A Legacy of Armenian Treasures (excerpt) by Indiana University Press

Continued from front flap

also includes an introductory essay. In addition, there is a Brief Historical Overview of Armenia in the Context of World History, maps of the region, a Glossary of Armenian Terms to provide context for the lay reader, the Library of Congress Transliteration System, and a diagram of the correspondences between Indo-European languages.

ABO U T T H E E XE CUT IV E E D IT O R Edmond Y. Azadian is Advisor to the Alex and Marie Manoogian Museum; Advisor from the Diaspora to the Ministry of Culture in Armenia; Director of Publications for Baikar and The Armenian Mirror-Spectator (also Senior Editorial Columnist). He has authored several books, including Portraits and Profiles, Observations and Criticisms [in Armenian], and History on the Move; and he has edited more than 21 books and published over 1500 articles, book reviews, and essays in daily newspapers and literary magazines.

Published by the Alex and Marie Manoogian Foundation 21001 Van Born Rd., Taylor, MI 48180 ISBN 978-0-578-11377-7

Distributed by Indiana University Press 601 North Morton Street Bloomington, Indiana 47404-3797 iupress.indiana.edu Telephone orders: 800-842-6796 Fax orders: 812-855-7931

state, yet its clerics, poets, artists, and musicians

A Legacy of Armenian Treasures

detailed in a general introduction and each chapter

Testimony to a People

The inspiring story of the museum’s founding is

“For centuries Armenia did not exist as an independent maintained and cultivated a cultural heritage of extraordinary beauty. A people can survive, even thrive, under alien imperial powers, if its sense of identity is continued. Here we see how manuscript painters, church builders, and writers carried on the idea of Armenian civilization through a millennium. This exquisite volume brings to us a vivid portrait of a people whom no empire was able to extinguish. The Manoogian Museum and this beautiful catalog reveal a glorious, gorgeous past of a determined people.” R O N A LD G R IG O R S U N Y Charles Tilly Collegiate Professor of Social and Political History, The University of Michigan; Emeritus Professor of Political Science and History, The University of Chicago

he Alex and Marie Manoogian Museum in Southfield, Michigan, holds the largest and most representative gathering of Armenian art

and artifacts outside Armenia. Currently numbering over 1,500 items, the collection includes illuminated manuscripts, early printed books, rugs and carpets, sacred vessels and vestments, textiles and embroidery, ceramics, metalwork, paintings, practical and personal objects, ancient and medieval coins, and objects from Urartu, the ancient kingdom that flourished in the Armenian Highlands from the ninth to the early sixth century b.c. A Legacy of Armenian Treasures: Testimony to a People – The Alex and Marie Manoogian Museum — features

Over 275 color illustrations

more than one hundred and sixty of the museum’s most

A Legacy of Armenian Treasures

Jacket and book design by Savitski Design, Ann Arbor, Michigan

THE ALEX AND MARIE

MANOOGIAN MUSEUM

Testimony to a People

important and beautiful pieces, each one of which is reproduced in color and accompanied by a detailed entry. This volume brings together the work of nine scholars of Armenian art and artifacts in texts that shed light not only on the artistic significance of the objects under discussion but on their cultural context as well. Among the highlights of the volume are a magnificent Urartian bronze belt and an intricate Urartian silver bracelet; a selection of coins from the Artaxiad and Roupenian dynasties; a manuscript illuminated by the famous scribe-artist Sargis Pitsak; a copy of the first printed Armenian Bible (1666) by Oskan Erevants’i acquired in Dacca (Dakha), Bangledesh; a brass tray depicting Armenian royalty found in Australia; a khach‘k‘ar (cross-stone) from a cemetery in Noraduz, Soviet Armenia; ancient manuscripts and rugs rescued from historic Armenia; an Armenian “orphan rug”;

T H E

A L E X

A N D

M A R I E

M A N O O G I A N

M U S E U M

seascapes by Ivan Aivazovsky; and many other items. Continued on back flap

Gospels

1.7 Gospels Tiflis (Tbilisi), 1661 (possibly 1665) Paper; 11 ½ x 8 ¼ in. (29.2 x 21 cm); written area 7 ⅞ x 5 ½ in. (20 x 14 cm) Scribe and artist Aghamal of Jugha Patron Baron Bezhan and his wife Baron Lēlē (or Lēlo¯) Acc. no. 1988.254

Figure 1.7 Saint Luke the Evangelist and incipit page, fols. 118v–119.

