Birds of paradise for the sultan. Early seventeenth-century Dutch-Turkish encounters and the uses of wonder

Abstract

This article describes and analyzes the first diplomatic gift presented by the States General of the Netherlands to the Ottoman Sultan Ahmet I in 1612/1613. The extensive and very costly assortment of items was presented to the Sultan in gratitude for capitulations, permitting the Dutch access to Ottoman ports and therefore direct access to trade in the Levant and Mediterranean. This paper describes the diplomatic gift, a long-neglected episode in Dutch material cultural history, and looks in particular at the role that wonder and wonders played in structuring this remarkable encounter between the fledgling Dutch Republic and the Ottoman court.