A blue and white pottery bottle, Ottoman Provinces, late 16th-early 17th century

8 avril 2019

A blue and white pottery bottle, Ottoman Provinces, late 16th-early 17th century

Lot 231. A blue and white pottery bottle, Ottoman Provinces, late 16th-early 17th century; 32.5cm. Estimate 6,000 — 8,000 GBP (6,965 - 9,286 EUR). Unsold. Courtesy Sotheby's.

fritware of baluster form, decorated in underglaze cobalt blue on a white ground with palmette blossoms and finely swirling vines, the neck with vertical bands.

Note: This unusual bottle exemplifies the outward looking artistic developments of the Ottoman Empire. The design around the body and neck with wiry scrolls and palmettes relate to the blue-and-white designs of Iznik pottery whereas the use of such blue-and-white floral motifs was without doubt a design element that had its roots in Ming dynasty Chinese porcelain. However, the absence of petuntse, a powdery stone necessary for the production of porcelain, prevented artisans in the Islamic world from wholly imitating the art form, developing instead their own 'fritware'.

The glaze on this bottle, whilst uncharacteristic of Iznik, is visible on two blue-and-white jars in the Victoria & Albert museum, London (inv.no. 262-1905; 627-1902) and it has been suggested that there may have been a secondary, as yet not fully identified, ceramic production centre from which this bottle would have stemmed (Atasoy & Uluç 2012, p.137). The bottle’s form, with its knopped neck and flaring mouth, is reminiscent of Iznik sürahi flasks and similar shaped examples can be found in the collections of both the British Museum (inv.nos. G.167; 1878, 1230.465) and Victoria & Albert Museum (inv.no. 973-1875).

Bottle, Iznik, Ottoman dynasty, circa 1560-1580, polychrome glazed pottery, 34.5 x 17.3 x 10 cm, 1878,1230.465. © The Trustees of the British Museum.