This large, luxury Gospel book was produced in year 1110 of the Armenian era (AD 1661) in Tiflis (Tbilisi), Georgia, but the colophon on folio 250 provides a conflicting date of A.D. 1665. The date given in the Armenian calendrical system is probably more reliable. The scribe, Aghamal of Jugha (Julfa), indicates on folio 251v that he not only copied the manuscript but also decorated it. It is not clear from his name, however, if he is from Old Julfa or New Julfa (a suburb of Isfahan, Iran). The Gospel book originally included four evangelist portraits, one at the beginning of each Gospel, but now only Luke’s portrait remains. There are no extant canon tables. All four incipit pages remain, however, and each one includes a typical highly decorated Armenian-style headpiece, embellished with gold. Below each headpiece, the first letter of the Gospel text is formed by the symbol of the evangelist who wrote it. Luke’s portrait (shown here) follows tradition by depicting the seated evangelist in classical robes, with a golden halo and posing with his Gospel book, inkpot, and pen. He is placed in a colorful architectural setting, with gold in the background. The first letter of the facing incipit page, Ք (K’), is formed by a blue ox, Luke’s symbol. Each page of text has been divided into two columns, and each column has been outlined with red, blue, and gold lines forming two decorative boxes. The one-column colophon of the original sponsor on folio 117v is particularly striking, as it has been written in alternating rows of elaborate blue and gold letters in large, elegant erkat‘agir script (majuscule). Of particular interest is the fact that this manuscript was copied in Tbilisi, where a flourishing Armenian community had lived for centuries by the 1660s. The patrons of this manuscript, Baron Bezhan and his wife Baron Le¯le¯ / Le¯lo¯ (both forms of her name are used) follow Georgian custom in using the same honorific for both a man and woman. However, in this case, they used the Armenian word Baron instead. The Georgian equivalent of Baron is Batoni, with the corresponding term kal-Batoni meaning “female-Batoni.” Sometimes Armenians in Georgia would

Description 254 folios; 22 lines of bolorgir script in 2 columns. Modified traditional Armenian binding, rebound. Brown, blind-tooled leather with four concentric floral and vine scroll borders with additional cherubs in the corners; in the center front, an oval of twisted thorns surrounded by starlike flowers with a central Crucifixion

with sun, moon, and two saints (the banderole on the cross reads [in Latin letters] “INRI” but in mirror image); center back oval consists of a Virgin Mary on a crescent moon surrounded by sun rays and starlike flowers. The fore edge of each Gospel is differentiated by a different color: red for Matthew, white (uncolored) for Mark, blue for Luke, and red for John. Illuminations fol. 5 (Matthew’s incipit); fol. 72 (Mark’s incipit); fols. 118v–119 (portrait of Evangelist Luke and incipit); fol. 193 (John’s incipit). Traditional marginal decorations throughout. Colophons main colophon: fols. 249–251v and 117v; later colophons: fols. 1, 1v, 3–4, 251v, 253; Georgian inscriptions: fols. 119 (mostly erased and illegible), 252v, 254v.

use aghjik-Baron (“girl-Baron”) for a woman, but in this case they have dispensed with the word aghjik.39 The manuscript also includes three short Georgian inscriptions in mkhedruli script (found on fols. 119, 252v, and 254v). The inscription on folio 119 is found under the incipit of Luke but has been mostly erased. The remaining word or portion of a word in Georgian reads rimasi, the meaning of which is unknown. The Georgian inscription on folio 252v, with some words misspelled, translates as: “Christ, this book is at the church of Mghni.” This might possibly be referring to the church in the village of Mughni near Ashtarak (Ayrarat province). The third inscription on folio 254v is written in the Georgian alphabet but partly in the Armenian language. The inscription, only partially legible, states: “Christ, may the Lord hear [me] . . .” The phrase “may the Lord hear” is actually written in Armenian but with Georgian letters: Te¯r luits’e¯ zis (from Psalms 4:4; Te¯r luits’e¯ indz).40 The Georgian inscriptions, especially the Armeno-Georgian one, are an indication of the influence of Georgian society on Armenians in that region. A colophon dated 1796 on folio 253 commemorates the “freeing” of the manuscript by the merchant Martiros Agulets’i from the unbelieving (i.e., infidel) Persians who had “enslaved” it. (Armenians sometimes considered their manuscripts of sacred scripture as almost being alive, and colophons sometimes speak of a manuscript’s “kidnapping” or “enslavement” and its subsequent freedom, occasionally through payment of a “ransom.”) The inscription also mentions that Martiros decorated it with a silver cross. The manuscript no longer includes any silver embellishments on its covers; however, numerous holes on both front and back covers remain as evidence of where the missing silver ornaments were once nailed on.

I l l u m i n at e d M a n u s c r i p t s a n d P r i n t e d B o o k s

Gospels

Figure 1.7 Saint Luke the Evangelist and incipit page, fols. 118v–119.

