OTTOMAN SYRIA, SECOND HALF 16TH CENTURY

The fishscale design of the present vase finds its origin in the Iznik decorative repertoire of the second quarter of the 16th century. The bulbous form can also be paralleled with a number of early Iznik vases, although most tend to be of more slender profile. The addition of the two handles - concealed here by the added 19th century copper mounts - is very rare however. The quincux layout formed by a large central roundel flanked by four smaller rosettes is found on Iznik vessels in the Damascus style, as illustrated in Oliver Watson, Ceramics from the Islamic Lands, London 2004, cat.T.4, p.431 and Arthur Lane, Later Islamic Pottery, London 1971, plate 48. The colours decorating this large vase, as well as the relatively loose execution of the motifs tend to support the attribution to Damascus.