Polychrome Floral Iznik Dish

Ottoman Turkey, 17th century
Fritware with polychrome underglaze
29.3cm diameter
Stock no.: A5805

Provenance: From the collection of the American Socialite Margaret Van Alen Bruguiére (1876-1969); by descent until the 1980s.
US private collection.

+44 (0)20 4572 6886

An Iznik dish decorated with four large cobalt-blue tulips with red spots, two large bole-red roses with viridian green and cobalt blue centres, a bole-red honeysuckle, several blossoms, and leaves in two shades of green, all outlined in black. This combination of flowers is sometimes known as the ‘quatre fleurs’ motif. A dish with similar rim and the quatre fleurs motif at the centre is held in the British Museum, London (accession no. 1878,1230.498) and is dated to 1625-30.

The rim is decorated with a zig-zag in reserve which forms alternately green and blue triangular cartouches. Contained in each cartouche is a half blossom in reserve with a red centre. This type of rim was common from the early 17th century onwards. A dish with figural and floral decoration paired with a very similar rim to the present example is held in the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities (Medelhavsmuseet), Stockholm (accession no. 1962:16) and dated to the first half of the 17th century.

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