A fine Ottoman tombak tulip-form openwork plaque, Turkey, circa 16th century

The stylisation of the arabesque relates to late fifteenth and early sixteenth century Ottoman manuscript illuminations, bindings, metalwork and carpets, such as seen in the embellishment of a leather binding dated 1494, in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, the frontispiece from a Qur'an illuminated by Bayram b. Dervis in 1523/1524 dedicated to Suleyman, Topkapi Saray Museum, (Atil 1987, p.46, fig.8) and a Ushak carpet (Roxburgh 2005, p.292, no.248) that displays the distinctive squared-off split-palmette arabesque derived from earlier Timurid art and architecture.

The exact function of the current has not been determined, the plaque could have been affixed to a piece of furniture (see a mid-sixteenth century campaign throne, illus. Rogers and Ward 1988, p.159, no.97) or as an openwork medallion from a manuscript binding.

What is particularly interesting about this piece is the early use of the tulip motif. This motif first appeared in Ottoman textiles and ceramics during the second half of the sixteenth century. The use of the motif in metalwork is unusual and the only comparable contemporaneous example would be the gold tulip medallions on the lower section of the helmet in the Topkapi Sarayi (see Atil 1987, p.150, no.84).