A blue and white Iznik Albarello, Turkey, circa 1510-20.  Photo Sotheby"s

of characteristic cylindrical form with tall narrow foot and waisted neck, the design composed of a main register of bifurcated trees within palmette-form arches with fleshy leaves reserved on a blue ground, the neck with a garland of further fleshy leaves, the base with a band of greek keyfret pattern; 17cm. height. Lot 103. Estimate 15,000-20,000 GBP

EXHIBITED: Turkophilia, Paris, 2011

LITTERATURE: Paris 2011, p.36

NOTE: The true albarello form is extremely rare in Iznik pottery. It may not have persisted beyond the earliest years of production. The decoration of this albarello relate the piece closely to the previous lot. The larger spandrels of the arches on the albarello allow more room for the fleshy vegetation reserved on a blue ground and, hence, emphasise the 'Baba Nakkas' aspect of the designs.

An Iznik bowl of this period is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York 2011, p.298, no.207). It bears closely related decoration including the similarly bifurcated cypress enmeshed in a climbing tendril. It has been suggested that these cypress may function as a poetic metaphor following the established Ottoman trope of cypress as a beautiful woman (ibid., p.299

Sotheby's. An Eye For Opulence- Art of the Ottoman Empire. Londres | 24 avr. 2012, 02:30 PM www.sothebys.com