Polychrome Tile Panel with Hanging Lamp, Vase, and Floral Motifs
Date17th century
PeriodOttoman
MediumStonepaste, polychrome pigments
DimensionsOverall: 44 x 10 1/2 in. (111.8 x 26.7cm)
ClassificationsCeramics
Credit LineCourtesy of the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art
Object number48.43
DescriptionThis incomplete tile assemblage has elements identical to more complete panels created for the Ottoman-era Yeni Camii (New Mosque) in Istanbul, Turkey. Those artworks, created in the 1660s following the mosque’s reconstruction after a devastating fire, are composed of eleven square-shaped ceramic tiles, with a baluster vase at the bottom and a hanging lamp at the top. Although identical to the smaller Shangri La panel, they have seven additional tiles of lush foliage climbing between the two objects. Those floral tiles are mostly missing from the set in Honolulu, which retains only one such vegetal square. They may have been removed from this set prior to its purchase at auction. The palette of greens, blues, and white is cool and restrained, characteristic of later production from the royal kilns at Iznik. The original location of these panels seems to have been on one of the covered porticos of the mosque, underneath small mihrab niches with muqarnas decoration. Several complete panels remain in place today. This architectural association informs their interpretation: In Qur’an 24:36, the presence of God is likened to a lamp in a niche: "Allah is the light of the Heavens and the earth. The similitude of His light is as a niche wherein is a lamp…”On View
On viewCollections
17th century
17th century
16th - 17th century
