Page 272 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

195 (left). Lamp from the Mosque of Sokollu
Mchmcd Pa$a, c. 1572 (Istanbul, Arkeoloji Miizesi,
41/16)
196 (right). Spherical hanging ornament with saz
design, second half sixteenth century (London, The
British Museum, G. 1983.120)

phasizing the swell of the sides of the body. Polychrome lamps produced after the mid-sixteenth cen-
Hatayis also decorate a pair of large lamps that were tury appear to have similar holes inside their foot rings,
found in the Mosque of Sokollu Mehmed Pa§a, built by which may have been a technical necessity when producing
Sinan in 1571/1572. The building was commissioned by almost spherical pieces that are more than 30 centimeters (12
Esmahan Sultan, the daughter of Selim II, for her husband, inches) in diameter. They also served to attach spherical or-
Sokollu Mehmed, who served as grand vezir between 1565 naments, or "eggs/' that were suspended below the lamps.
and 1579. The mosque contains some of the most outstand- A variation of the same design appears on the other lamp
ing examples of iznik tiles. 121 The lamps made for this struc- from the Mosque of Sokollu Mehmed Pa§a, which is similarly
ture are equally refined, painted in reserve on a dark blue constructed and supplied with a hole inside its foot ring. 122
ground and embellished with large hemispherical bosses, fol- The pierced base is also found on the example made in 1549
lowing the shape of the lamp identified with the Süleymaniye for the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (see fig. 22). It ap-
Mosque (see 191). pears that the group of large lamps made after the middle of
One lamp from Sokollu Mehmed Papa's mosque (195) con- the sixteenth century began to employ this feature, which
tains on its neck the kelime-i tevhid, "la ilahe illallah Mu- served both functional and decorative purposes.
hammed rasulullah" (there is no god but God, Muhammed is Polychrome mosque lamps were often paired with spherical
his Prophet), written in white stilus on a blue ground. The ornaments, similar to blue-and-white examples (see 167).
last word, which did not fit around the neck, was written These ornaments are generally divided into two halves with
above the others. Two thin braids encircle the rim and the the decoration applied to the hemisphere facing down while
lower edge of the neck. a blank zone encircled the top. They are supplied with two
The body, which was produced separately, shows the same axial holes used for attaching suspension cords or chains as
thickening at the joint with the neck as the lamp from the well as decorative tassels.
Süleymaniye Mosque. Its upper edge contains a thin tur- One of the largest polychrome balls (196) has around its
quoise line and a band of trefoils. Three hemispherical tur- lower hole a turquoise quatrefoil composed of red rumis,
quoise bosses, affixed to the middle of the body between the each lobe enclosing a hatayi. Surrounding the quatrefoil are
handles, are framed by the same band and decorated with four white cartouches that fill the triangular voids between its
black rumis placed around a central blossom. These bosses lobes and create a medallion. Branches evolving from the tips
were originally gilded and now show only traces of gold. A of the quatrefoil form another group of four white cartouches
scroll with three large and three smaller blossoms fills the framed by red rumis that extend to the widening sides of the
areas below the handles and bosses; pairs of leaves, superim- globe. This zone, painted blue, is filled with additional hatayis
posed with sprays of flowers and overlapping buds, extend up linked by stems to the central blossoms. The complex design
and flank the handles. The base contains a central hole sur- produces not only a series of overlapping and intersecting
rounded by a medallion embellished with large blossoms. elements, but skillfully juxtaposes primary and secondary

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