Coffeehouses

Coffeehouses

Coffee house scene (recto), folio from an Ottoman album, T 439.9, artist unknown, assembled in Istanbul, Turkey, c.1620. From the Turkish collection of Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, Ireland.

Coffeehouses as public spaces first emerged in the Islamic world, and became deeply embedded in the social life of Ottoman Istanbul in the 16th and 17th centuries: due to coffee’s energizing, highly addictive, but non-intoxicant effect (particularly important for Muslims, as Islamic law prohibited the drinking of wine), coffeehouses became extremely popular and convenient places in which men could gather to socialize, relax, network, and conduct business. Aside from the occasional female server or owner, coffeehouses became the preferred setting for male sociable drinking, which, before coffee, had relied upon the consumption of alcohol. As profitable businesses, spreading to every corner of the city, coffeehouses were patronized by Muslims and non-Muslims alike, and people spent so much of their time in them that the ulema reportedly became concerned about dropping rates of mosque attendance. Although attempts were made to ban coffee and coffeehouses, they were too popular and lucrative to eradicate. Owners hired beardless youths as servers to attract more customers, and filled their coffeehouses with entertainment and games to enjoy. As we can see in this miniature, customer activities ranged from conversing, playing boardgames such as backgammon, enjoying musical performances, reading, to even relishing the caress of a young server while sipping a cup of coffee, as in the case of a customer on the upper right side.

artist unknown

Chester Beatty Library online database: https://viewer.cbl.ie/viewer/object/T_439_9/1/LOG_0000/

Chester Beatty Library

painting on paper