OTTOMAN TOUG "TUĞ", 17th - 18th century. 32314

OTTOMAN "TUĞ" FLAG, 17th - 18th century. 32314

Hollow wooden mast with a brass ring at its base, Ø 6 cm and H 9 cm, entirely covered with a weaving of horsehair in a repetitive geometric pattern, spirals in its central part. The top part is adorned with tufts of horsehair dyed scarlet-white-yellow-black. White and scarlet hanging horsehair are fixed at the half of the mast.
H of the mast 99 cm. H of the tuft 14 cm. Total H 113 cm.
Length of hanging hair approximately 69 cm.
Tuft Ø about 12 cm.
Mast Ø between 8.5 and 5 cm, depending on the parts.

Ottoman Empire.
17th - 18th century.
Good condition, normal wear.

NOTE:
The "tuğ" (Ottoman Turkish: طوغ) is a flag made of horse tails attached to a pole, sometimes topped with a crescent or a metallic pommel. It was mainly carried by Ottoman cavalrymen and served as a sign of command, rallying, and hierarchical status.

IMPERIAL GUARD MAMELUKS OF THE FIRST FRENCH EMPIRE:
These models were used by the Mameluks of the Imperial Guard during the Consulate and the First French Empire. In his work "IMPERIAL GUARD MAMELUKS" Collection Raoul and Jean Brunon (Marseille), "THE MAMELUKS OF EGYPT - THE MAMELUKS OF THE IMPERIAL GUARD", Jean Brunon writes in 1963 "The tuğ, a kind of banner used by the Mameluks following the Turks, was a symbol of war and command. It consisted of a horse’s tail, generally white or red, attached below a golden copper pommel sometimes topped with a crescent; supporting the whole, a thick pole ended, between the pommel and the horse’s tail, with an ornament consisting of braided horsehair in white, red, and black; other braids stood out from the motif and hung around.
The tuğ preceded a high-ranking person, and their number was determined by the rank of the individual. In the field, seven or nine tuğs were carried in front of the sultan during the march. The Grand Vizier had the privilege of having five; the bachaghas, who held the rank of vizier and resided in the capital cities of the kingdom, including the one in Cairo, were entitled to three tuğs. The Pashas, governors of the provinces, had two, and the Beys had one.
The removal of the tuğ signaled the declaration of war; it was like the soul of the Turkish Army, respected and defended against any enemy attack. During halts, the tuğ was planted in front of the dignitary's tent.
In a composition by Dutertre published in the Description de l'Egypte, the artist shows French troops arriving in Siout, Upper Egypt, after an expedition: a camel carries a bundle of tuğs on each side of the pack saddle (See page 38).
The Army of the Orient conquered a large number of these trophies from the Mameluks and the Turks; some of them are preserved at the Army Museum; two are in the Raoul and Jean Brunon Collection (plate opposite)."


SIMILAR OBJECT:
In the sale of the Islamic and Indian Art Collection of Philippe Missillier, on April 29, 2025, at the Sotheby's Auction House in London (United Kingdom), the following item was presented as lot No. 4:
SPELNDOUR - The Philippe Missillier Collection of -Islamic & Indian Armes & Armours
A RARE OTTOMAN BATTLE STANDARD (TUĞ), TURKEY OR BALKANS, 17TH CENTURY the hollow wooden pole with iron band with two suspension rings at the base, the length of the pole covered with a polychrome coarse woven textile, decorated in a repeating geometric spiral pattern, the top half with tufts of horsehair partially dyed red, attached at four points 110cm. PROVENANCE Taken as booty on the battlefield, siege of Vienna, 1683 House of the Duchy of Baden Sotheby’s Amsterdam, Property of a Princely Family, 19 December 2006, lot 409 Philippe Missillier Collection no.10C W £ 10,000-15,000 A tuğ standard is a type of traditional standard that consists of a wooden pole to which dyed horse or yak tail hair is attached. Its use on the Eurasian steppe is attested from as early as the fourteenth century but is likely much older. During the early modern period, the armies of the Ottoman empire also made use of the tuğ standard as a marker of rank, which was indicated by the number of tuğ placed outside the holder’s tent. The Sultan for instance had up to nine horsetail standards. (Holger Schuckelt (ed.), The Turkish Chamber: Oriental Splendour in the Dresden Armoury, Dresden: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, 2010, p.71). Surviving tuğ, including the present example, form part of the booty (Turkenbeute) taken in the Turkish wars. The present standard is a rare survival of such standards captured during the 1683 Siege of Vienna. A tuğ in Karlsruhe came from the Türkische Cammer of Markgrafen (Margrave) Ludwig Wilhelm von BadenBaden (1655-1707). (Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe, inv. no.D 30; see Ernst Petrasch et al, Die Karlsruher Turkenbeute, Munich: Hirmer Verlag, 1991, pp.77-78, no.17). Another tuğ likely looted during the 1683 Siege of Vienna is in the National Museum of Denmark (inv. No.Mb 2, Kjeld von Folsach et al., Fighting, Hunting, Impressing: Arms and Armour from the Islamic World 1500-1850, Copenhagen: David Collection, 2021, p.110) and maintains its original tombak finial. Two further tuğ standards were captured by the later Ferdinand II of Austria, in 1556 during a campaign against Ottoman Hungary (W. Boeheim, Handbuch der Waffenkunde, Leipzig, 1890, p.511)

ILLUSTRATIONS:
I have provided illustrations of:
1- the sabres brought back from the Egypt campaign preserved in the collections of the Army Museum at Les Invalides in Paris.
2- the catalogue entry: SPLENDOUR - The Philippe Missillier Collection of Islamic & Indian Arms & Armours.
3- An excerpt from the work of Raoul and Jean Brunon showing one of the two sabres kept in their collection.