The Representation of the Seljuk and Ottoman Past in British Museums: A Comparative Critical Evaluation of the Collections in the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum and National Museums Scotland

Abstract

This thesis examines how objects of Islamic cultures in three British museums—The British Museum (BM), Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) and the National Museum of Scotland (NMS)—were represented to visitors through artefacts of the Seljuk and Ottoman dynasties. A brief introduction to core concepts such as Islamic art, Turkish art, Seljuk and Ottoman, in addition to an overview of the relevant dynasties' art conceptions, is provided in order to contextualise the research. This study on Seljuk and Ottoman artefacts in these museums aims to contribute to research on Islamic art and museum studies and to compare how these artefacts are displayed and interpreted. The main overarching goal is to demonstrate the representation of the Seljuk and Ottoman past in British museums and to understand the mobility between Islam and the UK through analysing the museum displays, labels, and online catalogues, along with the views of museum visitors in the three chosen museums. To achieve this goal, galleries containing Seljuk and Ottoman artefacts were identified through the museums’ online collections. Research indicated that there was a significant number of Seljuk and Ottoman artefacts ranging from the 12th to the 19th centuries in these three museums, including ceramics, glass, jewellery, coins, seals, textile products, rugs, metal kitchenware, leather goods, tombstones, drawings and painting albums. Detailed field research was carried out in each of the three museums, and the Seljuk and Ottoman artefacts on display were identified, and these objects and their labels were photographed. Interviews were conducted with museum officials and relevant curators to ask essential questions within the scope of the research, and which had emerged from observation studies conducted during field trips. Online ii catalogues of these museums were examined for their design, features and comprehensiveness to get an idea about the invisible side of these collections in museum displays. Finally, visitor surveys were conducted to explore what visitors felt they had learned from the collections and how these collections might be improved. Three primary research objectives were then assessed. First, to identify the presentation and representation of the Seljuk and Ottoman past in the three chosen British museums. Second, to evaluate the impact of their approaches, presentations and representations. Third, to compare and contrast these approaches, presentations and representations in terms of their strengths and weaknesses. For this purpose, catalogues of Seljuk and Ottoman artefacts were created using the museum’s online collections and lists of artefacts provided by relevant museums. Although there are commonalities stemming from the essence of Islamic faith, different societies in each region produce different cultures, which inevitably is reflected in their understanding of art. This study found that this difference, or more accurately, this diversity, should be emphasised in museum displays and an improvement in museum displays in this context will enable visitors to understand Islamic art and cultures more clearly and precisely.