A FINE DAMASCUS TILE PANEL, SYRIA,18TH CENTURY

The square panel comprising 40 tiles, the blue ground of each with delicately drawn interlaced floral sprays flanking a central vase with two smaller vases, arabesques and floral sprays issuing further similar designs, in a reciprocal blue, ivory and turquoise cusped border. Approx: 155 by 100 cm.

CATALOGUE NOTE
This panel belongs to group of ceramics sometimes referred to as Damascus or Syrian ware that are closely related to Iznik ceramics. These wares were produced in Damascus in the 16th-17th century when the Ottoman sultan, Suleyman the Magnificent, sent Iznik potters to repair and restore tilework at the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. After refurbishing the tilework, these artisans settled in Damascus, where they continued to produce tiles and vessels. While similar in style to the tiles produced in Iznik, tiles made in Syria in the Ottoman period employ a different color palette to depict vegetal and geometric forms. Syrian ceramics did not use the crisp white ground and only rarely used the vibrant tomato red typical of Iznik ceramics. Instead, Syrian tilework tended toward a more muted color palette of natural greens and blues.