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 collections and which saw copies of a number of different 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).

The use of a turquoise colour as well as the two shades of cobalt-blue more usually found in the early grape dishes enables a relatively precise date to be placed on this piece. Comparisons with tiles on dated buildings show the turquoise to have been introduced as an extra colour in the late 1520's, contemporary with the introduction of the new 'potter's style' (Atasoy and Raby, op.cit, p.118).

This dish is unusual in its reverse; instead of radiating floral sprays identical to those in the interior cavetto, which is what is normally found on Chinese imitation wares of this period, the artist has used a meandering flowering vine design that originates with the earlier 'Baba Nakkash' wares of the beginning of the century