oTToMANS ARTS AND CRAFTS

ottomans Arts and Crafts

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ottomans Arts and Crafts

The grand tradition of ottoman arts and crafts, established in the 16th century, was derived from two main sources. A distinctive feature of ottoman arts and crafts is that it drew from both Islamic and European artistic traditions and was, therefore, a part of both.

Plate Diam. 11 3/16 in. (28.4 cm), Gift of James J. Rorimer in appreciation of Maurice Dimand's curatorship, 1933-1959, 1959 (59.69.1)

This type of polychrome underglaze-painted pottery, often referred to as the "Rhodian type," was produced in Iznik (the Byzantine city of Nicea). This small town in northwestern Turkey was the chief center for the production of ceramic vessels and tiles in the ottoman empire. Ceramics of the Rhodian type constitute the third and final phase of Iznik ceramics, lasting from ca. 1570 to 1700. They are characterized by the use of a thickly applied "sealing-wax" red glaze, which enriches the palette and stands out in relief, providing the work with rich texture.

This plate features two birds resting on gently swaying plants bearing carnations, tulips, and hyacinths. The motif of the flowering plants is a decorative element that is pervasive in Iznik pottery of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but the birds are unusual; depictions of birds and animals are rare in Iznik ceramics of this period. A highly conventionalized wave-and-rock pattern circumscribes the broad foliate rim of the plate. Such designs, which were inspired by fifteenth-century Chinese Ming ceramics, enjoyed much popularity in this phase of Iznik production.

Plate H. 2 11/16 in. (6.8 cm), Diam. of rim 13 3/4 in. (34.9 cm), Gift of Philippe and Edith de Montebello, 1991 (1991.172)

This dyamically decorated sixteenth-century dish in cobalt blue was produced at the famous kilns at Iznik, in western Anatolia. Stylized variations ...