An Italian Archive of Iznik
The original piece belongs to the Alessandro Bruschettini Foundation in Italy — a private but scholarly collection that holds some of the most refined examples of Iznik and Islamic-world ceramics outside Turkey. Made between 1535 and 1545 on a high foot, the ewer stands 53.25 cm tall, a form and proportion that belongs to the decade when the Iznik palette and motif repertoire reached their palace peak.
The Language of the Surface
Across the cobalt ground, stylised tulips, hyacinths and pomegranate blossoms unfold in the gramatical rhythm of mid-sixteenth century Iznik. Each motif belongs to the poetic vocabulary of the period — the pomegranate as abundance, the tulip as a classical symbol of divine love, the hyacinth as a quiet voice in the garden. Here they are drawn not as observation but as re-reading; nature translated into ornament.
The Çini Project Interpretation
We reinterpreted this piece at 50 cm on a wheel-thrown form, faithful to the colour atmosphere and the rhythm of the original. On our high-quartz body, the classical Iznik palette keeps its depth into the present day — turquoise balances the cobalt, while red borders punctuate the composition. This is less a replica than a conversation across four and a half centuries between the Iznik masters of the 1540s and the atelier of today.
Signatures
Design adaptation & application: Gül Camadan
Sources
- Alessandro Bruschettini Foundation, Genoa — Iznik 16th-century collection
- Atasoy & Raby, Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey — 1535-1545 production chapter