Iznik brick from the Ottoman Empire, 17th century.

Iznik brick from the Ottoman Empire, 17th century.
Glazed ceramic.
Measurements: 16 x 16 cm.
Ottoman brick made of ceramic, decorated with high and low temperature glazes on a white tin engobe of coarse grinding, as attested by the regular firing errors and its reddish tone, due to the fact that the clay is slightly transparent.
Ceramics constitute one of the main artistic manifestations of Islamic culture. Muslim potters produced a wide range of everyday objects as well as tiles from the earliest times, using designs directly derived from metalwork and book illumination. One of the most brilliant moments of Islamic ceramics took place in the Ottoman sphere of the 15th and 16th centuries, and within the Ottoman Empire the production of the city of Iznik was particularly noteworthy.