Dish with foliate rim and grape cluster design

This large Ottoman Iznik dish testifies to the influence of Chinese porcelains on Ottoman pottery. Chinese wares reached Ottoman lands from the early fifteenth-century onwards through trade, gift exchange, and booty. Here, while the common design of three bunches of grapes and vine leaves and the foliated rim of the dish remain true to Chinese models, the loose and spontaneous arrangement of the motifs clearly differentiates it from its prototypes. The intermixing of the early fifteenth-century Ming-dynasty (1368-1644) grape motif and the Yuan-dynasty (1279-1368) wave-and-rock border pattern, as well as the addition of turquoise to the traditional blue-and-white color palette, also attest to the artistic license used by Iznik artisans. Still, Iznik blue-and-white ceramic wares could not aspire to the quality of their porcelain counterparts. While dishes such as this one were most likely used for eating and serving food in the daily lives of the wealthy, Chinese porcelains were the sultan’s wares of choice at the Ottoman court.