Lot 24
A RARE OTTOMAN-GREEK ICON MOUNTED IN AN 'EDIRNE' FRAME
TURKEY, ISTANBUL, 18TH CENTURY
Auction: 10 June 2026 from 14:00 BST
Description
tempera on panel heightened in gold, holy figures look down from the heavens onto a life-giving spring, to the rear royal, religious and courtly figures gather around the fountain, whilst in the foreground two helpers bring water to sick and infirm, within an ornately carved gilt wood frame
Dimensions
Framed: 71cm x 49.5cm
Picture: 23cm x 17cm
Provenance
Florence Number Nine, Florence, Italy, 3rd June 2015, Lot 658.
Footnote
Reputed to have healing properties, the present icon is a rare example depicting the “life-giving spring” in the Balikli Monastery in Istanbul. Also known as the Monastery of the “Mother of God at the Spring”, this is one of the most important centers of Eastern Orthodoxy. The present church, reconstructed and restored in 1835, bears the same dedication as the famous shrine erected in this place between the end of the 5th and the beginning of the 6th century. After several renovations, this building was destroyed in the first half of the 15th century. The complex got its name from a holy spring, reputed to have healing properties. For almost fifteen hundred years, it has been one of the most important pilgrimage sites of the Greek Orthodox community. The holy water flows into a marble basin, where fish are swimming. These fish, also depicted in the icon, gave origin to the Turkish name of the complex (Balikli which means "with fish").
The present icon has an Edirne-ware frame. Edirne-ware (Edirnekari) is an Ottoman Turkish wood-work style which experienced its heyday from the 18th and 19th centuries among palace circles. It was a special technique for painting and gilding carved wood. According to traditional lore, this type of work was an Edirne speciality stretching back as early as the 17th century. The frame/head piece of the present icon is a beautiful and finely crafted example of the Edirne-ware.