This dish comes from the small group of dishes made circa 1555-1560 that herald the mature "Rhodian" phase of the last third of the century. Here can be seen the resurgence of the 'wave and rock' border, first seen circa 1530 in copies of the Chinese, and occasionally used in 'potter's style' dishes. It was then almost entirely dropped between 1540 and 1555. The central area, thus enclosed, shows a floral spray typically bound by a cloudband half way up the stems.
The tall floral sprays are not hyacinths but a related species of campanula that are seen on a number of dishes of the period, often in combination with hyacinths, (cf. British Museum G.1983.21 or Victoria & Albert C.1986-1910 with the same flowers reversed). The combination of these two groups of floral stems was introduced by Musli or one of his circle.
Typical also of the group are the complex palmette flowerheads combining various floral motifs in designs that bear no similarities to any known species. One example of the group (Ashmolean Museum X.3277) actually uses these campanula flowers as the outer ring of petals on flowerheads. It is from the short period of bold experimentation, of which this dish is a typical example, that the mature style of the following fifty years and more evolved

Atasoy and Raby, op.cit, esp pp. 138-142, pls.256, 260 and 359-362