Hanging ornament, fritware, painted in underglaze blue, Turkey, Iznik, about 1515

Spherical hanging ornament, fritware, compressed spherical form, with pierced nipple at the bottom and a hole at the top, painted in cobalt blue with a frame around the hole, above a second zone framed by a beaded band containing an elaborate foliate kufi inscription on a blue ground with with blossoms and triple dots sprinkled in the voids, an abbreviated form of Allah above the letters, the zone at the bottom, also painted in reserve is divided into three sections by knotted bands that evolve from a star enclosing the nipple.

This rare blue and white ball was made for suspension in a mosque or tomb from the same chain as the lamps or on chains at the same level as the lamps. The flattened sphere has a nipple at the bottom and a hole at the top that served a dual function: it allowed air to escape during firing and was used to attach a hook for suspension. The shape may have been imitating Ostrich eggs which are also found suspended from chains. Ostrich eggs were often a memento of a pilgrimage to Mecca.

337-1903