I l l u m i n at e d M a n u s c r i p t s a n d P r i n t e d B o o k s

Blue and White Square Tile and Two Border Tiles

2.1

(b) Two Border Tiles

(a) Blue and White Square Tile

Kütahya, early to mid-eighteenth century

Kütahya, early to mid-18th century

Frit body, with blue underglaze painting; each 7 ⅜ x 3 ⅝ in. (18.7 x 9.2 cm)

Frit body, with blue underglaze painting; 11 ½ x 11 in. (29.1 x 27.9 cm)

Acc. no. L1988.3a-b

Acc. no. L1988.4

The square tile and the two border tiles would have formed part of a ceramic frieze in a religious or secular building. They are painted in the distinctive blue and white palette that in part defined eighteenth-century Kütahya production. The design of the border tiles consists of a central vine scroll pattern flanked by rosettes, the largest of which form a blossom when the tiles are conjoined.1 Such ceramic borders would frame large panels composed of square tiles. The square tile has a central flower with eight petals, each decorated with a design in reserve. Round and pointed leaves encircle this central motif, and each corner is filled with a quarter-flower with five pointed petals.2 The present blue and white ceramics are analogous to those found in famous buildings of the eighteenth century constructed and renovated with tiles from Kütahya’s workshops, including the Etchmiadzin chapel3 and the sacristy (Church of Saint Stephen) in Jerusalem’s Armenian Cathedral of Saint James (1727–37)4 and the Church of Saint

Gregory the Illuminator in Constantinople (1733),5 while the square example is similar to the eighteenth-century tiles used in the renovations of the outside wall of the Rüstem Pasha mosque in Constantinople.6 There are analogous blue and white square tiles and border tiles in the Kalfayan Collection.7 The design of the border tiles is described as “an evolution from a naturalistic vine scroll.”8 In the Kalfayan catalogue, these blue and white examples are discussed in relation to the nineteenth-century watercolor Priest in the Chapel within the St. James Armenian Patriarchate compound in Jerusalem” by Carl Friedrich Heinrich Werner (1808–1894). In that composition the priest stands in front of a wall covered with similar square and border tiles.9 The latter frame the doorway. The watercolor effectively contextualizes the blue and white ceramics and communicates the overall effect of combining Kutähya’s ceramics with religious paintings positioned high on the wall as well as with Ottoman textiles and carpets.

Ceramics

Blue and White Square Tile and Two Border Tiles

2.1

(b) Two Border Tiles

(a) Blue and White Square Tile

Kütahya, early to mid-eighteenth century

Kütahya, early to mid-18th century

Frit body, with blue underglaze painting; each 7 ⅜ x 3 ⅝ in. (18.7 x 9.2 cm)

Frit body, with blue underglaze painting; 11 ½ x 11 in. (29.1 x 27.9 cm)

Acc. no. L1988.3a-b

Acc. no. L1988.4

Ceramics

Orphan Rug

During the time of persecutions by the Ottoman sultans, the Armenian philanthropist Boghos Noubar Pasha (1851– 1930) used his wealth to the benefit of the nation: building hospitals and orphanages and supporting education and culture. In 1906, he founded, with ten other Armenian leaders, the Armenian General Benevolent Union—a philanthropic organization—and was its first president from 1906–28. He set up workshops in orphanages, where children acquired skills in various crafts. The inscription in French indicates that this rug was woven as a gift for Boghos Noubar Pasha. In western Armenia (eastern Anatolia), “before and after World War I, the American-run Central Turkey College of Aintab (now called Gaziantep) at times functioned as an orphanage for young Armenians rather than as an academic institution. A number of rugs were produced there by youths who were unquestionably Armenians . . . In Agin [following the massacres of Armenians in 1894–96], many of the children left homeless were sheltered in an American operated orphanage. There they wove . . . rugs, a practice not uncommon in the Middle East at that time, since the rugs could help raise much needed funds for the orphanage.”10 Woven in the girls’ orphanage in Mush, this high-quality rug is comparable to those woven in workshops established by Armenian entrepreneurs in the other Armenian-populated cities of Turkey (Kesaria, Kharpert [Elazig], Izmir [Smyrna], Isparta, Konya, and Ushak), which were exported to Europe and America. Of course, the ornaments and patterns on these rugs were not of ancestral Armenian origin, but rather the weavers reproduced and developed themes from a variety of oriental rugs to appeal to the taste of consumers in other countries. In 1926, President Calvin Coolidge was presented with a rug woven by four hundred orphans in Ghazir (forty miles north of Beirut) in 1924–25. The girls worked in shifts and spent eighteen months on its completion. It measures 18 x 12 ft. and was given to the president in recognition of the help rendered by the American people to Armenian orphans. The rug remains in storage at the White House.11

3.7

Borders predominantly floral

Orphan Rug Mush, March 1907

Colors (8) red, light and dark blue, beige, green, yellow, and pink on navy ground

