Lot Essay
This important dish displays a number of unusual features. The somewhat washy orange-red colour was the form in which the bole-red was developed. The bold central motif relates to the similar motifs on a mosque lamp executed in the "Damascus" palette and dated 1549. This motif is also seen as the central motif on a dish in Berlin (Zick- Nissen et al, op cit., vol.2, p.147, no0) that dates from the middle of the century.
Most unusual is the use of lavender-blue on the inside of the foot. This is the colour that was used shortly thereafter as the ground colour on a small group of Iznik vessels. It appears probable that its appearance on the base of this vessel was a trial before it was used to cover the whole. A similar treatment of the foot is seen in a dish formerly in the Brocklebank Collection. On that example, the interior is decorated in blue and white with a swirling design. The underside of the foot is covered in a pink rather than blue slip, the other colour that was used for the ground of a limited group of vessels.
Most unusual is the use of lavender-blue on the inside of the foot. This is the colour that was used shortly thereafter as the ground colour on a small group of Iznik vessels. It appears probable that its appearance on the base of this vessel was a trial before it was used to cover the whole. A similar treatment of the foot is seen in a dish formerly in the Brocklebank Collection. On that example, the interior is decorated in blue and white with a swirling design. The underside of the foot is covered in a pink rather than blue slip, the other colour that was used for the ground of a limited group of vessels.