OTTOMAN TURKEY, FIRST HALF 18TH CENTURY

The 18th century saw a flourishing production of ceramics in Kütahya, replacing Iznik as the capital of Ottoman ceramics. Luxury items in particular, like coffee cups and saucers, were made to meet the high demand created by the popular drink. These also attracted European buyers, such as the French merchant Paul Lucas, who in 1715 sent a dozen coffee cups with saucers back to France (Martina Muller-Wiener, Turkish-osmanische Keramik, Traunstein, 2004, pp.78-80). Although eventually surpassed by the German Meissen porcelain, they remain distinctive with their radiating designs and palette, with the clear yellow glaze becoming more important in the 18th century production. The majority of this group represents the fine examples from the first half of the century.

Cups and saucers with designs almost identical to several in this group are in the Victoria and Albert Museum (607&A-1874); the David Collection, Copenhagen (23⁄2025); Museum for Islamic Art, Berlin (1880,279; Muller-Wiener, op.cit, abb. 86); Sadberk Hanim Museum (John Carswell et al., Sadberk Hanim Museum: Turkish Tiles and Ceramics, Istanbul, 1991, K.25-26, 30-31, 28, 36) and the Suna and İnan Kıraç Collection (Şebnem Akalın and Hülya Yılmaz Bilgi, Delights of Kütahya, Istanbul, 1997, p.33), Istanbul. Other similar cups are in the British Museum (G.319, 1942,0414.6.a, 1949,1115.22-23). Figurative Kütahya saucers have been sold in these Rooms, 26 Oct 2017, lot 225, 7 October 2008, lot 443, and 17 April 2007, lot 308.