Wool; 5 ft. 7½ in. x 5 ft. 1 in. (1.72 x 1.55 m)

Knots h. 18, v. 18, 324/square inch

Field oval design in center; with flowers in red, light and dark blues, and beige throughout the field

Acc. no. 1992.8

Inscriptions 1) Work of Girls Orphanage in Mush Workshop (top, left and right); 2) 1907 March 9 (bottom); 3) Gift presented with respect to B[oghos] Noubar Pacha. Inscription in French: B[OGHOS] NOUBAR PACHA CADEAU RESPETUEUSE appears within a vertical blue border on the right side. Parts of this inscription are repeated and appear to be in mirror image within a vertical blue border on the left side. (Details of the French inscription are not shown).12

Inscribed Rugs

113

Orphan Rug

3.7

Borders predominantly floral

Orphan Rug Mush, March 1907

Colors (8) red, light and dark blue, beige, green, yellow, and pink on navy ground

Wool; 5 ft. 7½ in. x 5 ft. 1 in. (1.72 x 1.55 m)

Knots h. 18, v. 18, 324/square inch

Field oval design in center; with flowers in red, light and dark blues, and beige throughout the field

Acc. no. 1992.8

Inscribed Rugs

113

Artaxiad Dynasty (189 b.c.–a.d. 1) 4.1 Coin of Tigranes II Coins within the text appear at actual size

130

The coins of Tigranes the Great invariably feature on the obverse a profile portrait of the king, wearing a unique crown known as the Armenian tiara. The tiara has five peaks surmounting a slightly conical bonnet typically ornamented with an eight-pointed star flanked by a pair of addorsed eagles. A diadem encircles the forehead and is tied at the back. Lappets cover the ears and a fanon protects the neck. The reverses of Tigranes bronzes, however, exhibit considerable variety. On this well-executed example the reverse shows the statue of Tyche (or Fortuna) of Antioch, designed by the famous Greek sculptor Eutychides. Antioch ad Orontes, located in northwestern Syria, was the capital of the Seleucid kingdom, and this statue was considered emblematic of the city. The goddess Tyche governed the prosperity or destiny of the city, and she is shown seated on a rock facing right, holding a palm branch (a symbol of peace and victory), with the river god Orontes swimming in the water below. Although the statue had been in existence for more than two centuries when Tigranes entered Antioch in 83 b.c., he was apparently the first ruler to depict the statue on a coin. This was a conscious political statement, demonstrating not only that Tigranes was the authentic inheritor of the Seleucid tradition but also that he would bring prosperity, peace, and good fortune to the city. The Antioch Tyche reverse also appears on virtually all of Tigranes’s silver tetradrachms and drachms. The reverse legend “king of kings” refers to historical circumstances early in his reign. When Tigranes ascended the Armenian throne, the territory of Armenia was limited to lands near Mount Ararat. He quickly took steps to enlarge his kingdom by absorbing several smaller nearby provinces. In 91 b.c. his patron, Mithridates II of Parthia, died, and Tigranes recaptured the seventy valleys that had been ceded to Parthia as the price of his liberation. In so doing he assumed the coveted title “king of kings,” which appears on this and many other coins. The denominations of Artaxiad bronzes are assigned using data from surviving coins. From the weights of examples in several collections, Paul Bedoukian segregated the bronzes into four-chalci, two-chalci, one-chalcus and half-chalcus categories. This classification is approximate, since more than two millennia of corrosion and exposure to the elements, combined with cleaning, can greatly influence the weight of a surviving coin.

4.2 Coin of Tigranes II This coin also depicting the Tyche of Antioch is rather unusual in a few respects. One is that the tails of the diadem worn by the king are flying in the air behind his head (usually they fall directly downward in a slight curve). Another is that the obverse to reverse die axis orientation on this coin differs significantly from the usual configuration. Ancient Armenian coins (unlike medieval ones) were struck with obverse and reverse dies that were fixed in relation to each other during the minting process. Furthermore, the obverse and reverse die axes of most Tigranes coins are aligned such that the top of the obverse side corresponds with the top of the reverse. This 12 h or 12 o’clock orientation was not coincidental; it strongly suggests that the upper and lower dies were attached to a hinged apparatus such that resulting coins were intentionally struck with a consistent orientation. For reasons that are unknown, this coin shows 7 h die axis orientation instead of the usual 12 h. It could mean that the coin was struck at a mint where practices were irregular or quality oversight was lacking. The unusual design of the diadem lends support to this theory.

