OTTOMAN TURKEY, CIRCA 1575

This fine Iznik dish is exceptional for the fact that it does not have an extended rim like most of the dishes from this period. The rimless form is known from the 1540s and is sometimes referred to as a sahan, a term found in archive documents to designate something topped with a metal cover (Nurhan Atasoy and Julian Raby, Iznik, The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, London, 1989, p.44). The ‘whipped’ blue ground against which the design is reserved resembles that on a spectacular mosque lamp made for the Mosque of Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, which was built in 1572, now in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum (41/16; Esin Atil, The age of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, exhibition catalogue, 1987, pp.270-271, no.195). Like our dish the mosque lamp is decorated with elegant white swaying saz leaves which are filled with small red flowerheads. Although the overall composition of the design is different, individual features bear strong resemblance, suggesting a similar dating for our dish.