like a child in a lolly shop

i was taken on a tour through the Grand Bazaar recently and i'm afraid yours truly resembles a goldfish now ...i kept having to wipe the drool off my face to be honest ...the textiles!!!, the jewels!!!...(turquoise, coral, torquoise, coral...drool drool drool). but more than that, i think what impacted me the most was the historical signifance of the textiles we saw.

...one of Gonul's suppliers sources his finds from people who've either fallen on tough times and need some form of income (these pieces have been in their families history for generations) or from those working independently sourcing fabric across asia.  These pieces are then sold (or not) to Osman who in turn sells them at the Bazaar.
  

...its mind boggling the amount of WORK that has gone into creating such treasures ...many pieces are hundreds of years old, so to be touching a piece of fabric that has survived after 400 years ...well ...i started to think about the maker/s, the hours of labour it took to make,  the artisan (who i don't know but whose work is reflected in the cloth) ...i think of where that person/s lived, where he/she/they learnt their craft, where they would have worked - in a studio, in a home, a factory... all sorts of random things. 

TOP ROW- Gonul browsing for new purchases.

2ND ROW - married woman's black silk mantle (chrpy), Turkmenistan
3RD ROW - metallic embroidered Ottoman prayer book wallet
4TH ROW - silk coat detail, warp ikat, Uzbekistan