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23 avril 2019

A large Iznik blue and white pottery tile, Ottoman Turkey, circa 1600

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Lot 188. A large Iznik blue and white pottery tile, Ottoman Turkey, circa 1600; 24 ¾ x 15 5/8in. (63 x 39.7cm.). Estimate GBP 30,000 - GBP 50,000 (USD 39,120 - USD 65,200)© Christie's ImagesLtd 2019.

Of rectangular form, the central foliated lobed medallion surrounded by turquoise blue medallions, the spandrels with interlocked tendrils, the borders with strapwork, on stand.

ProvenanceBy repute, private Armenian collection, acquired in the first half of the 20th century, thence to a private French collection by the 1980s.

Note: There are very few large Iznik tiles of the proportions of the present example. None survive in an architectural context, despite most of them being intact (Harvard Art Museum, inv.1960.17.0; Louvre inv.no.3919/2287, publ. Turks, 2005, p.348, ill.328; and examples in these Rooms 6 October 2009, lot 213; 7 October 2008, lots 399, 412 and 423). All of them also have their own border integral with the tile itself. Four of them, the Harvard and Louvre examples, together with lots 213 and 412 above, have essentially the same design, and yet there are sufficient differences that they cannot have been intended to be mounted together, and there are variations in size. The colouring differs, indicating different firings, and the Harvard example even has extra bands inside the border at each end, as if it the design has had to be extended to fit a certain proportion. 

It has been suggested that these were never intended to be wall mounted. Rather, that they would have been used as the tops of scribe’s tables. The proportions are exactly those of scribes’ tables, although those that survive have tops of inlaid wood of the same technique and related design to the decoration on the sides. However the existence of the decagonal table with an Iznik tile top in the Victoria and Albert Museum demonstrates clearly that tiles were sometimes mounted into furniture by the Ottoman court in the 16th century (Stanley, 2004, no. 121, p. 106).

Christie's. Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds Including Oriental Rugs and Carpets, London, 2 May 2019

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