SAZ LEAVES AND ROSETTES
Turkey (Iznik), circa 1530-1550
Height: 32.2 cm - Width: 33.2 cm

A fine underglaze-painted tile in blue and turquoise on a white ground. The design is of overblown lotus flowers and rosettes with cloud bands to the centres, and serrated saz leaves decorated with delicate sprigs of white flowers on a spiralling vine, under a translucent glaze.

Similar tiles can be found on the exterior wall of the Rüstem Pasha Mosque in Istanbul.

For a comparison, see Osmanisch-Turkisches Kunsthandwerk (Exhibition Catalogue), Bayerischen Armeemuseum Ingolstadt, Neues Schloß, 1st September - 4th November 1979, pl. 37.

A panel of three tiles with this design is in the British Museum, OA 1878, 12-30.534, Henderson Bequest. These are illustrated in Venetia Porter, Islamic Tiles, 1995, p. 107, no. 96. The British Museum tiles are dated to the second half of the sixteenth century, and Porter tells us that these tiles are associated with the mosque of Eyyup on the Golden Horn.

Provenance: The Collection of Krishnâ Riboud, Paris

Simon Ray: Indian & Islamic Works of Art, 21 King Street, St. James's London, SW1Y 6QY - Tel: +44 (0)20 7930 5500 - Fax: +44 (0)20 7930 5501 - E-mail: artinfo@simonray.com - Website: www.simonray.com