IZNIK POLYCHROME DISH
This dish is of shallow rounded form, with underglaze dark green, cobalt-blue and bold red with black outlines. It is decorated with tulips, carnations and stylised flower heads, the rim with wave and scroll border, and paired tulips and rosettes to the underside. There is one drill hole to foot.
28.6cm diameter
Wave borders appeared on Iznik wares in the 1550s and were one of the rare ornaments of the period that remained in use until the end of Iznik production. The thin stems and leafy tuft with swarming roots on the present lot are characteristic of 1560s dishes.
Uniqueness and creativity was highly prized by Iznik tableware artists, to the point where there exist almost no ‘sets’ of objects.[1] That said, there are numerous examples of dishes with similar motifs in public collections. These include the Benaki Museum, Athens (inv. no. 20), the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (accession no. 725-1893), the Aga Khan Museum, Toronto (accession no. AKM687) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City (accession no. 02.5.42).
[1] Denny, Walter B., Iznik: The Artistry of Ottoman Ceramics, Thames & Hudson: 2004, p. 116.
Provenance: Bonhams, London, 24 April 1997, lot 321.
