AN OPALESCENT WHITE AND BLUE MARVERED GLASS JUG
Beykoz, Istanbul, Ottoman Turkey, 18th - early 19th century

Of pyriform shape, resting on a thin circular foot of opaline glass, rising to a globular body, and tall cylindrical neck with gently everted rim, to the side an applied, hot-worked, curved handle made as well of opaline glass, the pontil mark clearly visible on the base, the exterior decorated with radiating scalloped blue bands departing from the neck and spiralling towards the base aligned with early Islamic marvered glass models, 24.3cm high.

In the collection of the British Museum, London, there is a similar lidded glass jug attributed to Beykoz and dating to the 1800s (inv. no. 1877,1015.4). It used to belong to the British anthropologist, businessman, and collector, Henry Christy (26 July 1810 – 4 May 1865), who donated his vast collection of artifacts gathered from all over the world to the museum. Christy acquired this Ottoman glass jug in Turkey during his travels in the Middle East in 1850. Although the technique of Christy's lidded jug is slightly different from our example, it shows the predilection for two-tone glass models with radiating patterns in 19th-century Beykoz manufacture. This information, combined with the marvered effect, could possibly indicate this style of glass vessels preceded Christy's jug, and should therefore be dated prior to the 19th century.