OTTOMAN TURKEY, CIRCA 1560-70

The çintamani or triple leopard spot motifs in the far East symbolize the three holy attributes of Buddha, (Paquin, G.:Cintamani, Hali 64, August 1992, pp.104-119). In Ottoman Turkey it appears mainly on textiles but occasionally on Iznik and represents power, force and courage. Çintamani are sometimes seen grouped with pairs of wavy lines as can be seen in a similar shaped jug formerly in the Lagonikos Collection, Alexandria, (Carswell, J. Iznik Pottery, London, p.83, fig.62). The three circles however appear more often on their own as in this fine example, although it is more unusual to find them contained within pomegranate-shaped panels. The same combination, but on a fish-scale ground, is found on a jug in the Gulbenkian Collection (Ribeiro, Maria Querios: Iznik Pottery, Lisbon, 1996, no.70, p.215). The same collection has a slightly earlier dish with a wonderfully strong version of exactly this combination of pomegranate panels alternating with çintamani on a blue ground (Ribeiro: op.cit, no.16, p.123).