Iznik pottery @ Bonhams

6 octobre 2011

An Iznik pottery 'Grape' pottery Dish. Turkey, circa 1560. Photo Bonhams

Photo Bonhamsrimless, decorated in shades of cobalt-blue and green with vines bearing three bunches of grapes, a frieze of leafy floral vines around the sides, the rim with zig-zag border, verso with a wide band of leafy floral vine; 32.5 cm. diam. Sold for £15,000

Provenance: private Greek Collection formed in the 1930s.

Note: According to Atasoy and Raby, "most of the 'Grape' dishes from the second half of the 16th Century, including the ones with relief-red, did not have everted rims and wave-and-rock borders, but use another shape, the rimless saucer-shaped dish" (Nurhan Atasoy and Julian Raby, Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, London, 1989, p. 124).

The 'grape' design is derived from Chinese Yuan and Ming blue and white porcelain that entered the Ottoman court in the early 16th Century. Following Sultan Selim I's conquests of Tabriz in 1514, and Damascus and Cairo later in 1517, large quantities of Chinese porcelain and celadons were acquired to adorn the court rooms. As a result, Iznik potters had access to a whole spectrum of designs that they had not encountered before. Among the most popular designs was the 'grape' design.

Comparison can be drawn with a much earlier dish dated to circa 1530, sold in these rooms (Bonhams, Islamic and Indian Art, 28th April 2005,
lot 422). The latter illustrates how closely the Iznik potters copied Chinese porcelain when they first encountered it. However, as time passed, the Iznik potters became more confident and broke away from the direct imitation of Chinese porcelain.

Three further 'grape' dishes were sold through these rooms (Bonhams, Islamic and Indian Art, 14th October 2004, lot 480; Islamic and Indian Art, 28th April 2005, lot 426; and 6th October 2008, lot 193).

An Iznik pottery Dish. Turkey, circa 1600. Photo Bonhams

of shallow form with sloping rim, underglaze, decorated in cobalt blue, green, raised red and black outline, depicting a young lady in a long tunic holding flowers, flanked by sprays of carnations and tulips, the rim decorated with alternating floral motifs; 29 cm. diam. Sold for £9,375

An Iznik pottery Dish. Turkey, circa 1575. Photo Bonhams

rimless, decorated in cobalt-blue and green with black outlining on a white ground, the centre with a roundel containing three bunches of grapes within concentric bands, the sides with a trailing floral vine, the border with an undulating band, the exterior with a frieze of stylised floral motifs, foot-ring drilled; 29 cm. diam. Sold for £8,750

Provenance: private Greek Collection formed in the 1930s.

Note: This dish is a polychrome example of a type better known in blue and white. A similar dish, but with the addition of red, was sold at Christie's (Important Islamic, Indian, Himalayan and South-East Asian Art, 24th April 1990, lot 402); and another in the Musee national de la Renaissance, Chateau d'Ecouen, Frederic Hitzel and Mireille Jacotin, Iznik. L'Aventure D'Une Collection, Paris, 2005, p. 61, no. 16).

An Iznik pottery Tile. Turkey, 17th Century. Photo Bonhams

rectangular, underglaze decorated in cobalt blue, green and raised red on a white ground with tulips, carnations, half palmettes and prunus branches, with two undulating bands containing floral vines, mounted in brass stand; 30.5 x 33.5 cm. Sold for £5,625

Note: A similar pair of tiles were sold at Christie's, Islamic and Indian Works of Art, 18 October 2001, lot 266. For another example in the Sadberk Hanim Museum, Istanbul, see Hulya Bilgi (ed.), The Dance of Fire, Istanbul, 2009, p. 20.

An Iznik pottery Dish. Turkey, 17th Century. Photo Bonhams

decorated in polychrome on a white ground, depicting hyacinth, tulip and rose sprays emanating from a leafy stem, the border with triangular sections with a half flowerhead, verso with a frieze of abstract floral motifs; 31 cm. diam. Sold for £3,750

Provenance: private Greek collection formed in the 1930s.

An Iznik 'Storm in a teacup' design pottery Dish. Turkey, 16th Century. Photo Bonhams

with a sloping rim, underglaze, decorated in cobalt blue, raised red, green and black on a white background with carnations, tulips and prunus branch issuing from a leafy tuft, the rim with rock and wave design; 30 cm. diam. Sold for £3,750

Two Iznik blue and white pottery Tile Fragments. Turkey, circa 1530. Photo Bonhams

of irregular form, underglaze decorated in cobalt blue and turquoise on a white ground with a design of interlinking radiating arabesques and floral motifs; 21.5 cm. diam. max(2). Sold for £1,875 

Note: For a similar tile in the Gulbenkian Collection see Maria D'Orey Capucho Queiroz Ribeiro, Iznik Pottery and Tiles in the Calouste Gulbenkian Collection, Lisbon, 2009, p. 112.

An Iznik pottery Dish. Turkey, 17th Century. Photo Bonhams

with sloping rim, underglaze, decorated in cobalt blue, raised red, green and black on a white ground with a central urn containing flowers, flanked by prunus branches and chain of flowers issuing from a leafy tuft, the rim with rock and wave design; 25.5 cm. diam. Estimate: £4,000 - 6,000 - Unsold.

Bonhams. Islamic and Indian Art, 4 Oct 2011, New Bond Street www.bonhams.com

Posté par Alain Truong à 19:36 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]