1
The Ritual of Giving
Elisabeth Schmuttermeier
Gift-making, like trade, buying and exchange, provides an opportunity for transporting goods
from one place to another. The motives have been vastly diverse; for instance political, such
as the initiation of alliances and contracts, gifts cementing peace after military combat, or on
relinquishing claims on territory. Gifts within an economic context were automatically
expected from the opposite party when drawing up trade contracts or accessing new
markets. Family occasions likewise involved gift-making: engagements, weddings, births and
so forth. Certain circumstances obliged parties to give presents in return, which set a regular
exchange into motion. (foil 2)
The following lecture focuses on a theme of the exhibition “Global Lab” shown in the MAK in
Vienna in 2009 that deals with a specific “gift ritual situation”, primarily the tribute paid by the
Germans to the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. A short
historical introduction might help towards a better understanding of this situation. (foil 3)
When his brother-in-law King Ladislaus II. of Hungary and Bohemia (1506-1526) died at the
Battle of Mohács, the Habsburg Archduke Ferdinand (1503-1564, Emperor Ferdinand I since
1558) assumed power in 1526 over Ladislaus’s domains.
However, the majority of the Hungarian nobility rejected Ferdinand’s claim and voted for
Ladislaus’s uncle as King of Hungary, John Zápolya (1487-1540), the Prince of Transylvania
since 1526. Since large parts of the country were already under Ottoman rule, Ferdinand and
John endeavoured to gain the support of the Turkish sultan Suleiman I (1494-1566) in order
to assert their claim to power. The latter decided upon John Zápolya. Ferdinand was obliged
to pay tribute. In return, the Habsburg ruler received the title of King of Hungary, also the
northern and western counties. The major part of the country with the Hungarian Plain and
the capital of Buda (Ofen) together with the Banat of Temesvár remained under Ottoman
rule.
Munera honorica or honorific gifts to the Turkish sultan were not only made by German
Empire but also by the Kings of Poland, the Princes of Transylvania, the Grand Dukes of
Tuscany, the Doges of Venice and the Persian potentates. The gifts were evaluated
according to the rank of the recipient; they were addressed not only to the sultan, but also to
higher dignitaries and his court. Since the mid of sixteenth century a permanent
representative of the emperor to the High Porte handed over the annual tribute payments,
which the imperial emissaries brought from Vienna to Constantinople/Istanbul. (foil 4)
2
Favoured presents from and within Europe included a contractually fixed amount of cash in
coin, also silver articles, clocks, mirrors, weapons, armour, textiles, paintings, horses and
dogs. Though the demands were occasionally thought to be shaming, the “donor” could
however use his highly valuable gifts to demonstrate to the recipient the technical
achievements of his compatriot craftsmen and artisans, and his exclusive standard of living.
Some cities of the German Empire such as Nuremberg and Augsburg had specialised in
commissions for precious and non-precious metals. (foil 5)
During the sixteenth century, imperial officers were in charge of the complicated organisation
to commission the honorific gifts made annually in Augsburg. In the next century this
responsibility fell on the court silver dealers. The organisers distributed the extensive
commissions – submitted to the imperial court as drawings – to several, in part specialised
master goldsmiths. The latter executed the orders within a few months, presuming the silver
dealers had enough raw material at their disposal.
Besides lists of articles, preserved in the Staatsarchiv / Hofkammerarchiv (State Archive /
Court Exchequer Archive) in Vienna are several drawings of gifts for the High Porte,
including armour for the Turks in 1590. (foil 6,7,8) Lighting apparatus, probably made in
Holland, was transported in May 1665 by the ambassador Walter Count Leslie (+1667) to
Sultan Mehmed IV (1642 -1693) in Constantinople/ Istanbul.
A silver table today owned by the Esterhazy family was also originally part of this tribute
payment. (foil 9) Probably executed in 1659 by David I. Schwestermüller (master c. 1673, +
1695), it remained in Vienna; it was deemed “unsuitable” because of the figural
ornamentation. Johann Philipp Beris, the exchequer secretary, gives us a written explanation
in 1664: “They [the Ottomans] do not wish to see figures resembling humans and animals ….
The Turks have no appreciation of artifice. So they melt down everything not to their taste
and manner.” The gifts ought in no way to offend religious feeling. This couldn’t happen if the
recipient himself commissioned sketches of the desired clocks to be made in Constantinople/
Istanbul and then had them transported by imperial ambassadors for execution in Augsburg.
