İstanbul’da Gurur ve Önyargı: Bir Hollanda-Yunan Kontesinin Kişisel Eşyaları (1730)

Year 2022, Issue: 14, 13 - 40, 30.06.2022

Marloes Cornelissen

https://doi.org/10.32739/uskudarsbd.8.14.100

Abstract

Hollanda'nın Osmanlı İmparatorluğu elçisi Kont Jacobus Colyer, 1725’teki ölümü üzerine Yunan eşi Catterina de Bourg'u borç içinde bıraktı. Sefaret sarayında geçirdiği gösterişçi tüketime dayalı lüks ve müsrif bir hayatın ardından, kontesin ayakta kalmak için mücadele etmek zorunda kaldığı anlaşılıyor. Eşinin akrabaları, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'na gelen seyyahlar, Hollanda’nın yeni sefiri, İstanbul'un diğer yabancı topluluklarının üyeleri ve hatta kendi hizmetçileri bile, kontese, muhtemelen mağrur görünüşlü tavırlarından ötürü genellikle önyargı ve kötü niyetle yaklaşmaktaydılar. 1730'da öldüğünde, kalan eşyalarının tereke kaydı tutuldu ve borçlarını kapatmak için eşyalarının çoğu açık artırmaya çıkarıldı. Eşya ve müzayede kayıtları ile özel yazışmaları, bu Hollanda-Yunan kontesinin "dünyasına" ender ele geçen türden bir bakış fırsatı sunuyor. Bu kayıtlar, dünyanın dört bir yanından İstanbul'a getirttiği eşyalar konusundaki seçkin zevkine olduğu gibi kocasının ölümünden sonra yaşadığı yoksulluk haline de tanıklık ediyor.

Keywords

Maddi Kültür, Erken Modern Osmanlı İmparatorluğu, İstanbul’daki Hollanda Elçisi, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu, Tereke

Pride And Prejudice in Istanbul: The Personal Possessions of a Dutch-Greek Countess (1730)

Abstract

Upon his death, Count Jacobus Colyer (d. 1725), the Dutch Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, left his Greek wife Catterina de Bourg in a state of debt. The countess appears to have struggled to survive after a life of conspicuous consumption and extravagant luxury in the Ambassadorial palace. Possibly because of her seemingly proud attitude, she was often met with prejudice and malice by her husband’s relatives, travelers to the Ottoman Empire, the new Dutch Ambassador, other members of the foreign communities of Istanbul, and even her own servants. When she died in 1730, an inventory of her remaining possessions was drawn up, and most of her belongings were auctioned off to cover her debts. The records of her possessions and their auction as well as her private correspondence offer a rare glimpse into the “world” of this Dutch-Greek countess. These records bear witness of her exquisite taste in commodities brought to Istanbul from all over the world, but also of her destitute situation after the demise of her husband.

Keywords

Material Culture, Early Modern Ottoman Empire, Dutch Ambassador in Istanbul, Women in the Ottoman Empire, Inventory Records

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