Note: The portraits in the present collection are important examples of Ottoman painting, documenting the transition between the traditional, local miniature painting techniques and imported European painting techniques of the first half of the nineteenth century. In terms of organisation, they follow the artistic features of the Ottoman court painter Konstantin Kapidagli who was celebrated for his mastery in drawing portraits of Ottoman sultans.

The only two comparable series of early nineteenth-century watercolour portraits of Ottoman sultans known to us are found in the Kirac Album and in an imperial scroll in the Topkapi Palace Museum, inv no. H. 1896 (See Padisahın Portresi, Is Bankasi, Istanbul, 2000, p.503-4).

The sultans depicted in the present collection are as follows:

-          Sultan Osman (r.1281-1324)
-          Sultan Orhan (r.1324-60)
-          Sultan Murad I (r.1362-89)
-          Sultan Bayazid I (r.1389-1403)
-          Sultan Chelebi Mehmed (r.1413-21)
-          Sultan Murad II (r.1421-44)
-          Sultan Mehmed II, 'the Conqueror' (r.1444-81)
-          Sultan Bayazid II (r.1481-1512)
-          Sultan Selim I (r.1512-20)
-          Sultan Suleyman I (r.1520-66)
-          Sultan Selim II (r.1566-74)
-          Sultan Murad III (r.1574-95)
-          Sultan Mehmed III (r.1595-1603)
-          Sultan Mustafa I (r.1617-18)
-          Sultan Murad IV (r.1622-40)
-          Sultan Ibrahim (r.1640-48)
-          Sultan Mehmed IV (r.1648-87)
-          Sultan Ahmed III (r.1703-30)
-          Sultan Mahmud I (r.1730-54)
-          Sultan Osman III (r.1754-57)
-          Sultan Mustafa III (r.1757-74)
-          Sultan Abdulhamid I (r.1774-89)
-          Sultan Selim III (r.1789-1807)
-          Sultan Mustafa IV (r.1807-08)
-          Sultan Mahmud II (r.1808-39)
-          Sultan Mahmud II (r.1808-39)
-          Sultan Abdulmecid (r.1839-61)

Every sultan has been depicted with his certain characteristic feature; the extremely pious Bayazid II with a saintly beard, Mehmed the Conqueror with his sword, Selim the Grim with his mace, warlord Murad IV with his weapons, the bibliophile mawlawi Mustafa I with mawlawi headgear, holding a book. In the last eight portraits the sultans have been depicted resting on the Imperial Throne (the throne of Ahmed I) and the ceremonial Golden Throne (bayram tahti). Each sultan is depicted in his best-known appearance, wearing a kaftan and his characteristic headgear, adorned with bejewelled ornaments.  

Sultan Mahmud II, who introduced the fez to the Ottoman dressing code, has been depicted twice. In the first portrait, he appears in traditional costume, wearing a turban. In the second, however, he is depicted wearing a fez. Unlike the better-known, smaller portrait series of the second half of the nineteenth century which feature depictions of the sultans in round frames, the present series feature large, rectangular compositions.