Tile Designs Lithographs from the Besiktas Kiosk (Kiosque De Bechiktash), Bosphorus 1863

Tile Designs from the Besiktas Kiosk (Kiosque de Bechiktash), Bosphorus

Artist: A. de Beaufort (or A. de Beaumont) French architectural draughtsman, active mid-19th century

Printer / Lithographer: Imp. Delâtre, Paris (a known 19thc French Printing House)

Statement below Tile: 'Faience Tiles for the Kiosk of Besiktas, Bosphorus' Note: "Kiosk of Besiktas" likely refers to one of the historical kiosks or pavilions in the Ihlamur Pavilion complex, which is located in the Besiktas district of Istanbul. The two main structures are the Ceremonial Kiosk and the Maiyet Kiosk. The Ceremonial Kiosk is open as a museum-palace, while the Maiyet Kiosk is used as a winter cafeteria and has marble-like stucco walls.

Date: 1863

Medium: Lithograph on paper

These finely rendered monochrome lithographs depict Ottoman Iznik-style faience tile patterns formerly adorning the Besiktas Kiosk, a waterfront palace on the Bosphorus in Istanbul. The designs feature characteristic Ottoman floral motifs—tulips, carnations, saz leaves, palmettes, and arabesque interlace—drawn with precision to document both the ornamental rhythm and underlying geometry of the tilework. Created in 1863, the plates were part of a broader 19th-century French effort to record Islamic architectural ornament for use in academic study, design education, and the growing European fascination with “Orientalist” decorative arts. The Besiktas Kiosk itself was demolished in 1873, rendering these prints valuable historical records of a lost Ottoman palace interior.

Context: During the mid-19th century, European architects and designers traveled extensively in the Ottoman Empire, producing measured drawings of palaces, mosques, and kiosks. These studies were published in Paris in loose folio plates and circulated widely among schools of architecture and decorative arts. The artist A. de Beaufort (or Beaumont) collaborated with the Delâtre printing house—renowned for high-quality architectural lithography—to produce authoritative documentation of Ottoman ornament.

Provenance: Originally published as a plate in a French architectural or ornamental folio—likely a series devoted to Ottoman decorative arts such as a “Recueil d’Ornements Turcs” (Collection of Turkish Ornaments). The prints were subsequently professionally framed.

Significance: As detailed visual records of an architectural structure that no longer survives, these lithographs serve as important documents of Ottoman visual culture. They reflect the cross-cultural exchange between the Ottoman Empire and France in the mid-19th century, and illustrate the influence of Islamic ornament on European design movements.

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