Page 241 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

Fig. 23. Tile panel on the portico of the Mausoleum Fig. 24. Tile panel on the portico of the Fig. 25. Tile panel on the portico of the Mosque of
of Hürrem Sultan, c. 1558 Mausoleum of Sultan Süleyman, c. 1566 Rüstem Pa§a, c. 1561

There are extremely few datable objects that use the bril- another is a lidded bowl decorated with panels containing
liant red. The earliest appears to be a lamp from the Süley- stanzas by Hayati and Revani, two popular sixteenth-century
maniye Mosque (see 191) and shows the same restrained red Turkish poets. 32
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seen in the tiles of the building. Two others, found in the Polychrome iznik ware—which includes a variety of bot-
Mosque of Sokollu Mehmed Pa§a built fifteen years later, re- tles, jugs, jars, ewers, tankards, vases, bowls, plates, pen
veal the full development of the color and must have been boxes, mosque lamps, and spherical hanging ornaments, all
contemporary with the structure (see 195). Only one poly- predominantly decorated with saz themes and naturalistic
chrome plate bears a date and the name of the owner; in- flowers, with select examples incorporating birds—were val-
scribed in the foot ring is a notation that states it was made ued in the court and collected by foreigners. Several examples
in 1606/1607 and purchased by Mehmed §ah, a person other- have drilled holes, suggesting that they were once encrusted
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wise unknown. There also exist several other dated pieces with gems in gold mounts, similar to the decoration applied
made in the second half of the seventeenth century, some of to Chinese porcelains. 53 Some were enhanced by gilding, such
which reflect folk traditions and are decorated with buildings as the lamps from the Mosque of Sokollu Mehmed Pa§a; the
or figures. 50 A few other vessels contain inscriptions of poetry gilding has flaked off and only traces are now visible.
without giving dates or names of makers or owners. One of Pottery and tiles were also commissioned by synagogues,
these is a tankard with a Turkish poem encircling its body; 51 since there arc at least two lamps with Hebrew inscriptions, 34

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