leopoldo Cesare, a richly illustrated three-volume chronicle compiled by Galeazzo Gualdo Priorato and printed in Vienna between 1670 and 1674 by Johann Baptist Hacque, featuring engravings by Cornelis Meyssens, a renowned 17th-century Flemish engraver and printmaker in Vienna, the publication aiming to document the reign of the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I (1640 - 1705), including the Austro-Ottoman conflicts and major figures of the Ottoman Empire, most engravings with their original plate numbers, painter and engraver captions, and occasionally date.
Each 33.3cm x 21cm including the frame
These plates were engraved after drawings by Abraham Bloemaert, Frans van den Steen, and others, and reflect the Habsburg perspective on Ottoman military elites. The sitters are often depicted in stylised attires, with exaggerated turbans or tall kalpaks, within oval portrait frames, accompanied by descriptive Italian and Latin captions.
The subjects include:
These prints served as both documentation and political commentary in the 17th-century European imagination of the Ottoman East. They are valuable not only as visual records but also for their role in shaping the Habsburg public’s perception of its enemies and diplomatic counterparts. Examples of these portraits are held in the Albertina collection (Vienna), the British Museum, and various European print cabinets. For an earlier, 16th-century example of Viennese engraving with Suleyman the Magnificent, please see Sotheby's London, 24 April 2012, lot 100.
Auction: Arts of India and the Islamic Lands, 19th Jun, 2025
Our specialist auction Arts of India and the Islamic Lands is now online for you to browse, peruse and fall in love with your next antique.
Among the highlights, this sale vaunts a remarkable selection of Rajput Schools paintings and an illustrated loose folio from a Timurid Haft Paykar series, all part of a private Canadian collection; several gem-studded Indian necklaces, treasured heirlooms of a local family; a notable group of Islamic manuscripts, including a geomantic tome attributed to the Nubian alchemist Dhul-Nun al-Misri; and several lots of Persian Qajar lacquer belonging to the heir of a British diplomatic family in office under Sir Denis Wright in Tehran between 1971 - 1973.
Our selected lots preview starts next week, on Tuesday 3rd June, and the full view is going to take place from Friday 13th June until the sale day.
Mark your calendars and come to see us!
Viewing
Viewing:
13th June - 10:00 - 17:00
14th June - 11:00 - 16:00
15th June - 11:00 - 16:00
16th June - 10:00 - 17:00
17th June - 10:00 - 17:00
18th June - 10:00 - 17:00