Tile Panel

Bright red, like the color seen in these tiles, is the most difficult color for potters to control as an underglaze pigment. In the mid-16th century, potters at Iznik discovered that a local clay, applied thickly and fired under precise conditions, would yield a tomato-red hue. By standing at an angle to these tiles, one can see that the red was applied so thickly that it stands out from the surface. A member of the Ottoman court in Istanbul would have commissioned a panel like this, probably to decorate a religious building constructed under his or her patronage. It would have formed part of a larger tile composition covering a wall with brilliant color. Demand for such tiles was so enormous in the second half of the 16th century that edicts were periodically issued forbidding the potters at Iznik from making ceramics for “strangers,” meaning anyone not a member of the court.