Jug thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Islamic Middle East, Room 42, The Jameel Gallery

Jug

ca. 1585 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The potters of Iznik, north-west Anatolia, often combined Islamic and Chinese elements in their patterns. The S-shaped clouds on this jug, for example, are Chinese in origin.

The Ottoman court renewed its patronage of Iznik ceramics during the construction of the Süleymaniye mosque in Istanbul in 1550 to 1557. The first Iznik tiles were produced, and potters added a bright red to the range of colours painted under the glaze. This was achieved with a slip made from a special clay.

In the following decades, tiles of high quality were decorated in red, green and tones of blue on a white ground. Dishes, bottles and other vessels had similar decoration on white or coloured grounds


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Fritware, polychrome underglaze painted, glazed
Brief description
Green jug with allover design of small clouds with two red dots; Turkey (probably Iznik), ca. 1585.
Physical description
Fritware jug with narrow neck leading to globular body, narrow foot. Slim handle extends from mouth to just below narrowest part of neck. Turquoise background with all-over cloud motif in white, two red dots in centre of each. Cobalt blue stripe applied around lip, down handle. Vertical cobalt and red-on-white motifs alternating around neck. Narrow slightly flaring foot painted with double stripe.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 16cm
  • Height: 25.5cm
Styles
Gallery label
  • Jameel Gallery 12–15 Dishes and Jugs with Paint and Red Slip Turkey, probably Iznik 1580–1600 The patterns often combine Islamic and Chinese elements. The arabesques (12–14) are Islamic, while the S-shaped clouds (15) are Chinese in origin. On the two dishes the background has a wave scroll inspired by Chinese models, and the rims have versions of the Chinese rock and wave design. Fritware painted under the glaze Museum nos. 1141-1864, C.2016-1910, Bequest of George Salting; 1708-1855; C.1993-1910, Bequest of George Salting (Jameel Gallery)
  • JUG White earthenware painted in blue, green and red. TURKISH (IZNIK); about 1570 -80. Salting Bequest.(Used until 03/2004)
Credit line
Salting Bequest
Historical context
A pattern of closely-packed and staggered cloud motifs set against a blue or green ground characterizes a group of wares from the 1580s. The s-cloud motif was first recorded on a candlestick of the late 15th century (Atasoy and Raby, 1989, fig. 60) but vanished from the Iznik potters repertoire until 1580s which coincides with a more conservative trend associated with the end of Murad III's reign. This motif was rarely applied to dishes, but was popular on jugs. A further development of this style occurs on a series of jugs from the 1590s on which clouds float on a white ground (Atasoy and Raby, 1989, figs. 555-557).
Subject depicted
Summary
The potters of Iznik, north-west Anatolia, often combined Islamic and Chinese elements in their patterns. The S-shaped clouds on this jug, for example, are Chinese in origin.

The Ottoman court renewed its patronage of Iznik ceramics during the construction of the Süleymaniye mosque in Istanbul in 1550 to 1557. The first Iznik tiles were produced, and potters added a bright red to the range of colours painted under the glaze. This was achieved with a slip made from a special clay.

In the following decades, tiles of high quality were decorated in red, green and tones of blue on a white ground. Dishes, bottles and other vessels had similar decoration on white or coloured grounds
Bibliographic references
  • Lane, Arthur. Later Islamic Pottery. London: Faber and Faber, 1957. 133p., ill. Pages 57-8, colour plate C.
  • Nurhan Atasoy and Julian Raby, Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey (London: Alexandria Press, 1989), fig. 772.
Collection
Accession number
C.1993-1910

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Record createdNovember 18, 2003
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