EXTREMELY RARE AND IMPORTANT IZNIK JUG DECORATED WITH CHINESE CLOUDS

Fritware, the body of globular form supported on a broad foot-ring, the high cylindrical neck slightly everted toward the rim, an s-shaped handle ring from the rim to the shoulder, painted in underglaze with white and turquoise Chinese clouds on a cobalt blue ground.

The cloud motifs on the present jug have been identified as a subgroup of Chinese clouds and named the “S-cloud motif” by Nurhan Atasoy and Julian Raby. Please see, Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, Alexandria Press, London, 1989, p. 259, No. 549. This motif is first recorded as a border device on a ‘Baba Nakkaş’ candlestick (illustrated in Ibid, No. 60, p. 81), datable to Circa 1480, but it seems to have vanished from Iznik potters’ repertoire after 1540. In Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, Atasoy and Raby show the present jug as the last recorded example which is decorated with the “S-cloud motif”. Ibid, p. 259.

The stylised cloud band motif is one of the most favoured motifs of the Ottoman decorative repertoire; frequently used by the artist members of the palace workshop (nakkaşhâne) in the 16th century. Chinese clouds were widely used to decorate Ottoman ceramics, textiles, manuscripts, carpets, glass and woodwork. In Chinese art, this motif is primarily associated with the strength of the dragon and represents the smoke coming out of its mouth. However, in Ottoman art, it was generally interpreted as a stylized cloud in the sky. İnci Ayan Birol, “Tezhip”, TürkiyeDiyanetVakfıİslamAnsiklopedisi, vol. 41, 2012, pp. 6568. In the present example, for instance, this appears to be the reason why the potter used blue for the background and white for the clouds.

The cloud band motif were much favoured by Timurid and Akkoyunlu artists. Diverse cloud motifs found in miniature paintings of the Herat and Shiraz schools, on ceramics, metalware and carpets appear to have been adopted by Ottoman artists. For further information please see, Motif from the Sadberk Hanım Museum Collection (written by Turgut Saner, Şebnem Eryavuz and Hülya Bilgi), Sadberk Hanım Museum, Istanbul, 2020, p. 118.

Iznik jugs in the form of the present piece were first produced in circa 1520. See, Julian Raby & Nurhan Atasoy, Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, Alexandria Press, London, 1989, p. 39. The present jug is an extremely rare and important example of early Iznik ceramic production, displaying true iconic aesthetic and presence.

After Bernard Rackham, Islamic PotteryandItalianMaiolica, Faber and Faber, London, 1959, pl. 37, No. 73.

After Julian Raby & Nurhan Atasoy, Iznik:ThePotteryofOttoman Turkey, Alexandria Press, London, 1989, p. 259, pl. 549.

Provenance:

Ex-Adda Collection

Ex-Kelekian Collection

Labels at the Base:

-Exhibition Label: 1910 Munich Exhibition

-Collection Label: “Kelekian No. 19”

Exhibition:

Exhibited in Munich, at the Masterpieces of Islamic Art (Meisterwerken Muhammedanischer Kunst) exhibition in 1910, catalogued in Meisterwerken Muhammedanischer Kunst, No. 1528 (R. 68).

Exhibited in Alexandria, at the Exposition d’Art Musulman, Les Amis de l’Art, Alexandrie, in 1925. (please see the photograph above)

Literature:

-Published in Julian Raby & Nurhan Atasoy, Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, Alexandria Press, London, 1989, p. 259, pl. 549.

-Published in Bernard Rackham, Islamic Pottery and Italian Maiolica, Faber and Faber, London, 1959, pl. 37, No. 73.