Museum collections show final years of Ottomans

The National Palace Collection Museum in Istanbul, which is made up of a museum, storage and art gallery, is home to more than 50,000 rare objects from Dolmabahçe Palace as well as 19th-century mansions and summer palaces.

A restructuring in 2011 succeeded in bringing together objects that visitors had previously not had a chance to see and protect them, said Palace Collection Museum official Güller Karahüseyin.

For the protection of cultural heritage, the 19th-century objects, most of which were used for special occasions in palaces and mansions and stored in the depots of Dolmabahçe Palace, were brought together in a 100-square-meter storage in the back of the Palace Collections Museums.

Karahüseyin said it was Turkey's first and only storage museum. "Ninety-five percent of the objects here were kept in the storages in the ground floors and attics of the Dolmabahçe Palace in the past.

Following the ones in Dolmabahçe, the other objects kept in other palaces and mansions were brought here, too. We have 50,774 objects in our storage. We are working to bring the new ones from other palaces and mansions. When they come, we will have nearly 55,000 objects in the museum. At the moment, 1,508 objects are on display in the museum and 50,774 objects are being kept in the storage."

Karahüseyin said they were trying to keep the objects of all types in ideal conditions. "The seasoning here is between 18-22 degrees and the humidity rate is under control. We also provide surface cleaning for all objects here periodically. The cleaning of furniture was recently made. In this way, we can look to see if any bugs are damaging the objects. If there is any damage, we send the objects to be disinfected."

Kept in different places...