The main decoration on this jug was painted in coloured slips (liquid clay). The white lines divide the salmon ground into narrow vertical panels. These panels imitate the three-dimensional pattern called gadrooning found in Ottoman silverwork.
This jug was made in Iznik, north-west Anatolia, a well-known centre of ceramic production. The coloured ground here was a style that Iznik potters developed for some wares in the 1550s. They covered the body of the pot with coloured slips and added details of the design in slips of contrasting colours and paint. This development was associated with the appearance of a distinctive red slip in tilework of the same period.
Physical description
Jug with a bulbous body and short flaring neck, salmon-coloured with white vertical lines which emulate fluting. Decorated bands at the lip and neck.
Place of Origin
Iznik, Turkey (probably, made)
Date
ca. 1570-1575 (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown (production)
Materials and Techniques
Fritware, slip-covered in salmon-pink, polychrome underglaze painted, glazed
Dimensions
Height: 28.5 cm, Width: 21.5 cm
Historical context note
In the 1550s, some Iznik wares had a variety of coloured grounds. These were produced by covering the body with coloured slip, or liquid clay. Details of the design were added in slips of contrasting colours, and paint. This development was associated with the appearance of a red slip in painted wares of the same period.
This jug is a fine example this phase of Iznik ceramics. Here the jug is a lovely salmon hue. The potter has painted white stripes down the neck and body to imitate the look of fluting on a metal jug.
Descriptive line
Salmon-coloured jug with white vertical stripes, Turkey (Iznik), ca. 1570-1575.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Petsopoulos, Yanni (ed), Tulips, Arabesques & Turbans. Decorative Arts of the Ottoman Empire, London: Alexandria Press, 1982. ISBN 0-85667-151-7. Plate 95, p. 94
Lane, Arthur. Later Islamic Pottery. London: Faber and Faber, 1957. 133p., ill. Pages 56-58, 115, plate 44A
Labels and date
JUG
White earthenware painted in underglaze colours.
TURKISH (ISNIK); second half of 16th century.
Salting Bequest [Used until 03/2004]
Jug with Slip Decoration
Turkey, probably Iznik
1550–75
The main decoration on this jug was painted in coloured slips – the salmon ground and the white lines that divide it into narrow vertical panels. The panels imitate the three-dimensional pattern called gadrooning, found in Ottoman silverwork.
Fritware under coloured slip, with decoration painted under the glaze
Museum no. C.2003-1910
Bequest of George Salting [Jameel Gallery]
Materials
Fritware
Techniques
Underglazing
Subjects depicted
Stripes
Categories
Islam; Ceramics
Collection code
MES
