Abstract:

İznik tiles have been used both in Ottoman palace and out of the palace with admiration since the date they were created. Apart from this, in the 16th century, Europeans were very interested in İznik tiles. This interest was built in two ways; first was the imitation and re-production of the tiles, the other one was the possession of these objects by purchasing them. Besides, with the increase in the interest towards the East in the 19th century, the merchants and voyagers from the West tended to collect İznik tiles and they brought these objects to their countries. In today’s world, it is known that especially in several museums and special collections in Europe, there are a great number of İznik tiles. There is a limited possibility to reach or see most of these tiles for researchers and collectors. Thus, every resource that has visual document about the issue or presents this is thought to be important. The auction house Bonhams, located in London and having a rooted past has a catalogue with İznik tiles in it, which is remarkable with the Islam ceramics belonging to various periods and styles in its collection and their put on the market. In this article, İznik ceramics with a group of human and animal figures that were put on the market at different times in Bonhams, a worldwide auction house, are introduced and their physical properties are mentioned. Moreover, these tiles have been analysed in terms of the compositions and the motifs that were used

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