4.3 Coin of Tigranes II Coins with the Heracles (or Vahagn) reverse constitute another large proportion of the Tigranes bronzes. Heracles was adopted from the Greek pantheon and symbolizes strength and power. In the standard depiction, the naked god is standing with a lion skin draped over his right arm with his left hand leaning on a club. On this coin, there are traces of lettering along the edge of the lower right reverse that does not seem to belong to the legend. More than likely, these letters are from another coin that was used as a host on which the present example was struck. In ancient times, older coins were sometimes used as blanks to make new ones. In this case, an earlier non-Armenian coin (probably from one of the cities of Syria) was overstruck with the bust and legend of Tigranes. The original coin may or may not have been heated before it was restruck. The phenomenon of overstriking, which was especially prevalent during the reign of Tigranes, has been studied in detail.4 The remaining traces are not sufficient to identify the undertype on this coin.

a legacy of armenian treasures

4.1

4.2

4.3

4.4

4.5

Coin of Tigranes II (reigned 95–55 b.c.)

Four chalci, Antioch Tyche reverse with reverse field letter

One chalcus, Antioch Tyche reverse without reverse field letter

Two chalci, Heracles reverse without reverse field letter, overstruck

Four chalci, Damascus Tyche reverse

Bronze; 3.46 grams, 15.6 mm diameter, 7 h die orientation

Bronze; 3.92 grams, 17.4 mm diameter, 12 h die orientation

Bronze; 8.72 grams, 18.7 mm diameter, 12 h die orientation

Bronze; 6.92 grams, 19.5 mm diameter, 12 h die orientation

Obverse: head of Tigranes wearing Armenian tiara, facing right

Reverse: Tyche of Antioch seated on rock, facing right; partially visible vertical Greek legend . . . / ΒAΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΤΙΓΡAΝΟΥ (. . . of kings Tigranes)

Reverse: Heracles standing; partially visible vertical Greek legend ΒAΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ΒAΣΙΛΕΩΝ . . . (of king of kings . . .); traces of host coin legend at lower right

Reverse: Tyche of Damascus seated on rock facing left, arm outstretched, swimmer in water below; vertical Greek legend ΒAΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ΤΙΓΡAΝΟΥ (of King Tigranes)

Attributed to Antioch mint, CAA 98

Overstruck on uncertain host coin, CAA 100

Damascus mint, struck between 72–69 b.c., CAA 109

Reverse: Tyche of Damascus seated on rock facing left, arm outstretched, swimmer in water below; partially visible vertical Greek legend ΒAΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ΤΙΓΡAΝΟΥ (of King Tigranes), illegible field letters at left edge.

Acc. no. 1988.189-b-1-2

Acc. no. 1988.189-c-1-2

Acc. no. 1988.189-d-1-2

Bronze; 7.05 grams, 19.9 mm diameter, 12 h die orientation1 Obverse: head of Tigranes wearing Armenian tiara, facing right Reverse: Tyche of Antioch seated on rock, facing right, holding palm branch; field letter above arm; vertical Greek legend ΒAΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ΒAΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΤΙΓΡAΝΟΥ (of king of kings Tigranes) Attributed to Antioch mint, CAA 912 Acc. no. 1988.189-a-1-2

Damascus mint, struck between 72 and 69 b.c., CAA 110 Acc. no. 1988.189-e-1-2

Ancient and Medieval Coins

131

Artaxiad Dynasty (189 b.c.–a.d. 1) 4.1 Coin of Tigranes II Coins within the text appear at actual size

130

a legacy of armenian treasures

4.1

4.2

4.3

4.4

4.5

Coin of Tigranes II (reigned 95–55 b.c.)

Four chalci, Antioch Tyche reverse with reverse field letter

One chalcus, Antioch Tyche reverse without reverse field letter

Two chalci, Heracles reverse without reverse field letter, overstruck

Four chalci, Damascus Tyche reverse

Bronze; 3.46 grams, 15.6 mm diameter, 7 h die orientation

Bronze; 3.92 grams, 17.4 mm diameter, 12 h die orientation

Bronze; 8.72 grams, 18.7 mm diameter, 12 h die orientation

Bronze; 6.92 grams, 19.5 mm diameter, 12 h die orientation

Obverse: head of Tigranes wearing Armenian tiara, facing right

Reverse: Tyche of Antioch seated on rock, facing right; partially visible vertical Greek legend . . . / ΒAΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΤΙΓΡAΝΟΥ (. . . of kings Tigranes)

Reverse: Heracles standing; partially visible vertical Greek legend ΒAΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ΒAΣΙΛΕΩΝ . . . (of king of kings . . .); traces of host coin legend at lower right

Reverse: Tyche of Damascus seated on rock facing left, arm outstretched, swimmer in water below; vertical Greek legend ΒAΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ΤΙΓΡAΝΟΥ (of King Tigranes)

