Page 140 - ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND INDIAN WORLDS Carpets, Ceramics Objects, Christie's London Oct..27, 2022

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF VICTOR ADDA

(LOTS 120-126)

The following seven lots come from the collection of Victor Adda (1885-1965). Adda was
born in Alexandria and travelled frequently between Egypt and Europe throughout his life.
The son of Abram Adda, a successful cotton trader, Victor took over the family business
before leaving Egypt in the 1950s. Although perhaps best known as a collector of antiquities
- notably coins - he also assembled a fine collection of Iznik pottery. Throughout his
collecting life he was known for his scholarship and innate aesthetic appreciation, seeking
only the best examples of the most perfect craftsmanship. Another group of Iznik from the
Adda Collection sold in these Rooms, 28 October 2021, lots 68-74.

120
A SHALLOW IZNIK BLUE AND WHITE AND SLIP-PAINTED DISH decorated jug in the Al-Sabah collection, Oliver Watson writes that the
OTTOMAN TURKEY, CIRCA 1575-80 group suggests a clientele with a very different aesthetic from the usual
The white ground painted with cobalt-blue under the glaze, with a central brightly-coloured and highly patterned wares (Oliver Watson, Ceramics
rosette surrounded by meandering vines white slip painted in relief with from Islamic Lands, London, 2004). Julian Raby and Nurhan Atasoy
flowerheads heightened in blue, the narrow rim with an overlapping heart- connect the group with the “wheatsheaf” style (Nurhan Atasoy and Julian
shaped motif, the exterior painted with alternating trefoils and rosettes, drill Raby, Iznik, London, 1989, p.240). Our dish demonstrates a visible link
hole to the foot and cavetto, between the two groups in the central rosette, which is closely related to
11qin. (29cm.) diam.
those often found on “wheatsheaf” dishes. See for example a dish in the
£40,000-60,000 US$46,000-69,000 David Collection, attributed to circa 1575, which has a very similar rosette
€46,000-68,000 to its centre (inv.no.27/1978; Atasoy and Raby, op.cit., p.241, no.447). As
well as the central rosette, our dish has elements of the slip decoration
PROVENANCE: discreetly picked out in blue. The clusters of small blue dots highlight
Victor Adda, Alexandria and Rome (d.1965) and thence by descent rosettes within the decoration. A jug in the Ashmolean Collection,
attributed to 1575-80, shares precisely this feature (Atasoy and Raby,
This dish is a particularly fine example of a rare group of Iznik, op.cit., p.459, no.456). The slip painting here is far finer than is usually
characterised by decoration in trailed white slip with additional details encountered. For a contemporaneous polychrome slip painted vessel,
painted under the glaze in cobalt-blue. In his discussion on a similarly please see lot 144 in the current sale.

138 In addition to the hammer price, a Buyer’s Premium (plus VAT) is payable. Other taxes and/or an Artist Resale Royalty 139
fee are also payable if the lot has a tax or λ symbol. Check Section D of the Conditions of Sale at the back of this catalogue.