Plate with floral decoration including carnation, tulip, and cypress
c. 1575
Description
This dish is an example of the polychromatic wares with floral motifs that were widely produced in the town of Iznik and exported in large quantities to Europe in the second half of the sixteenth century. From the 1550s onward, the signature tomato red color and naturalistic motifs such as carnations, tulips, and cypress trees, as seen on this dish, started to emerge in Iznik ceramics and tiles, contributing to the creation of a classical Ottoman aesthetic. This was carried out under Kara Memi, the head of the imperial atelier in Istanbul, and represented a move away from the Persianate taste that permeated diverse Ottoman objects in the first half of the sixteenth century. Motifs borrowed from Chinese porcelains, such as the wave-and-rock border that runs along the rim of this dish, were also widely used in Ottoman pottery, attesting to the intercultural milieu in which Iznik wares were produced.
Dimensions
6.5 x 30 cm (2 9/16 x 11 13/16 in.)
Provenance
Edwin Binney, 3rd, (by 1985), bequest; to Harvard University Art Museums, 1985.
Related Artworks
View MoreFritware pierced and painted with blue (cobalt) and black (chromium) under clear alkali glaze
17th-18th centurySilver
17th centuryBritishTerracotta
5th century BCEGreekCeramic
18th centuryJapaneseTerracotta; buff clay, white slip with red and black decoration
11th-8th century BCECypriotLongquan celadon ware: light gray stoneware with bluish green celadon glaze over stamped decoration
15th centuryChineseLight-colored terracotta with brownish-black painted decoration
7th-6th century BCEGreekProbably Ding ware: porcelaneous white stoneware with ivory-hued glaze. Probably from the Ding kilns at Quyang, Hebei province.
10th centuryChineseTerracotta
MinoanTerracotta
GreekBlue-and-white ware: porcelain with decoration painted in underglaze cobalt blue
18th centuryKoreanOnda ware: light gray stoneware with pale olive glaze over brush-applied white slip enlivened with chatter marks on the exterior
21st centuryJapanese