Traditional Arts Using Glass

Distinguished examples of glasswork left behind by Anatolian civilizations today illuminate the history of glass.

Stained glass in various shapes and forms was developed in the Seljuk period.

After the capture of Constantinople, the city became the center for glasswork during the Ottoman period. Cesm-i Bülbül and Beykoz are two of the techniques from that period that still survive today. Accessories and implements such as oil lamps, tulip vases, sugar bowls, stained glass panels and goblets were made by using these techniques.

The first examples of beads to ward off the evil eye made of glass were produced in the village of Görece in the province of Izmir. Evil eye beads can today be seen in every corner of Anatolia.

It is believed that all living and non-living things can be protected from the evil eye by such beads. It is also believed that these beads serve to divert malicious glances containing the evil eye elsewhere. Amulets to ward off the evil eye are therefore put in places where everyone can easily see them.

1.Beykoz pottery

At the end of the 18th century, the Ottoman emperor, Selim III ordered the creation of a new glass center in Istanbul. A Mevlevi dervish named Mehmet Dede was sent to Venice-Italy, the most important glass making center of the time, to learn the art of glassware. When he returned, he established the legendary workshop near "Beykoz", a town on the Anatolian shore of the straits of Istanbul and started glassware production. This work achieved a perfection, which was favorably comparable to the products of Bohemia and Venice from the standpoints of beauty and quality; and it became famous throughout the world. Taking the name of the district in Istanbul where this glassware was manufactured, it has taken its place in history as "Beykoz Isi" or "Beykoz" for short.

These very special and significant glass works have taken their place among the most precious objects at the elegant palaces and mansions of Istanbul and Bosphorus. Consequently, the Beykoz region on the Bosphorus has become the center of Anatolian glass making art and industry. Today, a very limited number of this important historical heritage can be seen in museums and private collections.

The most unique and outstanding items of historical Beykoz glassware are still produced by hand, keeping Anatolian glass making art alive. Beykoz style glassware is decorated using platinum and 24 karat gold by master artisans, who exert utmost effort to make the form and decoration of the production as similar as possible to the original products.

Like all fine handcrafted artifacts, no two Anadoli Collection "Beykoz" glass artifacts are alike.
These exclusive objects are available in limited quantities.

2.Cesm-i bülbül

Color twist glass became known as nightingale's Eye in Turkish, since the swirling designs were thought to resemble the eyes of that bird. These designs are created by means of regularly space rods of colored glass inserted into the molten crystal, which is then twisted, a process demanding a high degree of experience and skill. In the past, vases, bowls, candy dishes, rosewater sprinklers, tulip vases and similar forms were produced in color twist glass. Today color twist glassware specially produced for Pasabahce Glassware is made entirely by hand, using blowing and other techniques.

3.Evil-Eye

It has always been this way, or at least as close to always as we can tell. The theme of the Evil Eye runs deep and wide in human history. Universally it describes a look inspired by maliciousness or jealousy. Also universally it is blamed for causing everything from garden-variety bad luck to toothaches, headaches, disease and death. An envious Evil Eye falling on your pigs may presage an impending sausage shortage. And to this day in Turkey, many parents keep new babies under wraps for 40 days, for fear that their defenseless beauty will inspire a jealous glance.

Many Turks still use blue-glass "eye" brooches to ward off the gruesome gaze. "Silly them," you say, but you may be wearing an Evil Eye charm, too. Here's a partial list of items whose roots may be anti-ophthalmological:

Evil Eye products are extremely popular in the Mediterrenean due to the belief that it helps ward off evil things/people

What is the story behind the Evil Eye?

Dundes theorizes that the evil eye, which has a Middle-Eastern, Mediterranean, and Indo-European distribution pattern and was unknown in the Americas, Pacific Islands, Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa or Australia until the introduction of European culture, is based upon underlying beliefs about water equating to life and dryness equating to death. In short, the envious eye "dries up liquids," according to Professor Alan Dundes -- a fact that he contends demonstrates its Middle Eastern desert origins.

As Dundes points out in support of this theory, evil eye belief is geographically spread out in a radiating ring from ancient Sumer, where it apparently got its start. It is mentioned the Old Testament of the Bible and believed by modern Arabs, Jews, and Christians. The belief extends eastward to India, westward to Spain and Portugal, northward to Scandinavia and Britain, and southward into North Africa. Although many people of European descent think it is universal, in fact China has no evil eye belief -- nor does Korea, Burma, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Sumatra, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Japan, Australia (aborigine), New Zealand (aborigine), North America (native), South America (native), or any of Africa south of the Sahara. It is generally referred to by scholars as a Semitic and Indo-European belief. The Westernmost pre-Columbian outpost of evil eye belief was along the Atlantic coast -- Ireland, England, Scotland, Spain, Portugal, and France; the easternmost pre-Columbian outpost of evil eye belief was India.

The epicenter of currently active evil eye belief is in nations along the Mediterranean and Aegean shores, plus India and the South American countries most influenced by Spanish conquest. It is now a fairly widespread belief among indigenous people in Latin America. Colonialists also spread it to North America, Australia, and New Zealand.