Attributed to Antioch mint, CAA 98

Overstruck on uncertain host coin, CAA 100

Damascus mint, struck between 72–69 b.c., CAA 109

Acc. no. 1988.189-b-1-2

Acc. no. 1988.189-c-1-2

Acc. no. 1988.189-d-1-2

Damascus mint, struck between 72 and 69 b.c., CAA 110 Acc. no. 1988.189-e-1-2

Ancient and Medieval Coins

131

Hovsep Pushman (1877–1966)

5.6 A Page from Omar Khayam Oil on panel, 45 x 29 in. (114.3 x 73.7 cm) Acc. no. L2003.1

Hovsep Pushman (original family name Pushminian) was born on May 9, 1877, in Dikranakert (near Diyarbakir), and spent his childhood in this mystic city. His precocity was noticed early and when he was eleven years old, he began his art studies at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in Constantinople. The youngest student ever admitted to the academy, he won first prize in sculpture and painting. In 1894 political unrest forced the Pushman family to immigrate to the United States, where they settled in Chicago. Pushman entered classes at the Smith Academy, where at the unprecedented age of seventeen, he also began to teach art. In 1910 he decided to continue his art studies in Paris at the Académie Julian under Tony Robert-Fleury, Jules-Joseph Lefebvre, and Louis-Adolphe Bechenard. Pushman began exhibiting at the Salon de la Société des Artistes Français in Paris and was awarded a gold medal in 1914 and a silver medal in 1921. After several years in Paris, Pushman returned to the United States and settled in New York City. His 1932 one-person show at New York’s Grand Central Art Galleries created a sensation, and the entire display of sixteen paintings was sold before the end of the opening day, one to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Pushman’s paintings are included in the collections of the National Gallery of Armenia in Yerevan, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Montclair (New Jersey) Art Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the New Britain (Connecticut) Institute, the Norfolk (Virginia) Art Association, the Philbrook Art Center in Tulsa, the Rockford (Illinois) Art Guild, the San Diego Fine Arts Society, and the Seattle Art Museum.

A major facet of Pushman’s career was his interest in Oriental mysticism. The spirit of the East is discernible in most of his canvases. His hues are those of the Orient, and his paintings are filled with ancient objects—iridescent glass, lacquered chests, teakwood boxes, and ancient Persian plates. These artifacts are exquisitely beautiful and executed with technical precision, but it is his ability to evoke the depth of human feelings that makes his work so compelling. Among Pushman’s most characteristic works are his paintings of beautiful women and wonderful odalisques. A Page from Omar Khayam depicts a young lady lost in a private reverie, her gaze somewhat moody as she surrenders to the scrutiny of the viewer. She wears an Indian tikka, a ceremonial forehead decoration usually worn at weddings or on special ceremonial occasions. Her diaphanous veil almost covers her intricate attire, which blends with the splendid opulence of her surroundings. A Madonna-like figure, she has perfect facial features, soft, velvety eyes, and an expression that is pensive and enigmatic, imbued with an ineffable sadness. The background is not the expected centuries-old tapestry or textile but a multicolored visual delight, an abstraction created with sweeping and broken brushstrokes in changing hues—lavender mixed with rose and red with violet—painted in the high key of impressionistic color. This lovely work, with its radiant flesh tones and luminous surface, exemplifies the impeccable technique of an artist who was a master of splendor and romance.

Paintings and Sculpture

151

Hovsep Pushman (1877–1966)

5.6 A Page from Omar Khayam Oil on panel, 45 x 29 in. (114.3 x 73.7 cm) Acc. no. L2003.1

Paintings and Sculpture

151

Bronze Belt

6.5

An alternate view of the belt is shown on page 178.

Bronze Belt Urartu, 8–7th century b.c. 49¼ x 3 ⅝ in. (125.2 x 9.1 cm) Acc. no. 1991.30 (Gift of Karl and Emma Sogoian)

This magnificent example of an Urartian bronze belt was most likely used by an individual of royal or noble status on ceremonial occasions. The belt’s design, arranged in strict columns, or panels, of sequential images is typical of the period from the eighth to the first part of the seventh century b.c.3 The belt has tiny holes around its entire top and bottom. Originally, cloth or leather would have been attached to the inside of the bronze to make it more comfortable to wear. Over the centuries, the lining either disintegrated or it was torn away from the belt. The images of sacred trees serve as focal points of the design. Originally derived from Assyrian images of date palms, the depictions of sacred trees in Urartu acquired an increasingly stylized character. These motifs are often referred to as “candelabra,” since tiered bronze candelabra, symbolic of a sacred tree, were used widely in Urartian temples and sacred precincts.

