A hand painted Iznik tile from circa 1580 will cross the block at Bonhams London on October 18.

It's expected to realise around £25,000-35,000 ($32,770-45,878).

The tile displays unusual outlining

Iznik is the name of a small town in modern day Turkey that was renowned for the quality of its pottery from the 14th through the 16th century.

The tiles produced there during this period are celebrated. They feature elaborate floral decorations painted in bold colours.

Interestingly, there is a definite cut off point in quality at the beginning of the 17th century.

Anything before then is very desirable.

This example is unusual in that it features black outlining which appears to have been added on top of the glaze just before firing.

Oliver White, Bonhams' head of Islamic and Indian art, said: "This is a very intriguing tile.

"I've never seen one like it. The maker may have been aiming for a novel effect or perhaps he simply got distracted and forgot to complete the outlining before applying the glaze and then rectified his oversight afterwards.

"Either way, the effect is very striking."

The lot last sold for £14,340 ($18,779) at Christie's in 2003.

Others Iznik tiles have sold for enormous prices in the past, with one particularly fine mid-16th century specimen achieving £172,000 ($225,109) in a 2015 auction.

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