Dish
ca. 1540 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This bowl was probably made in Iznik in north-west Anatolia. After 1520, potters there gradually expanded their range of colours. By 1550, they were using blue, turquoise, sage green, tones of mauve and purple, and a greenish black. These colours have been used here to depict a spray of flowers that rises from a small clump of leaves.
Iznik has given its name to some of the most accomplished ceramics produced in the Islamic Middle East. In the mid 15th century, potters there specialised in modest earthenware imitations of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain. But in the 1460s or 1470s, under the patronage of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror, they began to manufacture bowls, dishes and other pieces of fritware that were elegant in shape and decoration, and often very large.
Iznik has given its name to some of the most accomplished ceramics produced in the Islamic Middle East. In the mid 15th century, potters there specialised in modest earthenware imitations of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain. But in the 1460s or 1470s, under the patronage of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror, they began to manufacture bowls, dishes and other pieces of fritware that were elegant in shape and decoration, and often very large.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Fritware, polychrome underglaze painted, glazed |
| Brief description | Shallow dish with bouquet of three hyacinths, Turkey (probably Iznik), ca. 1540. |
| Physical description | Shallow dish with bouquet of three hyacinths set in frame of flowering stems, the rim decorated with alternating crudely-drawn white and coloured flowers. |
| Dimensions |
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| Styles | |
| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | Salting Bequest |
| Historical context | This dish has an appealing design of a bouquet of three hyacinths set in a frame of budding stems which suggest a heart-shape. The quality of the execution, particularly the hastily sketched flowers decorating the rim, suggests that this dish was made for the popular market rather than an upscale or royal patron. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This bowl was probably made in Iznik in north-west Anatolia. After 1520, potters there gradually expanded their range of colours. By 1550, they were using blue, turquoise, sage green, tones of mauve and purple, and a greenish black. These colours have been used here to depict a spray of flowers that rises from a small clump of leaves. Iznik has given its name to some of the most accomplished ceramics produced in the Islamic Middle East. In the mid 15th century, potters there specialised in modest earthenware imitations of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain. But in the 1460s or 1470s, under the patronage of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror, they began to manufacture bowls, dishes and other pieces of fritware that were elegant in shape and decoration, and often very large. |
| Bibliographic reference | Wallis, Henry Illustrated catalogue of specimens of Persian and Arab art : exhibited in 1885, London : Printed for the Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1885
No.314, plate 12. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | C.1985-1910 |
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| Record created | November 28, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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