Ottoman master Necmeddin Okyay was known as hezarfen (he who practices a thousand arts). He was a master calligrapher, hafiz (memorized the Quran), bookbinder, ebru artist, botanist, master archer and among other skills. In our times, it is difficult enough to master one art, imagine not only learning but mastering that many different arts.

Master calligrapher Ayman Hassan once said that all students of the traditional arts should learn from the biography of Necmeddin Okyay. He truly was an amazing person. You can read more about his skills and talents in an earlier blog I wrote about Necmeddin. In this blog, I wanted to briefly talk about his contribution in the field of Turkish marbling, also called Ebru, and share an interesting story about Necmeddin’s tulip.

Necmeddin was known as the master ebru artist of the twentieth century and also considered the last representative of the Ottoman book arts (i.e. calligraphy, tehzip, etc.). He invented two ebru techniques; he was the first to do marbled calligraphy called Yazili ebru in Turkish, a very difficult art. Second, he invented the process of making flower motif/pictures in ebru (Çiçekli ebru), such as tulips, hyacinths, roses and pansies. This floral marbling is a very popular and widely practiced art today. If you have ever taken any Turkish marbling classes, I am sure you have very likely created one of your own.

Here I wanted to share the story of how Necmeddin came about creating the first marbled tulip. The story goes as follows: One day an unknown person came to Necmeddin and asked him to make a picture of a tulip in ebru. Necmeddin replied that this would be impossible as masters in the past have also tried it but failed. The man insisted, so Necmeddin went home and set up his ebru trough and began to experiment. And as he was in the process, his calligrapher friend Macid Aryal stopped by and noticed what he was doing. Aryal, who had no knowledge of ebru, suggested to Necmeddin to pull the tips of the tulips upward.

Following his advice, using a single horse’s hair, he started pulling the tips of the flower, and to his surprise it looked just like a tulip. That day was a Friday so after leading the Friday prayer at the mosque, on his way back home he bought tulips, hyacinths and carnations. He started studying the structure and form of each flower and drawing them in ebru using a single horse hair. In this way, Necmeddin started a new style of marbling that was referred to as “Necmeddin Marbling.”

Today, awls (a long metal pin with a wooden handle) are used to draw and shape ebru colors. But imagine using a singe horse hair to get that complex shape. Brushes made of horse hair are still used but to mix and splatter paint over the marbling surface. After learning about Necemeddin’s story, it made me appreciate ebru a little bit more.

Ebru art used as a border for calligraphy by Necmeddin

More information on Ebru Art:

Materials and Techniques of Ebru Art - https://www.sevimsurucu.com/marbling-materials

Video demonstrating Tulip marbling - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGi6LvTRt8s

Reference:

Derman, M. Uğur.Letters in Gold: Ottoman Calligraphy from the Sakip Sabanci Collection, Istanbul

http://www.turkishculture.org/traditional-arts