A unique Iznik pottery water flask (matara), Turkey, circa 1580-90

of characteristic form with two short tapering spouts and a curved handle, a raised ridge bisecting the body vertically, decorated in underglaze red, cobalt blue and green with an overall marbling pattern

Private Collection, Malaysia, 1980s
Sold in these rooms, 11^th October 1989, lot 133.

Leighton House, London, 1982

 

Atasoy and Raby 1989, p.277, no.634
Carswell 1998, p.84, no.64

Intact, except handle with two clean breaks at each end with associated restoration, small chip to one of spouts, rims and external edge of handle and on relief red central line with slight abrasion, minor chips to edge of base, three old collection labels to base, 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."

This extraordinary rarity owes its form to a leather vessel made from the hind quarters of a quadruped, the two spouts imitating the projecting legs. Though unique to this object in pottery, the form is familiar from its appearance in other elevated media. In what is perhaps a typically Ottoman approach, the form of a humble utilitarian object is imitated in a number of luxurious materials in this period. Notable examples of this are two flasks of this form in the Topkapi Saray Museum, both contemporary to the Iznik matara and both carved from rock crystal and mounted in gold (illustrated in Atasoy and Raby 1989, p.277, no.633, and Atil 1987, p.129, no.60). The marbling pattern of this Iznik example may itself be intended to suggest carved stone, the raised ridge playing the role of a mount. Where marbling is used in an architectural context, such as on the tilework of the Rüstem Pasha Mosque in Istanbul, it clearly has this suggestive intent.

The ‘hanap’ or tankard form, see lot 243, is another example of the use of a day-to-day form reworked as a luxury object. Rather than for their lowly status, it may be speculated that these forms are prized as traditional and therefore are celebrated as a self-conscious historical allusion just as a reverence for tents, albeit rather grand ones, continued long after the building of luxurious palaces. Whatever the significance of these borrowings, it is clear that the use of forms and designs from other media was frequent in the later reign of Murad III (1574-95). The appearance of forms such as the conical tankard and the so-called ‘animal style’, both derived from Balkan silverware, is another notable occurrence of this practice in this period of Iznik production (see Atasoy and Raby 1989, p.276, nos.615-621, and p.256).