Wall Tiles

1600s

Wall Tiles, 1600s. Turkey (Iznik), Ottoman Period. Fritware with underglaze-painted design; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1915.651 These four square tiles are each adorned with a floral spray of tulips, carnations, and a large hybrid palmette, set inside a twelve-lobed circular medallion. It is surrounded by an eight-pointed star made of pairs of wavy lines. Where the four tiles are joined, another complete medallion with a floral motif and a cobalt blue center is formed. Iznik was the town which manufactured tiles for imperial buildings of the Ottoman sultans.