Object Type
This dish was made for show, intended to show the owner's knowledgeable and artistic taste. It was made at a time when a market for Turkish art wares was beginning to be established.

Historical Association
This dish was exhibited at the International Exhibition held in London in 1862. It is an early example of Minton's technical expertise in producing and combining high-quality bone china with the skill accurately to replicate Iznik-style colours and painted decoration. Five years later, in the Paris exhibition of 1867, Minton's were commended by the international jury for the evenness and brilliance of their transparent enamel colours. At this early date tin-glazed ceramics with this characteristic patterning and colours were thought to have been made by potters in Rhodes. Their correct attribution to the Iznik region was not made until the 1940s.

Design & Designing
Under their art director, Léon Arnoux (1816-1902), Minton's were interested in design and ceramic technology of many periods and cultures. Turkish (Iznik) wares were one of several types that attracted the company's attention. Other manufactories, notably in France, also imitated this brightly coloured ware. Minton's managing director, Colin Minton Campbell (1827-1885), purchased Persian (Iranian) tiles in Paris and Istanbul in 1856-1858. He formed a collection of East Asian and Middle Eastern ceramics and contemporary wares from other European manufactories which was held at the factory, providing examples for the designers and technicians to study.