Lamp, Iznik, Turkey, ca. 1557. Fritware, polychrome underglaze painted, glazed. Height: 48 cm, Diameter: 31 cm. Museum number: 131-1885 © V&A Images.
Large pear-shaped ceramic mosque lamp, with a wide expanding neck. There are two handles around the shoulder (the third is missing) which alternate with three large round bosses. The original suspension chains are still attached to the handles. The decoration of large repeated floral motifs is underglaze-painted in cobalt and turquoise blue, black and red. The inscription on the rim contains verses from the Light Verse (Quran 24: 35), which was a verse commonly used on mosque lamps. This lamp was made for the Sulaymaniye Mosque in Istanbul, which was completed in 1557, and is historically important because it allows the dating of the introduction of relief red into the standard palette of Iznik pottery.
Historical significance: This mosque lamp is the earliest dateable example of the use of relief red (Armenian bole) in Iznik ceramics. We know that it was made for the Süleymaniye Mosque complex in Istanbul, which was built between 1550 and 1557, when the building was inaugurated. The red used on this object is still quite thin, and the mismatching parts of the design suggest that it was an experimental object. However, from this point on, red becomes an essential element in the Iznik palette.
Bibliographic References: Tim Stanley ed., with Mariam Rosser-Owen and Stephen Vernoit, Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Middle East, London, V&A Publications, 2004; pp. 28, 103, 106, plate 118
Atil, Esin, The Age of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. Catalogue of the Exhibition held at The National Gallery of Art, Washington, 25th Jan - 17th May, 1987; The Art Institute of Chicago, 14th June - 7th Sept., 1987; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 4th Oct - 17th Jan., 1988. Washington: The National Gallery of Art and New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc, 1987. ISBN 0-89468-098-6 (paper), 0-8109-1855-2 (cloth). Plate 191, p. 322, illustration p. 266.
Denny, Walter, B. The Ceramics of the Mosque of Rüstem Pasha and the Environment of Change. London and New York, 1977. Fig. 190
Ünal, Ismail. "Cini Cami Kandilleri" In: Türk Sanati Tarihi: Arastirma ve Incelemeleri, 2, 1969, pp.74-111. Fig. 19
Lane, A. 'The Ottoman Pottery of Isnik' In: Ars Orientalis, 2, 1957, pp 247-281. Fig. 43
Lane, Arthur. Later Islamic Pottery. London: Faber and Faber, 1957. 133p., ill. Page 56, plate 39
Rackham, Bernard. "Turkish Pottery" In: Transactions of the Oriental Ceramics Society, 1934/5, pp.35-48. Pl. 19
Atasoy, N., and Raby, J. Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, Istanbul/London, 1989, 224.
Watson, O. 'An Iznik Mosque-Lamp,' Oriental Art 35:4, Winter 1989-90, 194-5.
Exhibition History: Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Victoria and Albert Museum (The Millennium Galleries, Sheffield 14/01/2006-16/04/2006)
Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Victoria and Albert Museum (Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo 01/10/2005-04/12/2005)
Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Victoria and Albert Museum (Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas 03/04/2005-04/09/2005)
Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Victoria and Albert Museum (National Gallery of Art, Washington 18/07/2004-06/02/2005)