This mid-sixteenth-century stonepaste candlestick, attributed to Iznik, Turkey, takes a form described as purely Ottoman and echoes a metal prototype. It is 24.1 cm high, with a base measuring 19.5 cm in diameter.
Its simple, effective design is painted beneath a transparent glaze in blue and grayish-blue. Stonepaste is a ceramic material made with finely ground stone.
An Ottoman form rather than a Chinese model
The candlestick differs from Iznik dishes whose ornament and shapes draw on Chinese porcelain examples. Here, the form itself follows an Ottoman metalwork model.
Its blue and grayish-blue painting records the continued appeal of blue-and-white ceramics to Iznik potters and their clients, after further colors had been developed.
An Arabic inscription appears in underglaze blue on the side of the drip pan. It reads: “Its owner is Haji Muhammad ibn Sulaiman.”