Jug

Object Details

• 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.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Turkish Art (May 26, 1982 to June 24, 1982)

  Turkish Ceramics (September 24, 1982 to May 10, 1985)

  Turkish Art (November 1, 1980 to May 25, 1982)

  Ceramics from the World of Islam (January 16, 1974 to July 1, 1974)

  Turkish Art—Special Exhibition (August 1 to December 19, 1973)

  Near Eastern Art (June 15, 1973 to May 7, 1975)

  Near Eastern Art—Paintings, Pottery (August 18, 1967 to February 10, 1972)

• Origin

  Iznik, Turkey

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1630s, 1560s

• Place

  Iznik

• Topic

  Iznik ware, Art, Ottoman period (1307 - 1922), Arts of the Islamic World, Ceramics

• Culture

  Muslims, Turks

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)