Iznik Ware Tile, from Court Bath at Eyüp Sultan Mosque, Constantinople

This tile comes from the Eyüp Sultan Mosque, which was constructed in Constantinople in 1574 under Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, and quickly became a center for religious and spiritual life. The mosque included the tomb of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad, and was used in the coronation ceremonies for new Ottoman sultans. The structure was richly decorated with Iznik decorative ceramic tiles.

The production of these ceramics began in the town of Iznik around the end of the 15th century. Artisans were inspired by the famous blue-and-white porcelain being produced in China at the time, adapting both the color scheme and the floral motifs into an arabesque style. By the 16th century, Iznik tiles evolved to contain a wide range of colors. One popular motif during this period was the saz style, which included long, serrated saz leaves surrounded by rosettes and other foliage. This tile also features a tulip inside the saz leaf, which appears in Iznik ware around the 1570s. Contrary to the better-known historical style of Ottoman painting, saz style served no direct illustrative purpose, and therefore might be described as “lyrical”. By the late 1700s, the mosque was falling apart, and in 1798, Sultan Selim III ordered the entire structure to be torn down and rebuilt.