Ceramics made in Iznik, in western Turkey, represent one of the most renowned and influential arts of the Ottoman period. The Iznik kilns, about 85 miles southeast of the capital, Istanbul, produced both tableware and architectural revetment such as this. Tiles were first manufactured at Iznik in the early 16th century, however, the use of ceramic tiles as architectural revetment began in the 15th century in Turkey at Bursa, which was the Ottoman capital until 1453 and the conquest of Constantinople (later known as Istanbul). Indeed, the type of hexagonal tile, as here, occurs among the revetment from monuments in Bursa, including the design based on a six-pointed star. Arranged to form larger panels, such hexagonal tiles were produced at Iznik in the first half of the 16th century in blue and white although their use in state-sponsored buildings seems to have been limited until the great building boom of the second half of the century by which time Ottoman ceramic artists had developed a more extensive palette (see M.2000.31).