(foil 10)
Eleven authentic pictures have been preserved of the grand legation of Hans Ludwig
Kuefstein (1582-1656), who travelled from Vienna to the Bosporus in 1628 on commission of
Emperor Ferdinand II (1578-1637); they show us the course of the ambassadors’ journey,
first by ship to Belgrade and then on dry land.
Kuefstein left Vienna on July 20th, 1628 by boat. (foil 11) The painting shows the moment of
the departure with Emperor Ferdinand II. in the foreground. Kuefstein used the most
luxurious boat (N° 6) for himself; the gifts for the High Porte were transported in the boats N°
4 and 5. The water route was used to bring for example clocks from Augsburg to Vienna by a
3
barge or raft. Then the boat brought the objects on the river Danube to Belgrad and from
there by carriage to Istanbul. Therefore boat N°3 was used by clockmakers and goldsmiths
who accompanied the delegation in case to repair damaged gifts while the journey.
At the end of September the delegation arrived in Ofen (Buda) and met the Viezir of Buda in
an Audience. (foil 12) The Vizier and his officials were sitting on cushions on the floor;
Kuefstein was seated on a stool (D interpreter). Gifts for the Vizier were presented on the
floor (cups, jug and basin).
On November 25th the delegation entered Constantinople. (foil 13) A gouache shows the
ritual of an audience with the Sultan (Foil 14) in the Topkapi Serail. Kuefstein the
ambassador is shown twice, without hat in the foreground accompanied by two guards,
holding his arms to prevent an attack against the Sultan Muhrad IV.; on the right next to the
wall with the hat on his head. For the audience everybody had to leave the room except the
Sultan, the ambassador, the permanent representative of the Emperor in Istanbul and the
interpreter.
Highlight of the embassy was next to the audience the reception at the Divan (foil 15).
Kuefstein and the representative (visible by their black hats) were seated together with the
interpreter on a round table in the middle (table E). The Sultan himself was absent but
watched the reception through the small window (D).
Despite tribute payments the military conflict between the Germans and the Ottoman Empire
continued. Only the Treaty of Karlowitz/Karlovci in 1699 finally banished the Turkish threat
and brought an end to the compulsory “ritual of giving”.
The ritual of giving
1
Saliera, Benvenuto Cellini, Paris 1540-43
Gold, enamel, wood
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Drinking bottle, Constantinople pre-1581
Metal, leather, applications
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
2
Emperor Ferdinand I., Hans Bocksberger d.A.
Germany, mid 16th century
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Sultan Süleyman I. school of Tizian, ar.1530
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
3
Still life with globe and cockatoo, Pieter Bol, Amsterdam c. 1658
Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna
4
Clock, clockwork signed David Buschmann,
Augsburg 1670-80
Wood, silver gilded, preciuos and nonprescious
Stones
Esterhazy Collection, Forchtenstein
Wall clock clockwork probably Jeremias Pfaff
the Younger, Augsburg 1680
Iron, silver, painted
Esterhazy Collection, Forchtenstein
5
Design for a chandelier, Amsterdam 1665
Red chalk dawing
Austrian State Archives, Vienna
Design for a casket, Augsburg pre-1665
Red chalk drawing
Austrian State Archives, Vienna
6
Design for two silver candlesticks, Amsterdam or Augsburg c. 1664, pencil drawing
Austrian State Archives, Vienna
7
Design for a table top called „Siri“, Augsburg c. 1664, pencil drawing
Austrian State Archives, Vienna
8
Silvertable „Judgement of Paris“
David 1. Schwestermüller, Augsburg c.1659
Ebony, silver partly gilded
Esterhazy Collection, Forchtenstein
9
Designs for clocks, Constantinople 1567
Oswald Khayser (right one)
Watercolored pen drawing
Austrian State Archives, Vienna
10
Depature of the grand embassy of Hans Ludwig Kuefstein (1582-1656) from Vienna, post-1628, Canvas
Kuefstein Collection, Greillenstein, Austria
11
Audience with the Viezir of Buda, post-1628, parchment, gouache
Ottoman Museum, Perchtoldsdorf, Austria
12
Entry into Constantinople, post-1628, parchment, gouache
Ottoman Museum, Perchtoldsdorf, Austria
13
Audience with the Sultan, post-1628, parchment, gouache
Ottoman Museum, Austria, Perchtoldsdorf
14
Reception in the Divan (farewell), post-1628, parchment, gouache
Ottoman Museum, Perchtoldsdorf, Austria
15
The End
Elisabeth Schmuttermeier
ICDAD meeting 2011
16