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The Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki presents The Kalfayan Collection of
Armenian Art. The lengthy coexistence
of Greeks and Armenians in Asia Minor
and the history that the two nations
have in common are two of the important
motivations for presenting this
exhibition. The collection, which is
being exhibited to the public for the
first time, focuses on Armenian art of
the late sixteenth to nineteenth
centuries and consists of art works of
exceptional significance, as much for
their rarity as for the historical
period to which they belong.
Although the cultural achievements of the Armenians during the
medieval period have been the object of
much scientific research, the period to
which the objects from the Kalfayan
Collection belong has attracted less
attention from scholars of Armenian
art. As early as the seventeenth
century, the Armenian merchants of the
Ottoman Empire had distinguished
themselves in the broader commercial
world. The great wealth that was
accumulated by this rising merchant
class permitted the preservation and
promotion of cultural activity. The
Armenians made their presence felt in
Europe as well as in the Middle East,
the Far East and India, trading in
cotton and other goods from India, and
porcelain from China. This geographic
expansion of their commercial network,
particularly toward the east, also
influenced their cultural preferences
which are evident in the works in the
collection. Regrettably, the historical
events of the end of the nineteenth and
early part of the twentieth centuries
led to the destruction and total
uprooting of the Armenians from their
ancestral lands, also causing the
dispersion of portable works.
The collecting of works scattered around the globe -
the recovery
of the objects themselves and the
cultural identity that they represent -
is
one of the primary objectives of the Kalfayan family. Their collection
conveys the wealth of Armenian culture
that flourished parallel to Greek
culture in Asia Minor during the Ottoman
Empire. Through the collection one can
see not only the artistic but also the
historical course of the Armenian
people, revealing the important role
played by commerce and the Armenians of
the Diaspora.
The Kalfayan family's presence in Thessaloniki dates back to the
second half of the nineteenth century
with the active participation of its
members in the social, political and
cultural affairs of the city.
Originating in Talas (Moutalaski) in
Cappadocia, the Gazarian family and
later the Kalfayans, who are related to
the Gulbenkian family, settled in
Thessaloniki in order to expand their
business in the European part of the
Ottoman Empire. During the early 1970s,
the younger members of the family began
systematically collecting Armenian works
of art, a tradition continued today by
Roupen, Arsen and Veronica Kalfayan.
The collection consists of ecclesiastical as well as secular
works which were either made by Armenian
artists and craftsmen or else belonged
to Armenians, as the inscriptions
indicate. Many of the works in the
exhibition, rare items of the finest
artistic value but also simpler works,
consist of gifts to churches. The
collection includes manuscripts,
textiles, exceptional porcelains from
China, ceramics from Kutahya, decorative
objects as well as rare ecclesiastical
and secular works which reveal the many
aspects of Armenian history. The period
of Armenian art-which will be presented
in the exhibition - coincides with our
post-Byzantine era and is extremely
interesting as it displays strong
influences not only of Islamic art, but
also the art of the East.
Only a portion of the
Kalfayan Collection will be presented at
the Museum of Byzantine Culture. The
exhibition is the capstone of efforts
and a cooperation that have lasted over
a lengthy period of time. The works
were gradually transported from London
to the Museum of Byzantine Culture,
where they were catalogued, photographed
and restored.
A comprehensive catalogue, which should prove to be a valuable
guide for the further study of Armenian
art, accompanies the exhibition. |
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Kutahya's
Cup with lid,
Anatolia, 18th century
Enamelled silver gilt
bowl,
Istanbul, 18th century
Steel sword (shamshir) decorated with gold,
Anatolia, 1731
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