Page 254 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

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grape vines. This fruit was also used on polychrome tile
panels dating between the last quarter of the sixteenth and
the first quarter of the seventeenth centuries.
A highly celebrated blue-and-turquoise plate is the example
bequeathed by Benjamin Altman to the Metropolitan Mu-
seum of Art (174). The design in the center is thought to be a
translation of the diaper pattern found in fourteenth-century
Chinese celadons, employing blue and turquoise to paint a
theme that had been molded on the monochromatic Chinese
84
pieces. The diaper pattern was also employed on contempo-
rary inlaid woodwork, and a different version was painted in-
side a blue-and-white pen box (see 168). Another configura-
tion with rectangular elements placed horizontally and
vertically, displaying a bolder pattern, appears in the center of
a blue-and-white plate. 85 It was used even earlier on a blue-
and-black underglaze-painted plate made in Syria during the
86
fourteenth century. This pattern, therefore, was a part of the
artistic repertoire of the age and already produced on iznik
wares; its use as the central theme of a blue-and-white exam-
ple may have been inspired by Chinese celadons assembled in
the imperial kitchens. The border, on the other hand, is defi-
nitely derived from nakka§hane designs.
Plate with
vases,
175.
The Altman plate is a masterpiece of pottery painting, using Museum, G. 1983.52) second quarter sixteenth century (London, The British
voided details and controlled brushstrokes to contour and
shade the motifs, creating an exquisitely vibrant and three-
dimensional composition. The wide blue-ground band around
the plain rim contains a scroll composed of oversize rumis
that divide this zone into ten reciprocal lobes. Sprouting from carnations, hyacinths, rounded blossoms, buds, and feathery
the scroll and filling each lobe is a hatayi surrounded by leaves on broken branches grow from the containers; two
leaves and buds; the blossoms show two types and sizes, with large hatayis enclosed by cloud bands and cloud collars fill
larger, more naturalistic examples placed within the lobes the lateral lobes of the arch.
and smaller, more stylized ones in the interstices along the There are sprays of rounded blossoms alternating with
rim. The center of the plate has a plain white band enclosing cloud bands in the cavetto. The foliated rim has a series of
the diaper-patterned medallion framed by trefoils. The diaper lobed blue oblongs, each with a pair of leaves flanking a
motifs are outlined in blue and alternate between turquoise blossom, creating S-shaped motifs. One of the oblongs is con-
and white, producing yet another reciprocal pattern. siderably smaller than the others, indicating that the painter
The exterior walls are embellished with a dense scroll bear- drew the design freehand without relying on a cartoon. The
ing hatayis and peonies. In contrast to the interior, which is exterior of the cavetto shows a blue scroll rendered in the
painted turquoise with dark blue outlines on a blue ground, style of the earlier blue-and-white ware.
the exterior is decorated in blue on white but employs the Other blue-and-turquoise plates with a similar combination
same shaded and voided detailing. The delicate brushwork of styles depict single-handled bottles and jugs placed on low
and strength of design indicate that a master painter pro- taborets or scrolls evolving from a source placed at the bot-
duced this plate. tom of the central medallion. 87 A large vase with hatayi blos-
A group of blue-and-turquoise plates combines floral motifs soms and leaves is represented on one of the blue-and-
employed in the earlier blue-and-whites with naturalistic turquoise tile panels facing the Sünnet Odasi. This theme,
flowers, frequently vases filled with blossoms, in the central which was employed on textiles and embroideries as well as
medallions. The composition in these medallions is direc- other types of iznik pottery and tiles produced in the six-
88
tional, with a clearly defined top and bottom, while repetitive teenth century, first appeared in manuscript illustrations
and circular designs are employed in the cavetti and rims. dating from the 1520s, such as the Divan-i Selimi (see 28a).
In the central medallion of one of these (175) a semicircu- A plate with a similar lobed blue arch in its central medal-
lar panel supports the vase and a large lobed arch encloses it. lion represents a narrative episode (176). In it a snake en-
The double-handled vase is decorated with a rumi cartouche twined around the trunk of a large tree approaches an unsus-
enclosing a trefoil, flanked by a pair of pots. Sprays of tulips, pecting bird perched in the branches. The theme recalls saz

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