PROVINCIAL OTTOMAN, LATE 16TH OR EARLY 17TH CENTURY

This unusual bottle was probably produced in a provincial Ottoman centre in the late 16th or 17th century. The shape of the bottle, with the knop in the neck and slightly flaring mouth is immediately reminiscent of Iznik sürahi, or water bottles (for an Iznik bottle of similar form see lot 222). The swaying bands that decorate the upper section of the neck are similarly Iznik in style although somewhat looser than the norm (although with Iznik pottery, the stripes are often confined to the lower section of the neck below the knop (see for example a bottle illustrated in Nurhan Atasoy and Julian Raby, Iznik. The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, London, 1989, fig.416, p.232). The design around the body and neck with the wirey scrolls and palmettes relates to blue and white Iznik pottery of the 1570s and 80s, such as a bottle in the Türk ve Islam Eserleri Müzesi in Istanbul (inv.no.809, Nurhan Atasoy and Julian Raby Iznik, the Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, London, 1989, pl.451, p.241). Two blue-and-white jars in the Victoria and Albert Museum have much more developed decoration, but a similar glaze and conceit (inv.nos.262-1905 and 627-1902, Nurhan Atasoy and Lâle Uluç, Impressions of Ottoman Culture in Europe: 1453-1699, Istanbul, 2012, figs.97-98, pp.147-38). Both jars are described as having an uneven glaze uncharacteristic of Iznik, yet similar to our bottle, suggesting the existence of a secondary centre of production such as Thessaloniki (Atasoy and Uluç, op.cit., p.137). It is possible that this bottle was produced just in such a centre.