IZNIK JUG DECORATED WITH TULIPS, SPRING FLOWERS AND SAZ LEAVES IN MEDALLIONS

Fritware, with bulbous body, slightly flaring neck and s-shaped handle. Decorated in cobalt blue, green and coral red, on the body and the neck, with white-red saz leaves, blue tulips, red spring flowers and şemse medallions.

The saz leaf, seen on our jug, is an important motif frequently used by the artists employed in the Ottoman court studio. The first representative of the saz style at the Ottoman palace was Şahkulu, an artist brought from Tabriz by Sultan Selim I (r. 15121520). This style was a departure from the classical miniature painting, characterised by pictures drawn with a brush in black ink, featuring long pointed leaves, giving birth to the term ‘saz leaf’. Paintings in the saz style may remind a thick forest with intertwined curved leaves and khatai blossoms. In fact, the word saz, used to mean ‘forest’ in the Dede Korkut stories that date back to the 10th or 11th century. 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. 106.

Stylized medallion motifs are known as şemse in Turkish, a word deriving from the Arabic shams meaning sun. They are used as frame for diverse designs and arranged in various ways that plays a fundamental role in compositional layouts. Foremost among the arts in which şemse medallions have been used is bookbinding. In time these medallions became oval in shape and sometimes pendants were added at both ends. They frequently feature darts drawn around the edges that are assumed to represent sunrays. 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. 180.

A comparable Iznik jug decorated with identical şemse medallions is published in Hülya Bilgi, Ateşin Oyunu–SadberkHanımMüzesiveÖmerM.Koç KoleksiyonlarındanİznikÇiniveSeramikleri, Vehbi Koç Vakfı, İstanbul, 2009, p. 153, pl. 66.

Provenance:

Ex-Private French Collection

Ottoman Empire Second Half of the 16th Century Diameter: 30 cm.