This album contains portraits of the Ottoman sultans from Osman to Abdülmecid. The portraits depict the sultans wearing turbans and clothing in the fashion of each period. The halflength figures are standing and shown in three-quarter profile. Around the portraits are lines of verse taken from a section of Recaizade İbrahim Şefik’s (d. 1856) Divan, which relates the date when the sultans acceded to the throne, the length of their reigns and dates of death. Mahmud II (r. 1808-1839) is dressed in a tightly fitting dark grey uniform with an upright collar, an armorial device on the front and gold epaulettes. The hilt of his sword is visible. His red fez with a
jewelled Ottoman decoration has a broad
tassel.Reference: Tanındı, Z., Harmony of Line and Colour, Illuminated Manuscripts Documents and Calligraphy in the Sadberk Hanım Museum Collection, Sadberk Hanım Museum Publication, İstanbul 2019, pp. 337 - 353.