Fritware bottle, painted in blue, green, and black and with a red slip under a transparent glaze

This type of bottle with a bulge on its long neck is fairly common in Iznik production from the 16th century. The artist who made this piece depicted some of the light, fast ships with lateen sails that were used in both the Ottoman merchant marine and the navy. In a naïve yet refined fashion, he endeavored to capture the green sea as well as the blue sky behind the distended sails.

Although the Ottomans did their best to gain dominion over the Mediterranean, the Turkish ships were no match for the big European vessels, and in 1571, the Turkish fleet was definitively defeated at Lepanto.