OTTOMAN TURKEY, CIRCA 1590

Tiles decorated with this combination of prunus branches and vine decorate the walls to the left of a window in the eastern corner of the of the Mosque of Takkeci Ibrahim Aga (1592) in the Topkapi district of Istanbul (Aslanapa, 1965, Abb. 51 or Denny, 1998, pl.99, p.176). Two other similar tile panels are in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum (41/502, Atasoy, 1992, p.154) and in the Topkapi Palace (Çinili Kök 41/502, Atil (trans.), Istanbul, 1983, no. E.171, p.209). Similar designs of winding branches of vine and prunus blossom were also used in imperial kaftans and embroideries made for the court during the second half of the 16th and early 17th century. A tile of related design sold in these Rooms, 13 April 2010, lot 238.