Encountering the Middle East

Catalouge Entry: Coffeehouse Miniature

Pictured here is an Ottoman miniature titled: Coffeehouse Scene (figure 1). This miniature is a part of a manuscript collection found in an album, displaying the typical coffeehouse culture in the early 17th century. Miniatures were usually included in albums, which worked to bind together a variety of images illustrated to represent a specific sequence—whether that be to document a ceremony, visualize a text, etc.—to create a cohesive visual and textual story. Currently, this miniature resides in the Chester Beatty Library, and its dimensions are 415mm by 266mm. It is composed of paint and gold and is mounted on gold-flecked paper, with Persian calligraphy both on top of, and below the image. 

Although the artist of the miniature is unknown, the calligrapher is Shah Mahmud Nishapuri Zarin Qalam. Typically, with the production of manuscripts, the calligraphy would have been completed first, with the scribe marking out space for the artist to later complete their portion of the project. Considering that this piece of paper was transported from one person to another, this can explain why there is no singular artist attributed to the piece. For this miniature, the transportation extends between the calligrapher and the artist, as there was also a literal transportation between where the miniature was completed. The artistic feature of the miniature is assumed to be painted in Istanbul, while the calligraphy portion was done in Iran.  

The production of manuscripts is incredibly complex and entails a vast number of steps to complete the entire process. Much of what is known about the production of manuscripts was that they were typically created in royal workshops, as oftentimes, the patron requesting the work would be a member of the royal court. Upon choosing an idea, the workshop director would take control of the project, deciding what texts and images to illustrate, and then assign scribes and artists to specific pieces of the manuscript.i The first step would be making the paper, as in the Islamic world, paper was usually made out of pieces of linen and hemp.ii After cutting these materials up, they would be softened in limewater, and then placed into a rectangular mold to harden and form the paper shape.iii The miniature in figure 2 was done on marbled paper, and to produce this effect, drops of colorant would be dispensed onto a surface of water where the paper would be placed to absorb the color.iv  

After these steps, the scribe would copy down the text, leaving space designated for the artist to then start their portion. A manuscript always contains more than one illustration, meaning that there would have been many artists employed to complete one singular volume. There were even moments when artists in training would have been called to complete a small aspect of the larger image, attributing multiple artists as creators of one image.v The pigments used were created from natural sources, some being orpiment for yellow, malachite for green, and indigo for a darker shade of blue.vi Once the painting was completed, all of the individual pages were bound together to create a continuous story.  

Looking at the miniature in figure 1, understanding its role in the broader perspective of coffeehouse history is important to analyze the various miniatures that depict coffeehouses or the social sphere in which coffee appears. The coffeehouse was first introduced in the Ottoman Empire in 1554, becoming widely popular, and gaining an increasing amount of popularity.vii Shortly after they were introduced, coffeehouses began to appear rapidly in major cities, acting as another realm in which people could interact with each other in a secular context. With sociability in mind, it is important to note that coffeehouses were typically only available to male patrons (see figure 1). By restricting the clientele to a male audience, coffeehouses served as a space in which the idea of manhood was reinforced, as masculine social values dominated this sphere.viii Furthermore, coffeehouses enabled those of different social rankings to meet in one space, as they were unlikely to meet and converse regularly under any other circumstances.ix Figure 1 highlights the difference in social ranking based on the colors of textiles that the men are wearing. Patterns were incredibly important in displaying what social position someone was in, and where they were working. Looking at the manuscript, it is evident that many of the men are dressed very differently, suggesting that there is a mingling of social groups that would not have typically taken place in a concentrated area. Therefore, being able to freely discuss social and political values in a male-oriented sphere is what earned coffeehouses their popularity and distinguished them from any other space.  

The coffeehouse expanded past the sociability that religion offered, as it slowly became a cultural hub for literature, political discussion, and entertainment.x One of the main features that made coffeehouses enticing was that they were able to bring the private, home-like sphere into a public one, establishing it as a social sphere that did not circumscribe to the politically established hierarchies.xi As the coffeehouse disturbed the pre-established social order dichotomy between public and private, this opened up a new space that disrupted the social order. Figure 5 proposes a more traditional scene of sociability, one that was framed to uphold the existing social values. It frames Sultan Murat IV as the central figure of the image, while he is surrounded by his court. As opposed to the lively display of patrons featured in figures 1, 2, and 3, figure 5 presents a more muted display in a substantially more regulated environment. Rather than portraying a less regimented social gathering, this miniature appears to be more orderly, similar to figure 4, lacking any mobility that might suggest a relaxed environment. Coffeehouses began to directly challenge the preestablished social orders in figures 4 and 5 by becoming a place of gathering, opposing mosques as a center of interaction and sociability among different social-political classes.xii Furthermore, coffeehouses became one of the only secularized places in which people would be able to interact, becoming even more popular as they were open at night, further prolonging the social sphere past regularly established hours.xiii Figure 1 displays this popularity with its bustling depiction of a coffeehouse. In the miniature, one can see that the men are seated extremely close to each other, prompting consistent interaction, and engaging in conversations that would not normally occur in a religious setting. Thus, the interaction available in the coffeehouse became a distraction from achieving a spiritual life, causing disorder in the daily lives of those living in the Ottoman empire.xiv 

Due to the increasing political threat that coffeehouses served to government officials, the very first prohibition of coffeehouses occurred in Mecca in 1511.xv There were investigations put in place to identify what was causing the increasing popularity, and it was noted that because coffee was perceived as a stimulant, government officials believed that the “drug” of coffee was responsible for the activities that were perceived as a taboo. This movement progressed across other areas besides Mecca, leading to the closing of all coffeehouses in Istanbul in 1568. Vice and debauchery, among other terms, were used as descriptors of what social behavior was emerging from coffeehouses.xvi 

These social and political patterns associated with the growth of coffeehouses become integral to understanding the content of the miniatures. The origins of Ottoman miniatures result from the rule of Mehmed II.xvii Mehmed II requested to have a visual way of depicting a variety of scenes, originally employing European painters to create these pieces of art. This led to the development of Ottoman miniatures being either strongly influenced or copied from an existing European piece of artwork.xviii From this point onward, Ottoman miniatures began to develop their own style separate from European art, falling into one of two categories: the Romantic Persian styles, or Ottoman realism.xix This development in the Ottoman miniature style, and the historical context of coffeehouses paved the way for understanding the images displayed here. 

