Bowl
ca. 1545-1550 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Large hemispherical basins from Iznik are among the finest examples of Islamic pottery. They are admired for their monumental size, accomplished potting and well-planned decoration. This basin has a stylised leaf and rosette pattern on the outside. The interior is painted with tulips and vases filled with hyacinths and roses.
In the mid 15th century, potters in the small town of Iznik in north-west Anatolia specialised in modest earthenware imitations of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain. In the 1460s or 1470s, under the patronage of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror, they began to manufacture bowls, dishes and other pieces of fritware. These were elegant in shape and decoration, and often very large.
In the mid 15th century, potters in the small town of Iznik in north-west Anatolia specialised in modest earthenware imitations of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain. In the 1460s or 1470s, under the patronage of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror, they began to manufacture bowls, dishes and other pieces of fritware. These were elegant in shape and decoration, and often very large.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Fritware, underglaze polychrome painted in green and blue, glazed |
| Brief description | Basin, fritware, with floral decoration, Turkey, Iznik, ca. 1545-1550. |
| Physical description | Footed bowl, fritware, decorated with polychrome underglaze painting, with patterns based on the standard Iznik repertoire of four flowers (tulips, carnations, roses and hyacinths). The use of purple but not red fixes the date of this piece to the 1540s. |
| Dimensions |
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| Styles | |
| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | Salting Bequest |
| Historical context | The magnificent footed basins in this group are among the largest glazed ceramics produced in the Middle East, and they demonstrate the mastery of the Iznik potters over their craft. The scale and quality of these pieces, and the costs their production must have incurred, suggest that they were made for patrons at the highest level. This example has been painted under the glaze with patterns based on the standard Iznik repertoire of four flowers – tulips, carnations, roses and hyacinths. This repertoire had developed by the middle of the sixteenth century, but this bowl pre-dates the introduction of relief red to the Iznik palette, which happened a few years after it was made. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Large hemispherical basins from Iznik are among the finest examples of Islamic pottery. They are admired for their monumental size, accomplished potting and well-planned decoration. This basin has a stylised leaf and rosette pattern on the outside. The interior is painted with tulips and vases filled with hyacinths and roses. In the mid 15th century, potters in the small town of Iznik in north-west Anatolia specialised in modest earthenware imitations of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain. In the 1460s or 1470s, under the patronage of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror, they began to manufacture bowls, dishes and other pieces of fritware. These were elegant in shape and decoration, and often very large. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | C.1979-1910 |
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| Record created | December 3, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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