Dance Of Fire

Both the Koç family and the Sadberk Hanım Museum contributed to Istanbul’s first Iznik exhibition, at the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts in 1989. And since then both have been shopping for more world-class pieces.A maşrapa (jug) is one of the objects recently acquired by the Ömer Koç Collection. Decorated with branches studded with red berries alternating with elongated saz leaves, it was made between 1560 and 1580, at the height of Iznik, when the colours – indigo, turquoise, viridian and coral red – were at their most vibrant.A tile (detail pictured) also from the second half of the 16th century, depicts an Iznik vase spilling over with flowers and has a strong Chinese cloudband border. The tile, part of a panel, was bought by the Sadberk Hanım Museum in 2009.