Ottoman Ceramic Tile From The Kütahya Mosque, Hisar Bey, Izmir, Türkiye, 18th Century

A decorative Ottoman ceramic tile from Kütahya, decorated with flowering palmettes and a stylized plant motif, from the Hisar Mosque** in Izmir, Turkey (built by Governor Bey in the 16th century), now in a private collection (possibly from the Muslim art antique shop of Joseph Soustiel*), dating from the 18th century. This tile is in good overall condition, in its original state. It has old collector's labels on the back and indications of provenance. This tile is reproduced in the work of the specialist John Carswell: "Kütahya Tiles and pottery from the Armenian cathedral of St. James, Jerusalem, II, A historical survey of the Kütahya industry and a catalogue of the decorative tiles", Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1972, pp. 49-50, plate 6, ill. d; plate 12, ill. 35 and 35a. An identical tile is held at the Louvre Museum, Department of Islamic Art, inventory number AD 337. This object comes from a private collection, some of whose pieces were purchased from Joseph Soustiel's Parisian shop (labels and numbers on the back). We are offering many other items from this collection for sale on this website. Please note: damage, breaks, and repairs in one corner (see red arrows), some chips on the edges, glaze defects on the body, and signs of age; see photos. * Joseph Soustiel (1904-1990): Antique dealer and expert in Islamic art. Joseph Soustiel was the heir to a dynasty of antique dealers whose ancestors, Abraham and his grandfather Moses (1836-1916), founded an antique shop in Thessaloniki in 1883, with branches in Skopje (Üsküb), Sarajevo, and Istanbul. Thirteen years later, his father, Haim (1871-1939), settled in Istanbul, where he opened a shop in the Grand Bazaar (Tarakçılar Sokak), followed by a second in the Zincirli Khan in 1913. After completing his primary and secondary education at the Brothers' School in Thessaloniki and then at the German School in Istanbul, Joseph left the Ottoman capital in October 1921. While en route to Tunis aboard the Mega Hellas, a violent storm forced his ship to stop in Marseille. He took the opportunity to visit his uncle Albert in Paris. In 1926, he partnered with Berthe Léger-Eskénazi (d. 1929), an antique dealer located a short walk from the Hôtel Drouot at 26 rue Grange-Batelière, and developed the business, Art Musulman. In 1935, he married Irène Eskénazi, the daughter of his business partner, and that same year the young couple moved to 146 Boulevard Haussmann. A perfect polyglot and a great connoisseur of Islamic art, he participated in the creation of the France-Turkey Committee in 1949 and, from 1952, with Jean David-Weill, oversaw the organization of the first exhibition devoted to Turkish art at the Pavillon de Marsan of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris (Splendor of Turkish Art, February-April 1953). His most cherished areas remained textiles and Islamic ceramics, to which he devoted several articles. A patron of the arts, he was a generous donor who contributed to the enrichment of the Islamic collections of the Louvre, the National Ceramics Museum in Sèvres, the Museum of Decorative Arts, as well as numerous provincial museums, museums in Turkey (the door of the Green Türbe and the cradle of Sultan Mahmud II in the Bursa Museum), and museums around the world. Appointed a Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1977, he handed over his gallery to his son Jean in 1983. Frédéric Hitzel, CNRS / Entry published in François Pouillon (ed.), Dictionnaire des orientalistes de langue française, Editions Karthala, Paris, 2008, pp. 908-909. ** The Hisar Mosque (Turkish: Hisar Camii; meaning "Mosque of the Fortress") is a historic mosque in Izmir, Turkey. Built by the Ottoman governor Aydinoglu Yakup Bey, who was Bey of Izmir between 1592 and 1598, this 16th-century mosque is one of the largest in the city center and its interior contains one of the most striking examples of Ottoman Islamic art in Izmir. Dimensions: 18.5 cm x 18.5 cm. All photos are available at: www.antiques-delaval.com