Page 122 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

produced by spinning. The rim was gilded front and back; the Asian prototypes, the techniques of production and decora-
central medallion was engraved with two superimposed tion reflect another source, that of eastern Europe. These fea-
scrolls radiating from a central blossom, with ring matting tures must have been transmitted by artists recorded in the
filling the background. One of the scrolls bears hatayi blos- payroll registers as having originated from Bosnia and other
soms and buds while the other contains composite rumis, parts of the Balkans, who applied their native techniques to
their intersecting volutes enhancing the circular shape of the produce traditional Islamic shapes and decorated these objects
piece. This understated and yet striking example, which con- with the style formulated in the Ottoman court. 36
trasts decorated and plain concentric zones, accentuated by a The shapes, proportions, and decorative features of these
thin band of gilding, bears the seal of Süleyman stamped on jugs are fairly consistent: a high and straight neck, with a
the outer section. slightly flaring and molded rim, is joined to the bulbous body
The decorative themes used in the central medallion were with a thick ring; the rim, the band between the neck and
employed on a group of contemporary blue-and-white ce- thick body, and the high, splayed foot are plain, whereas the
ramics, some of which have the same shape and concentric neck and body are decorated; inside the foot ring is a central
zones. The same hatayi and rumi scrolls are found on book- blossom executed in relief. Decoration hidden inside the foot
bindings and illuminations dating from the first quarter of the ring, observed only when the piece is raised, is an Islamic
sixteenth century, at which time they must have entered the feature dating back to the eleventh century.
repertoire of the metalworkers and the potters. One of the earliest examples in the series is in the Victoria
These decorative elements appear on a series of single- and Albert Museum (51). The body was cast, its decoration
handled silver jugs, all of which are in collections outside produced by repoussé, and the details of the motifs and the
Turkey. The shapes of these jugs are based on late-fifteenth- ring matting in the background applied by chasing and
century silver- and/or gold-inlaid Timurid brasses, several of punching from the front. The neck bears a rumi braid; the
which are in the Istanbul museums. Most of these pieces body contains two densely composed superimposed scrolls
must have arrived in the court after the conquest of Tabriz, creating cartouches, one with rumis and the other with ha-
either brought by Bedi üz-Zaman, the last sultan of Herat, or
taken as booty from the Safavids. The same shape was previ-
ously used on a jade vessel made for Ulugh Bey in the second
quarter of the fifteenth century as well as on early-sixteenth-
century Safavid objects, including several inlaid brasses and a
unique gold-inlaid black stone piece made for Ismail and
brought from Tabriz by Selim I. 34 It is also found in zinc,
rock-crystal, jade, and other stone examples made in the Ot-
toman court as well as in contemporary ceramics. In addi-
tion, it was copied in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Chinese
blue-and-white porcelain, presumably made for the Islamic
courts.
The fact that the jug was produced in such diverse mate-
rials and techniques indicates that it was extremely func-
tional. The Turkish word still used to identify objects with
this shape is marapa, a drinking vessel. The size of the jugs
(four to five inches high) also confirms its usage, large
enough to contain a single serving.
Ottoman jugs differ from the Timurid and Safavid examples
in both material and technique. There are some six or seven
silver pieces that were cast and decorated in relief with the
characteristic hatayi and rumi scrolls executed in repoussé
with chased details; ring matting was applied to the back-
ground and the pieces were gilded. 35 They all have a single
handle in the shape of a dragon, its head attached to the rim
and its curved or fan-shaped tail to the swelling portion of
the body. The handle, cast separately, was soldered onto the
piece. Some examples have domical lids with raised knobs,
also cast and soldered. 51. Gilded silver jug with lid, second quarter sixteenth century (London,
Although the shapes of Ottoman jugs point to western Victoria and Albert Museum, 158-1894)

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