Enrica Medugno
Senior Sale Coordinator
The Rolin Surahi
Lot 56
An important Iznik pottery water bottle (surahi) Turkey, circa 1575
23 May 2023, 11:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold
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Oliver White
Head of Department
An important Iznik pottery water bottle (surahi)
Turkey, circa 1575
Turkey, circa 1575
the body of piriform rising through a recurved band to a tubular neck with torus moulding and flaring mouth, on a short splayed foot, decorated in raised-red, cobalt blue and black on a brilliant white ground with red roses, blue hyacinths and cypresses, a band of plaited ribbon above, the upper neck with similar motifs, the lower neck with lobed panels with cusped ends overlaid with elongated floral motifs, the moulding with split-palmette interlace
37.8 cm. high
37.8 cm. high
Footnotes
Provenance
Acquired by Baron Leon Rolin 'The Lion of Cairo' (1871-1950) or his daughter, Jacqueline Rolin (1902-1975) and thence by descent.
Bonhams, Islamic and Indian Art, 4 October 2011, lot 147.
Property of an Insurer.
Leon Rolin (1871-1950), nicknamed 'The Lion of Cairo', was the owner of contracting firm Leon Rolin & Co, one of the two largest civil contractors in Egypt. The firm was charged with construction of the Heliopolis Palace Hotel, later the presidential palace of the Mubarak administration.
The Heliopolis Palace Hotel was an ambitious project, built in the open desert between 1908-1910, and opening as Africa's most luxurious hotel on December 1st 1910. During the construction and inspired by their surroundings, his wife, Madeleine Shaar (1876-1954) started a collection of Islamic art. His daughter Jacqueline continued to avidly collect and was present at the auction of the contents of the Royal Palace of King Farouk. She later returned to Belgium and distributed her rich collection amongst her children and their descendants.
The cypress tree as a decorative element was first used in blue and white on hexagonal tiles in the mosque of Murad II in Edirne around 1435, probably influenced by porcelain motifs of the Yuan period in China. In a religious architectural context the cypress tree can be used to relate to the first letter of the alphabet, 'alif. On dishes and related forms it appears in the third quarter of the 16th Century and forms a distinct part of the decorative theme of the garden. For close decorative comparisons to the present lot see Christie's, Ottomans and Orientalists, 18 June 1998, Lot 11; and another similar bottle in the British Museum, inv. no. OA 14237, (N. Atasoy and J. Raby, Iznik, London, 1989, fig. 728).
Further other examples of Iznik water bottles have been sold at auction in recent years see Christie's, Iznik Pottery: The Vincent Bulent Collection, 26 April 2005, lots 11 and lot 46; Christie's, Islamic Art and Manuscripts, 29 April 2003, lot 162; Christies, Ottomans and Orientalists, 21 June 2000, lots 39 and 42; and Sotheby's, Islamic Works of Art, 24th April, 1990, lot 386 (The Property of Girton College, Cambridge).