Coffee culture became a key aspect to Islamic life, as coffeehouses served as the meeting place for people of all different social backgrounds to meet. Figure 3 references how vital coffeehouses were in contributing to the overall development of coffee culture as it depicts a makeshift coffeehouse in the middle of a festival. This miniature depicts the Circumcision Festival of 1582, as coffee sellers are flanked by a portable coffeehouse on wheels, with customers being served inside.xx This was meant to occur while the festival was taking place, meaning that there was a deliberate choice to highlight the prominence of coffee within an imperial festival. At this time, the sultan was so pleased with the act of serving coffee that he spared the sellers from any prosecution, as the sellers often presented themselves as very elaborate and humorous.xxi The Surname, the text in which this manuscript is based on, recounts the humor of the coffee sellers and their ability to turn down drugged coffee drinkers from consuming any more of the beverage, emphasizing the performance aspect that coffeehouses would offer to their guests.xxii This performance element also became a significant element of coffeehouse culture as well. At this time, the entertainment scene was flourishing alongside coffeehouses, as different forms of entertainment would be implemented into the coffeehouses.xxiii Figure 1 showcases a meddah, which was a storyteller that would typically perform in coffeehouses. Patrons gathering to watch a meddah perform reveals the ways in which people willingly chose to spend their leisure time, and in this case, it was in the coffeehouse, contributing to the overall coffee culture.xxiv 

The coffeehouses and coffee culture that the Ottoman miniatures depict closely relate to the growth and spread of a unified community. Coffeehouses were able to bring the outside world into a small and intimate space. In fact, the primary attribute associated with coffeehouses is intimacy, and this was a space in which men could interact with each other in a semi-private sphere outside of the home.xxv This allowed men to continuously come back to a space where they would be comfortable and be able to speak about any range of social issues in a secularized space. Furthermore, while coffeehouses themselves were typically frequented by men, as seen in the manuscripts, there were times when women were allowed to enter the coffeehouses, as owners would designate a time when solely women could spend time there.xxvi Therefore, coffeehouses became a social hotspot for all members of society, enabling everyone to partake in and form a community of their own amongst people they would not usually interact with. 

Endnotes

i Marika Sardar. “The Arts of the Book in the Islamic World, 1600–1800.”  In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000, 1-2.

ii Sardar. “The Arts of the Book,” 2. 

iii Sardar. “The Arts of the Book,” 2-3. 

iv Sardar. “The Arts of the Book,” 3-4. 

v Sardar. “The Arts of the Book,” 4. 

vi Sardar. “The Arts of the Book,” 4. 

vii Cengiz Kirli, “Coffeehouses leisure and sociability in Ottoman Istanbul,” in Leisure Cultures in Urban Europe, c.1700–1870, ed. Peter Borsay, Jan H. Furnée (Manchester: Manchester Press, 2016), 161. 

viii Kirli, "Coffeehouses leisure," 165.

ix Gwendolyn Collaço. “The Ottoman Coffeehouse: All the Charms and Dangers of Commonality in the 16th-17th Centuries.” Lights: The MESSA Journal 1 (2011): 65. 

x Collaço. “The Ottoman Coffeehouse,” 61. 

xi Collaço. “The Ottoman Coffeehouse,” 61. 

xii Steven Topik. “Coffee as a Social Drug.” Cultural Critique 71, no. 1 (2009): 88. 

xiii Topik. “Coffee as a Social Drug,” 90. 

xiv Collaço. “The Ottoman Coffeehouse,” 64. 

xv Ralph S Hattox. ”Coffee, Coffeehouses, and the Opposition,” in Coffee and Coffeehouses: The Origins of a Social Beverage in the Medieval Near East, (Seattle, University of Washington Press, 1985), 29. 

xvi Kirli, “Coffeehouses leisure,” 166. 

xvii Esin Atil. “Ottoman Miniature Painting under Sultan Mehmed II.” Ars Orientalis 9 (1973): 103. 

xviii Atil. “Ottoman Miniature Painting,” 118. 

xix Norah M Titley, “Early Ottoman Miniature Painting: Two Recently Acquired Manuscripts in the British Library,” The British Library Journal 9, no. 2 (Autumn 1983): 124. 

xx Derin Terzioglu. “The Imperial Circumcision Festival of 1582: An Interpretation.” Muqarnas12 (1995): 87. 

xxi Terzioglu. “The Imperial Circumcision,” 87. 

xxii Terzioglu. “The Imperial Circumcision,” 87. 

xxiii Kirli, “Coffeehouses leisure,” 172. 

xxiv Emınegül Karababa and Ger Gülız. “Early Modern Ottoman Coffeehouse Culture and the Formation of the Consumer Subject.” Journal of Consumer Research 37, no. 5 (2011): 737. 

xxv Kirli, “Coffeehouses leisure,” 171. 

xxvi Farshid Emami. “Coffeehouses, Urban Spaces, and the Formation of a Public Sphere in Safavid Isfahan.” Muqarnas Online 33, no. 1 (2016): 190. 

Bibliography