Surname Miniature

2000 King of Puzzle (wooden) (59 x 88)
Surname Miniature
Abdulcelil Levni
Production Date Unknown

Being a fan of miniatures, I was pleased to find this wooden puzzle and thoroughly enjoyed working on it. The pieces were thick and sturdy, but had a faint smell of burned wood from the laser cutting. The pieces are fairly ambiguous, so "false fits' were an issue, especially in the blue sections, but the resulting image when complete is incredible.

King of Puzzle has produced several miniatures from this series in piece counts from 500 to 2000. I hope to acquire the remaining puzzles in the future.

Info from Wikipedia (translated from German)

The Surname-i Vehbi (Ottoman: سورنامه وهبی İA Sūr-nāme-i Vehbī; Turkish: Vehbi Surnamesi, 'Festive Book of Vehbi') is an illuminated manuscript from the library of the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul. It was created by Abdülcelil Çelebi, called Levnî, the Magnificent, and the court poet (şehnameci) Seyyid Vehbi. The magnificently illuminated work, with 137 miniatures on double pages, describes the celebrations surrounding the circumcision of the four sons of Ahmed III. It is the last illustrated manuscript commissioned for the Ottoman royal treasury.

The term surname describes a genre of eulogies founded by Mehmed I for official celebrations at the Sultan's court. They were written until the 19th century. Other well-known surnames include the Surname-i Hümayun by Nakkaş Osman and Nabi's Veḳāʾiʿ-i ḫitān-ı şeh-zādegān-ı ḥażret-i sulṭān Meḥemmed Ġāzī, a surname composed on the occasion of the circumcision of Princes Mustafa and Ahmed. Other important authors included 'Abdî, Hazîn, and Haşmet. A total of 19 surnames have been preserved.

In 1720, Sultan Ahmed III ordered a 50-day festival in honor of the circumcision of his four sons. Such festivals were customary at the Ottoman court and, through public feasts, the gift of new clothes and other gifts of honor, alms, and debt relief, they underscored the Sultan's role as landowner and divinely appointed sovereign of the Ottoman estate system. It was also traditional to commemorate such festivals in elaborately crafted hymns. The manuscript, decorated with Levnî's miniatures, is housed in the library of the Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul (TSMK, III. Ahmed, Inv. No. 3593).

The 137 miniatures are each arranged on a double page. Various festive banquets, displays such as bear fights (fol. 57b), military parades and parades of the artisans' guilds, the exchange of gifts, and fireworks are depicted in chronological order. While the depiction is realistic, the figures, in particular, are depicted in stereotypical positions, true to the Ottoman miniature style, reflecting their social roles. In contrast to the Surname-i Hümayun, which was created 200 years earlier, the Sultan is depicted among other figures at an equal level, his rank emphasized only by his own seat and his clothing. In the Surname-i Hümayun, the Sultan and his family sit in a box above the people.