Three types of animals are shown prancing toward or away from the stylized images of sacred trees: lions, bulls, and griffins. This sequence represents a deviation from the more typical triad of Urartian sacred animals—a lion, a bull, and a horse—which represent zoomorphic aspects of the Urartian supreme gods Haldi, Teisheba, and Shiwini. The depiction of mythical animals and the sacred tree is an indication that in addition to offering physical protection, the belt served as a shield against spiritual entities that could be harmful to the wearer. Given the high quality of the belt, there is no doubt that it once formed part of a very special collection of ceremonial objects that belonged to an individual of exceptional status in Urartu. Considerable differences in detail show that work on the belt was carried out by two craftsmen, perhaps a master and an apprentice. Furthermore, the figures of lions and griffins that surround the fastening of the belt (shown on page 178), its most visible part, are chiseled with special care and skill.

Ancient Objects

189

Bronze Belt

6.5

An alternate view of the belt is shown on page 178.

Bronze Belt Urartu, 8–7th century b.c. 49¼ x 3 ⅝ in. (125.2 x 9.1 cm) Acc. no. 1991.30 (Gift of Karl and Emma Sogoian)

Ancient Objects

189

Two-piece Wedding Ensemble

7.1 Two-piece Wedding Ensemble, Kharpert (Elâzigˇ), 1895 Dark blue velvet with gold and silver embroidery, dark pink silk lining, ten buttons; jacket: length 33¹⁄8 in. (84 cm); skirt: length 41 in. (104 cm) Acc. no. 1988.444a-b (Gift of the Mouradian, Kalkhanian, Hovanesian, and Mackterian Families)

This two-piece wedding outfit consists of a long, dark blue velvet skirt with matching hip-length jacket, elaborately embroidered both front and back with metallic gold and silver thread in a symmetrical design consisting of floral motifs, branched leaves, and arabesques. The garment is lined in dark pink silk, and the ten velvet-covered buttons in the front are also embroidered with gold. This type of embroidery is called dival, and to create it the larger parts of the design were first cut out in thin cardboard, and the gold was embroidered over the cardboard and then sewn onto the fabric, producing a highly raised, couched design.1 The designs themselves resemble a branched bouquet emerging from a jar or vase and were called bindalli• (in Turkish) or hazar chiwgh/jiwgh (in Armenian), both meaning “thousand branches.”2 From the eighteenth through the early twentieth century women of different ethnicities in the Ottoman Empire wore wedding outfits consisting of short velvet jackets and matching shalvar (baggy trousers) decorated with bindalli; others wore simple collarless kaftan dresses that were similarly embroidered.3 The jacket and shalvar ensemble was worn by many Armenian, Turkish, and Jewish brides, and probably Greek women also, especially in the villages.4 However, as increasing numbers of European women visited or lived in Constantinople and other major towns from the mid-nineteenth century on, European fashions became more accepted.5 Since European women did not conceal themselves when outside the home as did the local women, their style of clothing was easily visible and was much admired. Armenian and Greek women seem to have more readily adopted Western fashions; perhaps as Christians they felt more affinity with their European counterparts.6 Wealthy Muslim women from elite social classes also adopted European styles, but did so at a more gradual pace. Although European-style white wedding dresses began gaining in popularity after the mid-eighteenth century, traditional gold-embroidered velvet ensembles remained in use throughout the empire.7 Even so, many transitional styles emerged, blending new European sensibilities with traditional garments.8 This wedding suit shows the influence of European styles in having a skirt as

well as in the style of its round-collared, hip-length jacket, while keeping the traditional dark-colored velvet and hazar chiwgh embroidery (see below). The suit was made in Kharpert in 1895 for Esther Nahigian. However, she never wore it because she was in mourning for her brother, who had been killed in the massacres of 1895. It was passed down to her daughter, Arshalous (Nahigian) Mouradian, who wore it at her own wedding in 1933 in Detroit.

Detail of gold embroidery on skirt.

Garments, Lace, and Embroidery

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Two-piece Wedding Ensemble

Detail of gold embroidery on skirt.

Garments, Lace, and Embroidery

203

Rosewater Sprinkler

8.5 Rosewater Sprinkler Place of origin unknown, 17th to 18th century Silver filigree with enamel over gilt metal; 10⅜ x 3⅜ in. (26.5 x 8.5 cm) Acc. no. L1991.10

This gilt-metal rosewater sprinkler (in Armenian, srskman sap‘or) with spherical body and long tapered neck is completely covered with delicate silver filigree, which forms graceful spiral designs. Six light blue enameled florets surround the widest part of the vessel. The long neck is capped by a tulip-shaped finial; the tulip’s petals meet at the top but leave a small hole in the center from which the water can be sprinkled. The neck unscrews at the lower end to allow the water chamber to be filled.16 Rosewater sprinklers are used in the Armenian Church on the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (Khachverats’), which is celebrated on the Sunday closest to September 14. It is one of the five major feasts of the Armenian Church and is celebrated to glorify the cross.17 The priests and deacons place a cross (ideally containing a relic of the True Cross) on a silver tray decorated with basil leaves and rosewater. At the appointed hour, the clergy process around the church carrying the tray, stopping at the north, south, east, and west wings to say Te¯ r oghormea (Lord have mercy) forty times, and then sprinkle the parishioners with the rosewater. Although the Directorium (church feast book) does not indicate exactly how the rosewater should be sprinkled, it has become traditional to use this type of vessel. Basil, considered a royal plant, is deemed a fitting accompaniment to elevate the cross during this ceremony.18 Rosewater sprinklers are also used to sprinkle rosewater on the congregation during a procession in the church on the Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ in July, which replaced the old pagan feast of Vardavar./Vartavar, the Festival of Roses. “Vartavar . . . marked the harvest each

