A LONDON DELFT POLYCHROME FLASK MODELED AS A TURK

The present flask possibly depicts Murad IV, the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623-40. It has been posited that it was likely made to decorate one of London's 'Turk's head' coffeehouses, which began proliferating around Exchange Alley around 1662. That year, The Kingdom's Intelligencer, a weekly paper, reported that the Turk's Head coffeehouse had opened, and was selling proper coffee, as well as " Sherbets made in Turkie, of lemons, roses, and violets perfumed; and Tea, or Chaa, according to its goodness. The house seal was Morat the Great." See John Timbs, Club Life of London, vol. II, London, 1866. Also see Dunsmore, ed., op. cit., pp. 182-4.