Iznik Ceramics at the Benaki Museum

The Benaki Museum of Islamic Art in Athens has a substantial collection of Iznik ceramics (tableware, tiles and sherds). The collection is very wide-ranging with a number of rare and important pieces, including some with Greek inscriptions, but has never been published in its entirety. John Carswell first studied the objects in the 1980s and started cataloguing them with a view to publication. The project was revived and guided to fruition by the curator of the museum, Mina Moraitou. She has contributed a chapter on Antonis Benakis and the formation of the Iznik collection as well as working on the catalogue which includes 112 objects, 59 tiles and 223 sherds. All the objects are illustrated in colour, many with line drawings.