The Story of Our Name
A capmaker's dream, a treasure in a cellar, a mosque that bears his name
We inherited not a brand but a name. We try to be worthy of it.
Arakiye is the fine felt cap once worn by dervishes and townsfolk. The arakiyeci is the master who makes that cap by hand. Our platform takes its name only from here, from such a master, Takkeci Ibrahim Cavus.
A humble master
Ibrahim Cavus earned his living making caps; a plain, content and devout man. He lived by the labour of his hands and made do with little. Yet he carried a great wish within: to one day build a mosque.
A dream three times repeated
As the story goes, a luminous elder appeared in his dream and said: your fortune is in Baghdad; at Bridge Square find a vine wound around a date palm. The same dream returned for three nights. Ibrahim Cavus sold all he had and set out. In Baghdad he truly found the palm and the vine as described.
The watchman's laugh
There a watchman heard his story and laughed, then told his own dream: for years I have dreamt of a treasure in the cellar of a capmaker named Ibrahim, near the Topkapi walls of Istanbul; but who would set out for a dream? In that moment Ibrahim Cavus understood the secret. The treasure he sought had been in his own home all along.
The treasure, from the very beginning, lies within one's own home, one's own self.
The gold in the cellar
He returned to Istanbul, dug beneath his own cellar and found the gold the dream had pointed to. With that treasure he built the mosque that bears his name today. By its inscription the building dates to 1000 AH, that is 1592.
The inspiration of the tiles
The building is not only a mosque; with two fountains, a water well, a primary school and a graveyard it is a small complex. Despite its modest scale it is known for two things: its singular wooden dome resting on an octagonal drum, and the 16th-century Iznik tile panels (flowers, fruit and rumi) covering nearly half its walls. Some of these tile panels are now in the Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon. These tiles are one of the inspirations behind our Tilework & Illumination collection .
Why this name?
Because this story tells everything we believe in: handcraft, patience, purity of intent and trust in providence. The road taken outward is in truth a mirror of the inner road one travels to know oneself. The human being is zubda-i alem, the essence of the world. We inherited only the name, and try to be worthy of it.
Handcraft
Every work is made entirely by hand. Not machine repetition, but human hands and time.
Purity of intent
Patience over haste, sincerity over display. This is the true legacy of our story.
Verifiable truth
Each piece comes signed by its master, with a certificate of authenticity and a digital passport.
The Atelier Today
In Sürmene, patiently, one by one
In our atelier in Sürmene, Trabzon, our masters carry on the tradition of calligraphy, wood carving, miniature and tilework by hand. No work is ever repeated; each piece bears the signature of the master who made it and the trace of its day.
Explore the works