Lot Essay
Tiles of this design are associated with the facade of the Sünnet Odasi in the Topkapi Saray Palace although it is probable that they were re-used having originally been made for an earlier construction (Venetia Porter, Islamic Tiles, London, 1995, p.106, p.106). These tiles were made over a period when the technology was changing at Iznik. As a result one can find different glaze surfaces on different examples. Other examples of the same design can be found in many museum collections including the Gulbenkian Museum (Calouste Gulbenkian Musée, 1982, no.122, p.191), the Fogg Art Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum (Arthur Lane, A Guide to the Collection of Tiles, London, 1960, pl.13), and the Sadberk Hanim Museum, Istanbul (Laure Soustiel, Splendeurs de la ceramique Ottomane, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1999, no.14, p.66). Another is in the Ömer Koç collection (Hülya Bilgi, The Ömer Koç Iznik Collection, Istanbul, 2015, p.106, no.9). A similar tile sold Christie's London, 27 April 2004, lot 57.