Fritware jug, painted in black and blue and with a red slip under a transparent glaze
Turkey, Iznik; c. 1575
H: 21 cm
The red slip – called Armenian bole, which was introduced in workshops in Iznik in around 1560 – was used on this jug with a coloristic economy and an artistic force that are truly striking. The stylized tiger stripes – which together with the three spots comprise the classical chintamani pattern – hover all over the body of the jug like surrealistic lips. This pattern is found in different variations on Turkish textiles and tiles.
The red color was instrumental in liberating Ottoman ceramics from the overwhelming influence of blue and white Chinese porcelain.
Inv. no. 1/1962
Published in:
Jean Soustiel: “Introduction à l´art musulman: la céramique reflet de l´islam” in Art et curiosite, 1970;
C .L. Davids Samling. Fjerde Del : Jubilæumsskrift 1945-70, København 1970, fig. 3, p. 228;
André Leth: Davids Samling. Islamisk kunst = The David Collection. Islamic Art, København 1975, pp. 101-102;
Jean Soustiel: La céramique islamique: le guide du connoisseur, Paris 1985, fig. 382;
Art from the World of Islam. 8th-18th century, Louisiana, Humlebæk 1987, cat.no. 208;
Nurhan Atasoy and Julian Raby: Iznik: the pottery of Ottoman Turkey, London 1989, fig. 739;
Soliman le Magnifique: 15 fevrier au 14 mai 1990, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris 1990, cat.no. 225;
Kjeld von Folsach: Islamic art. The David Collection, Copenhagen 1990, cat.no. 188;
Kjeld von Folsach, Torben Lundbæk and Peder Mortensen (eds.): Sultan, Shah and Great Mughal: the history and culture of the Islamic world, The National Museum, Copenhagen 1996, cat.no. 367;
Kjeld von Folsach: Art from the World of Islam in The David Collection, Copenhagen 2001, cat.no. 263;
Walter B. Denny: Iznik: the artistry of Ottoman ceramics, London 2004, p. 139;
Sheila S. Blair and Jonathan M. Bloom (eds.): Cosmophilia. Islamic Art from the David Collection, Copenhagen, McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, Boston 2006, cat.no. 43;
Asja Gimborg: Velikolepnyj vek osmanskogo iskusstva: dvorcy, meceti, garemy i nocnoj Bosfor, Moskva 2023, p. 129;
