Two Ottoman Blue and White Tiles, Turkey or Syria, late 16th century

each of rectangular form, decorated in cobalt blue, with issuing sprays of saz leaves, tulips, carnations and rosettes

overall in good condition, some abrasions to the extremeties, as viewed.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

These two tiles are unusual in both their scale and decoration, restricted to tones of cobalt blue. The rectangular shape of the tiles suggests that they formed part of a border panel.

The use of a limited palette is adopted from fifteenth-century Chinese porcelains, the major source of inspiration for the earliest period of Iznik pottery. Despite the introduction of a broadening palette throughout the sixteenth century, there persisted a taste for some pieces still to be made in blue and white (Atasoy and Raby 1989, pp.237-246).  The floral motifs employed on these tiles had become prevalent in the decoration of Iznik pottery by the 1560s. The manner in which they are rendered retains a pronounced painterly quality that is considered, by most, to have been extinguished from works by the end of the sixteenth-century. The exuberance of the design and the individual elements is reminiscent of those found on sixteenth century brocades (Petsopoulos 1982, p.129, figs. 123, a and b, and 124).  A border panel using flowers around an undulating garland of saz-leaves, similar to that on these tiles, can be seen on another Iznik border panel, above a doorway in the sultan's lodge of the Selimiye Mosque, Edirne, of 1569-75 (Carswell 1998, p.79, fig.52).

One group of potters, of Persian origin, had established themselves in Jerusalem in the mid-sixteenth century to work on the restoration of the Dome of the Rock (Carswell 1998, pp.112-3). They had absorbed an Iznik tradition that had yet to expand to its broadest range and, once subsequently resettled in Syria, continued to produce works using a more limited range of colours whilst following later innovations in decorative motifs. The use of just cobalt blue with designs of the later sixteenth-century on these tiles opens up the possibility of a Syrian provenance for them.