An Iznik Pottery Tile, Turkey, circa 1565-1575

Anonymous sale, VAM HAM, Cologne, 15 November 2007;

Simon Ray, London;

From whom acquired by the present collector, 20 April 2016.

This tile is related to two large panels each comprising 21 tiles in the Louvre, Paris (inv. no AD 5972 a and b, Purs Decors? Arts de l’Islam, regards du XIX siècle, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 2008, cat.102). Both share a play on scale with dramatic oversized tulips with distinct red-spotted leaves blooming from delicate, narrow stems. For further related tiles, see LACMA (inv.no. M.87.103), Christie’s, London, 1 April 2021, lot 76, 7 March 2007, lot 115 and lot 131.

The layered blue and green stems are gently windswept, further implied by the twist in the feathery saz leaf, and the three variations of cloud bands on the right which seem to float upwards through a white ‘sky’. The order and symmetry that would govern the overall design of the original panel, as we see in the Louvre panels, is countered here by the off-center position of these cloud bands. The stems defy the constraints of the edge of the tile, conveying the spontaneous growth of the plethora of floral stems.