A SILVER SUITCASE MADE FOR EMSALNUR KADIN, 7TH WIFE OF THE OTTOMAN SULTAN ABDULHAMID II, LATE 19TH CENTURY A SILVER SUITCASE MADE FOR EMSALNUR KADIN, 7TH WIFE OF THE OTTOMAN SULTAN ABDULHAMID II, LATE 19TH CENTURY A SILVER SUITCASE MADE FOR EMSALNUR KADIN, 7TH WIFE OF THE OTTOMAN SULTAN ABDULHAMID II, LATE 19TH CENTURY A SILVER SUITCASE MADE FOR EMSALNUR KADIN, 7TH WIFE OF THE OTTOMAN SULTAN ABDULHAMID II, LATE 19TH CENTURY A SILVER SUITCASE MADE FOR EMSALNUR KADIN, 7TH WIFE OF THE OTTOMAN SULTAN ABDULHAMID II, LATE 19TH CENTURY A SILVER SUITCASE MADE FOR EMSALNUR KADIN, 7TH WIFE OF THE OTTOMAN SULTAN ABDULHAMID II, LATE 19TH CENTURY A SILVER SUITCASE MADE FOR EMSALNUR KADIN, 7TH WIFE OF THE OTTOMAN SULTAN ABDULHAMID II, LATE 19TH CENTURY A SILVER SUITCASE MADE FOR EMSALNUR KADIN, 7TH WIFE OF THE OTTOMAN SULTAN ABDULHAMID II, LATE 19TH CENTURY A SILVER SUITCASE MADE FOR EMSALNUR KADIN, 7TH WIFE OF THE OTTOMAN SULTAN ABDULHAMID II, LATE 19TH CENTURY

A SILVER SUITCASE MADE FOR EMSALNUR KADIN, 7TH WIFE OF THE OTTOMAN SULTAN ABDULHAMID II, LATE 19TH CENTURY

Reference: ART3004221

Silver construction with green velvet and leather lining.
 This silver suitcase with green velvet and leather lining. The silver features several Ottoman silver marks. The case also features an Ottoman Turkish inscription. The inscription on the right reads: “Devletlü İsmetlü Baş-İkbâl” while the inscription on the left corner reads “Emsalinur Hanım Hazretleri”.
34.5 by 19.5 by 24 cm.

Biography of Emsalinur Kadın

  Emsalinur was born in 1866 in  Abkhazia in the Caucasus.
 She married Abdulhamid II 20th of November, 1855. According to Palace Protocol, she became “Başikbal” or “Head Ikbal” in 1895. Eventually she raised in rank until “Fourth Kadın” in 1901.

  After Abdulhamid II was deposed on the 27th of April, 1909 and sent to Selanik (Thessaloniki), Emsalinur stayed in Istanbul.  Thessaloniki fell to Greece in 1912, after which Abdulhamid returned to Istanbul and settled in Beylerbeyi Palace, where he died in 1918.
 After the imperial family was sent into exile in 1924, she went to Paris with her daughter, but eventually returned to Istanbul and settled in her daughters mansion located in Nişantaşı.
In 1934, after the new Surname law, she adopted the surname “Kaya”. Her mansion was eventually sold by the ministry of finance, and she was forced to relocate. She moved to her granddaughters mansion in Erenköy. However, this mansion was also sold in 1948, in this case to Sabiha Gökçen, the World’s first female fighter pilot, after which she became homeless.

  Tragically, Emsalinur Kadın died homeless in 1950.
Since she was Başikbal from 1895 until 1901 and the inscription reads “Devletlü İsmetlü Baş-İkbâl”, this suitcase must have been presented to her during this period.

Literature:
* Harun Açba, Kadin Efendiler {1839-1924}, Profil Publications, 2007.
* Mustafa Ateş & Abdullah Erdem Taş, “Sultan II. Abdulhamid’in Eşleri ve Nikah Meselesi”, Cumhuriyet Theology Journal, December 2020, 24 (3): 1263-1284