Filles Turques, qui jouent au Mangala, plate 53 from "Recueil de cent estampes représentent differentes nations du Levant"

Art Historical Context

**Filles Turques, qui jouent au Mangala** (Turkish Girls Playing Mangala), 53 from the *Recueil de cent estamp représentant différentes nations du Levant*Collection of One Hundred Prints Representing Different of the Levant), captures a lively moment of leisure in the Ottoman Empire. Created around 1714–15 by painter Jean Baptiste Vanmour who served as court artist to the French ambassador in Istanbul and engraved by Jacques le Hay, etching and engraving depicts young Turkish women engrossed in Mangala—a traditional mancala-style board game involving strategy and sowing seeds or stones into pits. The detailed costumes and serene domestic setting offer a rare glimpse into everyday Ottoman life, blending European curiosity with Eastern exoticism. Produced during the early 18th century, amid growing European fascination with the Levant (the Eastern Mediterranean under Ottoman rule), this print is part of a renowned series of 100 plates documenting diverse peoples, costumes, and customs. Vanmour's meticulous observations, translated into Le Hay's precise etching and engraving techniques, highlight Rococo-era attention to texture and ornament—note the intricate fabrics and jewelry that evoke Istanbul's vibrant markets. These works were prized collector's items, bridging cultures and preserving vanishing traditions. Today, housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (Bequest of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 2019), it invites visitors to ponder women's roles in Ottoman society through play, reminding us how games like Mangala fostered community across centuries. (198 words)

About the Artist

Jean Baptiste Vanmour|Jacques le Hay · 1671–1737

Comment on works: Architecture; Portraits; Genre; Turkish scenes