Spandrel or spandrel tile, Ottoman Turkey, Iznik, second hal - Lot 213

Spandrel or spandrel tile, Ottoman Turkey, Iznik, second half of the 16th century A corner tile with a slightly arched side, in siliceous ceramic with polychrome underglaze decoration of prunus branches on a sky-blue background, bordered by a frieze of lambrequins. A geometric frieze of angular interlacing is painted on the arched part. Wood frame. 27 x 22 cm Restorations, small dents and chips. Provenance : - Quinta da Palmeira Collection. Alvaiazere, Portugal. - Formerly Duarte Collection, before 1900. This arched tile could be part of a panel forming a tympanum crowning an opening, such as a door or window. It could also be part of a spandrel framing a niche, as on the mihrab of the Piyale Pasha mosque in Istanbul, whose spandrels also feature prunus branches. Prunus branches on a sky-blue background are not common. They can be seen, for example, on tile OA 3919/272 from the Musée du Louvre in Paris. The type of angular interlacing frieze that runs along the arched edge of our tile is known from several border or spandrel tiles (see, for example, tile AD 27753 from the Louvre or tiles from the Ömer Koç Collection, in BILGI, Hülya, The Ömer Koç Iznik Collection, Istanbul: 2015, catalogs 33 and 61).