, Damascus, Syria, Late 16th century, A Damascus Pottery Tile Panel composed of six tiles decorated with the arabesque medallion pattern in turquoise, cobalt-blue and sage-green on a white ground. A repetitive design of arabesque medallions and palmettes linked by scrolling stems with small saz leaves. The upper and lower part of the panel have a dark cobalt-blue border with white and turquoise intertwining split-palmette arabesque scrolls with trefoil finals. The arabesque medallion pattern is widely used in the Ottoman world in all kinds of variations and was produced over several decades. Lobed medallions containing arabesques combine with a loosely drawn floral trelis. The most notable examples in situ are panels in the Selimiyya Madrasa, Damascus, Syria. Further examples are in Leighton House, London, Although numerous and varied in Damascus, the design is not actually very common in Iznik. Examples of a more colourfull variety of the present panel produced in Iznik are in situ on a wall in the Imperial Divan Treasure, Topkapi Palace, Istanbul. 6 tiles 28x26 cm each, overall size: 75,5x52 cm, framed and mounted in metal frame, Provenance: Private collection, The Netherlands Sothebys London, 13 October 2004, LO4221, Arts of the Islamic World, lot 199 (ill.) Sothebys Parke Benet & Co, London, 26 October 1982, Islamic Works of Art, lot 252 (ill.) A comparable panel of six tiles is at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, inv. 508 & E, F, G-1873. Literature: Schoole Mostafawy, Islamische Keramik aus de Sammlung des Badischen Landsemuseums Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, 2007, p.100-101 G. Degeorge & Y. Porter, The Art of the Islamic Tile, Paris, 2002, p.213 G?nül ?ney, Turkish Ceramic Tile Art, Tokyo, 1975, pl 86 Arthur Millner, Damascus Tiles, Prestel, Munich/London/New York, 2015, p. 130, p.219, p.258-260,
