Jug

Jug with pear shaped body and curving handle.
Clay: buff colored faience.
Glaze: transparent over white slip and painting in cobalt blue, red, and green; drawing in black.
Decoration: horizontal bands of trefoils, blossoms, cloud collars; and an overlapping petal band in green.

(Atil,1973) The neck of the jug shows three horizontal rows of boldly drawn blossoms, the upper and lower of which are cut off by the bands on the lip and shoulder. The band on the lip consists of spirals while the lower one shows an abstracted version of the braided motif. A series of overlapping petals adorns the shoulder.

The pear-shaped body also reveals a tripartite division with cinquefoil motifs above and below a row of blossoms which repeats the neck decoration. A pearl-band appears on the curving handle.

The brilliance of the colors and the refined drawing of the motifs degenerated towards the end of the sixteenth century. The colors lost their intensity and the decoration became derivative and unimaginative. Although the blue, green and red pigments on this jug are still vibrant, the monotonous repetition of the motifs and their coarse execution point to the beginning of the decline of the Iznik kilns.

Historical period(s)
Ottoman period, late 16th-early 17th century
Medium
Stone-pate painted under transparent glaze
Style
Iznik ware
Dimensions
H x W: 19.7 x 14 cm (7 3/4 x 5 1/2 in)
Geography
Turkey, Iznik
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1969.2
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Jug

Keywords
Iznik ware, Ottoman period (1307 - 1922), Turkey
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Description

Jug with pear shaped body and curving handle.
Clay: buff colored faience.
Glaze: transparent over white slip and painting in cobalt blue, red, and green; drawing in black.
Decoration: horizontal bands of trefoils, blossoms, cloud collars; and an overlapping petal band in green.

(Atil,1973) The neck of the jug shows three horizontal rows of boldly drawn blossoms, the upper and lower of which are cut off by the bands on the lip and shoulder. The band on the lip consists of spirals while the lower one shows an abstracted version of the braided motif. A series of overlapping petals adorns the shoulder.

The pear-shaped body also reveals a tripartite division with cinquefoil motifs above and below a row of blossoms which repeats the neck decoration. A pearl-band appears on the curving handle.

The brilliance of the colors and the refined drawing of the motifs degenerated towards the end of the sixteenth century. The colors lost their intensity and the decoration became derivative and unimaginative. Although the blue, green and red pigments on this jug are still vibrant, the monotonous repetition of the motifs and their coarse execution point to the beginning of the decline of the Iznik kilns.

Published References
  • Dr. Esin Atil. Ceramics from the World of Islam. Exh. cat. Washington, 1973. cat. 87..
  • Dr. Esin Atil. Turkish Art of the Ottoman Period. Exh. cat. Washington. cat. 16, p. 26.
  • Dr. Esin Atil. Ottoman Art at the Freer Gallery of Art. no. 4 Istanbul, 1970-1971. p. 195, pl. 15.
Collection Area(s)
Arts of the Islamic World
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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