Iznik Tiles

27

SWIRLING FLOWER-HEADS

turKey (izniK), 1560-1575

heiGht: 24.5 cm Width: 24.5 cm

A polychrome underglaze-painted tile in bright cobalt blue, sealing wax red or Armenian bole, and apple green on a crisp white ground, with an elegant design of swirling flower-heads on leafy sprigs that turn in a clockwise direction within a cusped red-bordered medallion. The spandrels each contain a trefoil palmette flanked by an arabesque of composite flowers against a green ground.

This beautiful tile shows the Iznik potters at the peak of their technical skills, firing the finest tomatohued sealing wax red offset by a brilliant apple or emerald green. These complementary colours are combined with the more traditional cobalt blue and fired to dazzling effect against a pure white ground.

A tile with an almost identical pattern is recorded in the Barlow Collection. This is illustrated in Geza Fehérvári, Islamic Pottery: A Comprehensive Study based on the Barlow Collection, 1973, pp. 153-154, no. 205, pl. 90a. This tile has the same twelve-lobed medallion enclosing a central flower surrounded by six other flowers. Surrounding the medallion are scrolls and palmettes on a green ground. The colour palette does not include red and Fehérvári dates the tile to circa 1535-1555. The design of the Barlow tile may be seen as a prototype of the present tile, where a favourite pattern developed at an earlier date is revived but greatly enriched by the addition of a lustrous red.

A group of tiles with related red medallions enclosing kaleidoscopic split-leaf palmettes on a white ground can be seen in the Rüstem Pasha Mosque of 1561 in Istanbul. These tiles are illustrated in Walter Denny, Iznik: The Artistry of Ottoman Ceramics, 2004, pp. 28-29.

The Rüstem Pasha Mosque, built by the celebrated architect Sinan for the immensely wealthy vizier of Sultan Suleyman the magnificent, is the first Ottoman building to utilise tiles in the newly developed polychrome technique, with the colour red finally reaching maturity. The perfection of the polychrome palette on the present tile suggests a date of manufacture between 1560 and 1575.

Provenance: Oliver Hoare

28

CUSPED CARTOUCHE AND FLORAL SPRAY

turKey (izniK), circa 1580

heiGht: 12.5 cm

Width: 13 cm

A polychrome underglaze-painted tile fragment in shades of cobalt blue, sealing wax red and turquoise against a crisp white ground and depicting part of a stylised floral design.

A cobalt composite spray with a raised red and turquoise centre bends under its own weight, the delicate stem arcing to the left, a single leaf emerging from its base. A serrated saz leaf with a splash of sealing wax red to the centre appears from the flower, whilst below part of a further cobalt blue spray can be seen. Framing the flower to the right is part of a cusped cartouche, with a red border and vibrant turquoise ground. A group of cobalt serrated saz leaves can be seen emerging from the corner.

Provenance: Heinrich Jacoby (1889-1964), president of the Persische Teppich Aktien Gesellschaft (PETAG), thence by descent until purchased by the current owner.

29

TULIP AND CARNATION CARTOUCHES

turKey (izniK), circa 1580

heiGht: 15.5 cm Width: 16.4 cm

A polychrome underglaze-painted moulded tile fragment decorated in colours of cobalt blue, emerald green and sealing wax red against a white slip ground.

This architectural fragment would have originally formed part of an arch above a doorway or a decorative roundel. The unusual moulded section provides clues as to its position and is highlighted by thin cobalt lines which echo its shape. Framing the moulded edge internally is a repeated pattern of cusped cobalt cartouches, one with a single white tulip with raised red detailing, a green calyx and leaf and the other with a single white spiky carnation with a central red bud and surrounded by three floating green leaves. Each flower is connected to one other below by a delicate white curving tendril with a single saz leaf. Below to the cobalt ground are small decorative emerald green trefoil cartouches. The cusped palmettes are framed in a white slip, and to the top, a thin red border can be seen where the angle of the fragment changes once again, suggesting another adaptation for architectural reasons.

For a similar moulded and curved edge tile with blue cusped cartouches, see Hülya Bilgi, Dance of Fire: Iznik Tiles and Ceramics in the Sadberk Hanim Museum and Ömer M. Koç Collections, 2009, p. 184, no. 90.

Provenance: Heinrich Jacoby (1889-1964), president of the Persische Teppich Aktien Gesellschaft (PETAG), thence by descent until purchased by the current owner.