Tile Lunette

From Ottoman court painters and textile designers, Iznik potters learned a repertory of fantastic plant forms - lotus flowers, bent stems, and jagged leaves - collectively known as saz (the Persian work for "reed," used in Ottoman sources to mean "enchanted forest"). After 1550, tiles for decorating buildings became the chief product of Iznik kilns. This sixteen-tile lunette and others like it probably were placed above doors or windows in the palace of Piyale Pasha, grand admiral of the Ottoman fleet.