Dish with depictions of bunches of grapes, Turkey (probably Iznik), 1550-1570.

Dish, painted under the glaze in blue and white in imitation of Chinese bunch-of-grapes motifs.

The first stage in the emergence of Iznik occurred in the reign of Sultan Mehmed II (1451-81). Once created, the Iznik fritware industry seems to have taken on a life of its own, reacting to ups and downs in court demand by producing wares for wider market.
Over the eighty years following Mehmed II's death in 1481, the range of shapes increased, and new decorative schemes were adopted, including some from Chinese sources such as this dish. The popularity of blue-and-white porcelain meant that by the fifteenth century the technique of painting under the glaze was frequently used in imitating the Chinese wares. When it was applied to a fritware body, the result could be a passable pastiche of a Ming original, as in the case of Iznik 'grape' dishes of the early sixteenth century, of which this is an example.

The shapes of vessels made in Iznik, north-west Anatolia, were derived from sources as varied as metalwork, leatherwork and Chinese ceramics. This ‘grape dish’ was inspired by fashionable Chinese blue-and-white wares.

The Ottoman court renewed its patronage of Iznik ceramics during the construction of the Süleymaniye mosque in Istanbul in 1550 to 1557. The first Iznik tiles were produced, and potters added a bright red to the range of colours painted under the glaze. This was achieved with a slip made from a special clay.

In the following decades, tiles of high quality were decorated in red, green and tones of blue on a white ground. Dishes, bottles and other vessels had similar decoration on white or coloured grounds.

716-1902