Archive Item: An Iznik pottery Tile Panel

Turkey, circa 1580 A.D.

Comprising four tiles, painted in underglaze turquoise, cobalt blue, green, relief red and dark grey outline on a white ground, with quarter medallions with serated edges, saz leaves and tulips, prunus blossom with broken stems, speckled palmettes and carnation sprigs

48cm. by 48cm. overall (24cm. by 24cm. each tile)

Tiles of this type are associated with the Mosque and Türbe complex of Eyüp at the top of the Golden Horn, Istanbul. They are thought to have been made during the reign of Sultan Murad III (1574-96). A full discussion of the group is given by Michael Rogers in Süleyman the Magnificent, exhibition catalogue, British Museum, London, 1990, pp. 91-92.

A number of groups of almost identical tiles have survived, notably the largest panel from the baths at Eyüp in the Victoria and Albert Museum, see A.Lane, A Guide to the Collection of Tiles in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 1960 , pl. 15b.

Others tiles of this type are in the Museé du Louvre, Paris, the David Collection, Copenhagen and the Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon.

SOLD TO A PRIVATE COLLECTOR