Saddlecloth "Çaprak"

This sumptuous saddlecloth once adorned the back of an Ottoman horse; the blue linen section would have been concealed under the saddle and only the worked part of the textile would have been visible. The cloth comes from the collection of the Tyrolean Archduke Ferdinand II in Ambras Castle and was first mentioned in the inventory of 1596. It possibly came to Tyrol as a diplomatic gift from an Ottoman grandee or perhaps even the sultan.