Turquerie

Turquerie
	Top to bottom: Portrait of an unknown man wearing Turkish costume by an unidentified painter; Madame de Pompadour portrayed as a Turkish lady in 1747 by Charles-André van Loo; and Elizabeth Howard, eldest daughter of Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle in Turkish costume by George Knapton
Years active	c. 1517–1920s
Location	Ottoman Empire

Turquerie (anglicized as "Turkery"), or Turquoiserie,^[1] was the Turkish fashion in Western Europe from the 16th to 18th centuries for imitating aspects of Ottoman art and culture. Many different Western European countries were fascinated by the exotic and relatively unknown culture of the Ottoman ruling class, which was the center of the Ottoman Empire. This fashionable phenomenon became more popular through trading routes and increased diplomatic relationships between the Ottomans and the European nations, exemplified by the Franco-Ottoman alliance in 1715. Ambassadors and traders often returned home with tales of exotic places and souvenirs of their adventures.^[2]

The movement was often reflected in the art of the period. Music, paintings, architecture, and artifacts were frequently inspired by the Ottoman styles and methods. Paintings in particular portrayed the Ottomans with bright colours and sharp contrasts, suggesting their interesting peculiarity and exotic nature.^[3]

^ Dena Goodman, Kahryn Norberg, Furnishing the eighteenth century : What furniture can tell us about the European and American past, Taylor & Francis, 2007, p. 5 (online).
^ Metropolitan Museum of Art (1968), p. 236
^ Stein (1996), p. 430

[1] Dena Goodman, Kahryn Norberg, Furnishing the eighteenth century : What furniture can tell us about the European and American past, Taylor & Francis, 2007, p. 5 (online).

[MMA_236-2] Metropolitan Museum of Art (1968), p. 236

[3] Stein (1996), p. 430

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