Page 137 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

underglaze-painted with floral vines reminiscent of the hatayi
scrolls used in the court; hence, inlaying the branches with
twisted gold wire and enhancing the flowers with rubies fol-
lowed the practice and taste of the age. Gold wire was also
applied over the lines encircling the panels of the lid and the
base, and a few additional flowers were placed on the bands
around the lid and along the edge. The top of the lid was fur-
ther embellished with gold leaves, and a large cartouche, set
with rubies and emeralds, adorns the front of the base.
The interior was adapted to serve an Ottoman calligraphier
and was appropriately decorated. The panel on the left is cov-
ered with the palest green jade and inlaid flush with rumis; a
gold inkwell with an emerald on its lid is inserted in the cen-
ter. Next to it are two other cylindrical gold containers: one
has a pierced jade cover and the other contains a gold lid en-
crusted with emeralds. A gold blossom set with an emerald
appears before the section for pens. The underside of the lid
shows a different technique of decoration: it contains a cen-
tral medallion and corner cartouches composed of rumis and
hatayi sprays, painted in gold and polychrome pigments. The
lid is attached to the body by a pair of gold hinges and sup-
ported by a gold chain, following the Ottoman format.
The Chinese produced several blue-and-white pen boxes in
the fifteenth century, themselves adapting the Islamic shape
to hold their inks, paints, and brushes. Its readaptation to suit
the needs of an Islamic calligraphier is an interesting cross- 69. Jeweled covered white porcelain bowl with rock-crystal dome, made of
Chinese bowls decorated second
cultural transaction. two mid-sixteenth-century Sarayi Miizesi, 15/2767) half sixteenth
(Istanbul, Topkapi
century
Another adaptation is a covered container for which two
different mid-sixteenth-century Chinese bowls were used to
create a new piece (69). The bowls have plain white exte-
riors; the interior of the one used as the lid has a central me-
dallion depicting a landscape painted in blue, while the cavet-
to is carved; the interior of the base shows a symmetrically
composed blossom amid leaves, also in blue. The rims of the flowers are shaped as hatayis and contain emerald or ruby
bowls were cut down to fit together, and the edge of the lid cores, identical to those found on the jasper pen case (see
was encased by a crenellated gold frame, incised with diago- 67). The base is similarly decorated but has six of these units.
nal leaves and strokes. In addition, the foot of the bowl used The piece is further embellished by gold-painted designs ap-
as the lid was replaced by a large rock-crystal dome and plied around the foot as well as to the blue florals inside the
framed with the same gold band. Placed under the dome is a base. The paint has flaked off and only a portion of the de-
paper sheet painted with blue and gold flowers, similar to the sign is visible.
technique used in the rock-crystal jug and pen box (see 61 The goldwork on the rock-crystal and porcelain compo-
and 62). Surmounting the dome is a large rock-crystal knob, nents of the covered bowl combines two different traditions:
its fmial broken off. The knob as well as the dome were riv- formulaic flowers in the rock-crystal section and the saz style
eted to the porcelain body. in the porcelain. Leaves overlaid with blossoms translate the
The decoration on the rock-crystal components follows the theme found in saz drawings and grow from a central source,
same technical features used on all carved stone vessels, em- a feature popularly employed in the other arts. Floral sprays
ploying twisted gold wire, leaves, and emerald- and ruby- flanked by large leaves, frequently used in ceramics and tex-
encrusted blossoms. The dome contains three oval medallions tiles, also seem to have influenced the goldsmiths, as ob-
filled with floral scrolls, with sprays of additional blossoms served on this piece.
placed in the interstices. The lid shows a different decorative The decoration applied to some Chinese vessels was mini-
scheme and has five units composed of large leaves overlaid mal, at times necessitated by restoration efforts. One of the
with blossoms, enclosing a central floral spray. The serrate- most elegant white porcelain ewers dating from the early fif-
edged leaves are outlined in twisted gold wire, while the teenth century was refurbished by adding a metal rim and lid

136