Object Description
A panel of two square Ottoman Empire ‘Dome of the Rock’ tiles, painted in underglaze cobalt blue, black and apple green with a trellis of split and winged palmettes with cloud-scroll collars. Syrian, 16th century.
Provenance: Property of a private European collector.
Footnote: This design, in blue on white, was first seen on the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, which was tiled on the instructions of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent around 1545. Soon after this, similar tiles appeared on several building in Aleppo, most notably Bait Jumbiatt, the Ummayad Mosque and the Khosrowiyya Mosque, as well as numerous private houses. This is an unusual variant with the winged palmettes painted in characteristic Damascus green and outlined in black.