Lot Essay
The design of this dish very obviously follows a Chinese prototype; it was produced at a time when Chinese wares were finding their way into the Topkapi Palace Collections and which saw copies of a number of Chinese blue and white designs being produced at Iznik. Of all the prototypes it was the grape design that proved the most popular (for a discussion of this see Atasoy, N. and Raby, J.: Iznik -- The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, London, 1989, pp.121-124 and pls.313 and 317).
Many features point to this being one of the earliest of the group. As with a dish in a private London Collection (Tulips, Arabesques and Turbans, exhibition catalogue, London, 1982, no.77, p.91), the central design is executed without an enclosing band. Both dishes also have an early form of the 'wave and rock' border where the smaller motifs are like fish-scales rather than tight spirals. This border was also on another grape dish sold in these Rooms, 26 April 1994, lot 371. The present dish, like the previous Christie's dish, also has some of the details painted in turquoise.
Many features point to this being one of the earliest of the group. As with a dish in a private London Collection (Tulips, Arabesques and Turbans, exhibition catalogue, London, 1982, no.77, p.91), the central design is executed without an enclosing band. Both dishes also have an early form of the 'wave and rock' border where the smaller motifs are like fish-scales rather than tight spirals. This border was also on another grape dish sold in these Rooms, 26 April 1994, lot 371. The present dish, like the previous Christie's dish, also has some of the details painted in turquoise.