Bursa, Turkey: the silk exchange. Lithograph by J.F. Lewis, 1838, after Coke Smythe.

A vivid view of the courtyard of the Silk Khan in Bursa. The print shows dwellers of the Khan who are mainly silk traders and producers of floss as well as customers. Some traders are sitting and standing under the trellis, while two producers of floss who are in their distinguished Manav Turk costumes are chatting with two other traders. The minaret of the Great Mosque is seen as well as pieces of silk and baskets of floss

Koza Han (the Silk Khan) in Bursa was built by Sultan Bayezid II as a fund for his charitable institutions in Istanbul in 1491. Bursa became the centre of silk production in Turkey. The Silk Khan was the place where flosses were produced by a certain Turkish community -- Manavs -- from Central Asia. The Silk Khan continued as a trading centre for silk, with shops on its top floor and cafeterias on its ground floor

[London] : [T. McLean et al.], [1838]

1 print : lithograph ; image 34.6 x 25.9 cm

Silk Khan Brussa. J.F.L.

J.R. Abbey, Travel in aquatint and lithography 1770-1860, vol. 2, London, 1957, p. 350, no. 394.25

Wellcome Collection 2150207i