A BLUE AND WHITE IZNIK POTTERY DISH
A BLUE AND WHITE IZNIK POTTERY DISH

OTTOMAN TURKEY, LATE 16TH CENTURY

Details
A BLUE AND WHITE IZNIK POTTERY DISH
OTTOMAN TURKEY, LATE 16TH CENTURY
With sloping rim on short foot, the white ground painted in two shades of cobalt-blue with a central rosette with fleshy petals encircled by a band of vertical dashes and trilobed rosettes, the rim with an unusual and dense design of flowerheads and one small pyramidical motif on a ground of scrolls reserved against blue ground, the reverse with blue clouds on white ground, small repair to rim
13½in. (34.5cm) diam.

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Andrew Butler-Wheelhouse
Andrew Butler-Wheelhouse

Lot Essay

This dish is an example of how foreign patterns influenced Iznik production towards the end of the 16th century. The Ottoman Sultans greatly admired Chinese porcelain and the ceramics collection in the Topkapi Palace was a source of inspiration for the contemporaneous Ottoman potters. The design on the rim of our dish is an adaptation of a pattern visible on a plate in the Topkapi Saray collection (inv.no. TKS 15/2012; Regina Krahl, Chinese ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, London, 1986, vol.2, p.623, cat.no. 897, ) which is dated to mid-16th century. The Chinese example is slightly smaller than ours (27cm) but has a very similar rim, decorated with floral scrolls interspersed with stylised auspicious emblems from the Chinese tradition. Both plates have a border of ruyi on stems and only the central medallion appears to be different. While the Chinese dish is decorated with a double peony among blue leaves, our example has a central rosette with petals and trilobed rosettes, a common design found on Iznik dishes of the last quarter of 16th century (N. Atasoy & J. Raby, Iznik, 1989, London, p.243, Victoria & Albert Museum, inv.no. 715-1893).

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