Baroque and Rococo elements

Baroque and Rococo elements were imported from the West into nineteenth century Ottoman design, especially from the nearby Austro-Hungarian Empire, but also from France, which was a major influence upon the Tanzimat modernising culture of the Ottoman Empire. One thinks of the French name Grande Rue de Péra in this context.

The escutcheon, scrolls and bands at the bottom of the Tughra stamps are in a baroque and roccocco style, popular in the Ottoman Empire of the 18th and 19th centuries and epitomised by the Dolmabache Palace (near contemporary with the first stamps). The Dolmabache Palace architects imported baroque and roccoco design concepts in a self conscious attempt to portray a modernising image to the world.   
 © John Dunn.