OTTOMAN TURKEY, CIRCA 1570

This jug is a rare and visually stunning piece that features the same lavender coloured ground seen on a small number of Iznik ceramics from the 1550s and 1560s. During this period, potters in Iznik utilized a range of coloured slips made from liquid clay to cover their ceramic pieces. They would then add intricate designs using slips of contrasting colours and paint. Although this technique emerged around the same time that relief red was introduced, which is also, like the lavender, a slip colour, coloured grounds were not widely used. However, excavated slipware fragments from Iznik confirm that these wares were indeed a product of Iznik (see O. Aslanapa, "Pottery and Kilns from the Iznik Excavations", Forschungen zur Kunst Asiens in Memoriam Kurt Erdmann, Istanbul, 1970, pp.143, 151, 152, 181). The fact that slipware fragments have been found in recent excavations near the Cathedral of St George in Thessalonika suggests that it was exported. Additionally, a dish from the Jean Lagonico Collection (cat. no. 37) decorated in underglaze lavender, green, and relief red with a cintamani design has a lavender slip base, indicating that the two techniques were contemporary.

The Musée de la Renaissance in Ecouen houses three dishes of Iznik ware that feature lavender-ground slip decoration. These dishes, with inventory numbers CI.8329, 8550, and 8549, were all obtained from Rhodes between 1865 and 1878. Additionally, a tankard with a lavender ground (inv. no. A.A.403) in the Louvre is adorned with red and white slip, dark grey outlines, and carnations that match those found on the jug. The jug also boasts coral-like stems that bear resemblance to those on a white sherd decorated with relief red, which was excavated at Iznik in 1987, see Aslanapa op.cit.,p. 307.

An Iznik lavender jug was recently sold in these Rooms, 27 October 2022, lot 142. Two other examples of lavender slip painted Iznik vessels sold at auction include a dish also sold in these Rooms, 6 October 2011, lot 302, and a tankard sold at Sotheby’s London, 20 April, 2016, lot 85.