An Iznik Polychrome Cintamani Jug, Turkey, Circa 1575, circa 1575, 983 AH,

of compressed globular form with cylindrical neck and S-shaped handle, painted in underglaze cobalt blue, turquoise and relief red and outlined in black with an all over pattern of cintamani in pomegranate cartouches interposed by tiger stripes, the rim, base, neck and handle with scroll and geometric bands

The cintamani motif with groups of three crescents and pairs of (tiger) stripes was very popular in mid-sixteenth-century Ottoman Turkey, and appears on works of art in a variety of media, including woodwork, textiles and carpets. A jug formerly in the collection of Lady Barlow, Cambridge, is very similar in treatment (see Fehérvári, G., Islamic Pottery, A Comprehensive Study based on the Barlow Collection, London, 1973, no. 295). 

Part of a jug excavated at Iznik in 1984 is also decorated with bands of cintamani (see Aslanapa, O., et al, "The Iznik Kiln Excavations. The Second Round: 1981-1988", Istanbul, 1989, p.300). A splendid water-bottle (surahi) in the British Museum (inv. no. 78.12-30.466) with a cintamani design, has European gilt metal mounts, c.1580-1585 (see Atasoy & Raby 1989, no. 762). An almost identical jug was sold through our Monaco saleroom, 7th December 1991, lot 11, as part of the celebrated Lagonico collection.