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Lot Essay
While the design here is obviously closely related to that of lot 309, the present dish represents a late example of an earlier tradition where the other is an earlier example of a later one. At first this dish seems to have all the ingredients of the "potters style". Executed in two shades of cobalt-blue and white, the design of the central panel is set within a shaped surround filled with motifs which derive from the earlier Abraham of Kutahya wares. But there are a number of features which presage later styles and which one would not normally expect to find in a "potters style" dish.
Most notable is the treatment of the saz leaves around the central rosette. These, particularly as regards the half rosettes peeking out from behind them, show a greater understanding of the court design than is normal in "potters style" pieces. One other dish, in the British Museum, appears to show some of the same understanding, but without the flow seen here (Atasoy, Nurhan and Raby, Julian: Iznik, the Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, London, 1989, no.169). Both dishes use as the secondary floral form a band of rosettes which derive from the tughrales style of the same period (Atasoy and Raby, op.cit, no.135).
The border here is also unusual and early for the design. It is used again in dishes of the 1560s (Atasoy and Raby, op.ci., pls.385 and 408). While the drawing of the tulips is the earlier bilobed type, the separation of each into radiating individual floral sprays is another forward-looking indication of the "illusion of nature" typical of dishes of 1540-1560.
Most notable is the treatment of the saz leaves around the central rosette. These, particularly as regards the half rosettes peeking out from behind them, show a greater understanding of the court design than is normal in "potters style" pieces. One other dish, in the British Museum, appears to show some of the same understanding, but without the flow seen here (Atasoy, Nurhan and Raby, Julian: Iznik, the Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, London, 1989, no.169). Both dishes use as the secondary floral form a band of rosettes which derive from the tughrales style of the same period (Atasoy and Raby, op.cit, no.135).
The border here is also unusual and early for the design. It is used again in dishes of the 1560s (Atasoy and Raby, op.ci., pls.385 and 408). While the drawing of the tulips is the earlier bilobed type, the separation of each into radiating individual floral sprays is another forward-looking indication of the "illusion of nature" typical of dishes of 1540-1560.