year and was traditionally associated with the goddess Asdghig—the pagan Armenian deity of water, love, and fertility. To replicate Asdghig’s bathing, people would sprinkle each other with rose water and hold a special festival of roses during this joyful feast . . . Today in Armenia, people still maintain the tradition of splashing each other with water on Vartavar. Children and young adults are usually seen ambushing passerby [sic] with buckets of cold water—a welcome surprise on hot summer days.”19 Rosewater sprinklers are also used in other Easternrite churches.20 The origin of the use of rosewater sprinklers in the Armenian Church is unclear—the Roman Catholic Church uses an instrument called an aspergillum to sprinkle holy water. However, the aspergillum is not a long-necked bottle but rather a short-handled brush or perforated sphere containing a sponge. Rosewater sprinklers also exist in the Islamic world from early on and in India, where they have other uses.21 During the Mughal period in India, such sprinklers were used to cool and refresh special guests or during certain festivals. In his memoirs, the Mughal emperor Jahangir (r. 1605–27) mentions a festival (gulabpashi) in which rosewater was sprinkled at court on the fourteenth [of the Persian month of Tir? or Khurdad?] He explains that this custom derived from an older custom called ab-pashi, or sprinkling of water, which is later described as “a Persian festival in memory of a rain which fell on the 13th of Tir [sic] and put an end to a famine [bahar-i-‘ajam].”22

Sacred and Religious Objects

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Rosewater Sprinkler

8.5 Rosewater Sprinkler Place of origin unknown, 17th to 18th century Silver filigree with enamel over gilt metal; 10⅜ x 3⅜ in. (26.5 x 8.5 cm) Acc. no. L1991.10

Sacred and Religious Objects

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Inscribed Round Tray / Salver

9.1 Inscribed Round Tray/Salver Kesaria/Gesaria (Kayseri) (?), 1725 Tinned copper; diameter 47 in. with ¾-inch raised rim (119.4 cm with 2-cm rim) Acc. no. 1988.107

This large, beautifully decorated copper salver (tray on which food is placed) with a raised rim was lined with tin, making possible its use for food preparation or serving, since untinned copper should not be placed in direct contact with food (see also cat. no. 9.2). These trays are called sini in Turkish and have been called սեղան-սինի (seghan-sini or “table-tray”) in Armenian.1 The salver would be placed on a low stool or wooden frame about one to two feet high. Food was heaped on the tray and family members would sit cross-legged on the floor around it to eat. This was common practice all over the Near East by all ethnicities, including Armenians.2 A photograph dated 1881 and inscribed by hand: “Dejeuner chez de riches arméniens des Van” (dinner with the rich Armenians of Van) depicts seven men, most dressed in Western-style suits, sitting crosslegged on cushions on the floor around a low tray filled with food along with a large crystal or glass carafe.3 Other uses for these types of trays include the display of gifts, clothing, or food for festivals, wedding processions, or other celebrations. Such a tray often formed part of the dowry of a new bride.4 The finely engraved central design consists of a decorative six-pointed star surrounded by a number of concentric circles filled with large teardrop-shaped designs, as well as arabesques, spiral designs, interlace, and floral and leaf motifs. A circular band near the rim consists of a repeated trilobed leaf motif. The inscription is found on the decorated raised rim, in Armenian erkat‘agir script and provides us with the name of the owner and the date:

Although the place of production has not been included in the inscription, this salver was certainly made in the Ottoman Empire, since the owner’s profession is described using the Turkish word for printmaker. He was a printer of fabric rather than books, since basmaji (Turkish: basmacı) is the term used specifically for a textile printer/cloth stamper. This tray was brought from Kayseri and might possibly have been produced there. Detail of central design

Ի ՎԱՅԵԼՈՒՄՆ ՊԱՍՄԱՃԻ // ՀԱՐԱՊԵՏԻՆ ԹՎԻՆ ՌՃՀԴ I VAYELUMN PASMACHI HARAPET T’VIN 1174 [A.D. 1725]

For the enjoyment of Basmaji Harapet [the printmaker], 1725

P r a c t i c a l a n d P e r s o n a l M e ta l O b j e c t s

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