Iznik Jug

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Iznik, Ottoman Turkey, Final quarter of the 16th century
Fritware decorated with bole red, cobalt blue, viridian green, and black under a colourless glaze
23.5cm high, 15.2 max. diameter
Stock no.: HS62

Provenance: Leopold Hirsch Collection; His sale, Christie, Manson and Woods, May 7th, 1934, lot. 111.
E. L. Paget Collection; His sale, Sotheby’s London, 11th October 1949.
Kolkhorst Collection; His sale, Sotheby's London, 23rd March 1959, lot 39. 
German private collection.

A rare intact Iznik jug with outstanding provenance, it is of pear-shaped form with a lightly splayed cylindrical neck. A strap handle is attached at the rim of the jug and to the shoulder. 
Jugs represent some of the most inventive designs of Iznik potters. Whereas tiles were typically made to order for architectural purposes, vessels could be sold commercially as artworks.¹ The present piece therefore incorporates several motifs which are not typically seen in combination. The decoration of the body is enclosed between two linear friezes of black patterns, the lower interlocking ‘y’ shapes and the upper black dots. Four cobalt blue pomegranates are evenly spaced around the body, two decorated with a sprig of three red and white prunus blossoms, and the other two decorated with a red and white çintamani motif or triple leopard spot. Further çintamani motifs are positioned below and slightly to the left of centre of each of the pomegranates. Typically associated with Buddhist symbols, the çintamani first appeared in Iznik ceramics in the first quarter of the 16th century, but it is most commonly seen in the period between 1570 and 1585.² It had connotations of strength and courage through its association with the leopard.³ The space between the pomegranates is filled by tulips with viridian green stems, blue sepals, and red petals, the largest of which have white spots in reserve. The upper register of decoration is painted with a simplified version of the motifs on the body. Just below the rim is a blue band decorated with half prunus blossoms. The handle is decorated with horizontal cobalt blue lines, perhaps emulating stitches from a leather prototype.⁴

The present example belongs to a small group of jugs that are decorated with pomegranates, flowers, and çintamanimotifs. Two examples, both with red tulips, are in the Musée de la Renaissance in Écouen, France, dated to c. 1565 (E.Cl.9292) and 1570 (E.Cl.9293).⁵ The latter has very similar linear friezes, and a pattern of blue clouds at the top of the body. A jug dated c. 1570 in the Benaki Museum, Athens, has a similar design with red carnations in addition to red tulips.⁶

[1] ‘The Iznik Pottery Industry: C15th-C18th’, Islamic Ceramics, retrieved online via islamicceramics.ashmolean.org on 08/01/2024.
[2] Ribeiro, Maria Queiroz. Iznik Pottery and Tiles in the Calouste Gulbenkian Collection. Lisbon: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, 2009. p. 80.
[3] Ibid., p. 80.
[4] Carswell, John, and Mina Moraitou. Iznik Ceramics at the Benaki Museum. Athens: Gingko/The Benaki Museum, 2023. p. 75.
[5] Hitzel, Frederic, and Mireille Jacotin. Iznik: L’aventure d’une collection. Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 2005. P. 143, cat. 160 and p. 143, cat. 165. 
[6] Carswell and Moraitou. Op. Cit. p. 156, cat. 99.