An exceptional Iznik blue and white pottery dish, Turkey, circa 1520

the rounded dish with everted rim, painted in underglaze cobalt blue and turquoise on a white ground, the central medallion featuring a tree issuing finely drawn floral blossoms within a tight scroll border, with lotus-blossom stems, the cavetto with cloud scrolls, the rim with a rumi-arabesque pattern reserved against a cobalt-blue ground, the exterior with a band of floral blossoms, under a transparent glaze, old collection label to base

Ex-collection M. Ferdinand Adda.

N. Atasoy, and J. Raby, Iznik, The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, published for Istanbul University, 1989, no.168.
B. Rackham, Islamic Pottery and Italian Maiolica, London, 1959, p.26, no.61, illustration no.26.

In good condition, one side with break and associated restoration (crack line visible although cleaned), another side with hairline crack, some minor abrasion to external edge, two drill-holes to base of foot for hanging, one small attempted drill hole to another side of foot (unfinished) as viewed.
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With its exceptional design encompassing a large variety of early Iznik-styles, the present dish represents an unmatched example of early Ottoman pottery. 

At the centre of the design is a turquoise ‘Tree of Life’ motif with winding and overlapping branches from which finely painted floral stems, typical of the free-hand 'Potters’ style', emerge. The remaining decoration of the dish is indebted to the Baba Nakkas rumi-hatayi style of the formative years of Iznik production between 1470 and 1520 (Atasoy and Raby 1989, p.77). Indeed, each decorative element on this dish can be associated with a different phase of this period. For example, the rim of split-palmettes is inspired by the rumi-arabesque designs from the earliest Iznik wares of the 1480s, as can be seen on other dishes such as a bowl in the Musée du Monde Arabe, Paris, (on loan from the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs, inv. no. 5150) and a charger in the Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, inv. no. OCI 6-36. However, unlike these two dishes, the current examples features lotus blossoms that are placed within a central roundel rather than using the rumi designs in conjunction with the hatayi floral scrolls. The highly complex design of the lotus blossoms recalls those by the so-called ‘Masters of the Lotuses’ which embellish four lamps in Sultan Bayezid II’s tomb, commissioned by his son Selim in about 1512-13 allowing for a precise dating. Furthermore, the s-shaped cloudbands on the cavetto are similar to the adornments on a dish in the Sadberk Hanim Museum (Bilgi 2009, pp.54-5, no.7), attributed to circa 1510-15. 

The drawing at the centre shows a unique representation of the ‘Tree of Life’ motif and not only demonstrates the artist’s skill but also the great freedom of spirit in the creation of the design. Although at first sight, this dish could fall into the ‘blue-and-turquoise phase’, Julian Raby correctly notes that this label fails to convey the variety of styles encompassed in this group. Indeed, this is especially noticeable when comparing the present dish with two other similar dishes which fall in the same category (Atasoy and Raby 1989, p.115). The first dish is currently in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (inv. no. C.2019-1910), and illustrates a narrative scene, showing a snake slithering up a tree towards an unsuspecting bird. The second, a charger in the Antaki Collection in Aleppo (Atasoy and Raby 1989, pp.167-8, no.171, fig.316), shares the same uninhabited nature of the tree found on the current dish, whilst experimenting with different, seemingly incongruous motifs such as grape-vines, lotus-blossoms and a scale-border borrowing, like the present dish, from already established motifs. The reverse of this dish was designed with “a wreath of flowers in the spirit of Chinese cloud-scrolls”, as described by Bernard Rackham. Here, Rackham is attesting to the influence of Chinese wares on Iznik pottery, which is particularly relevant as the Topkapi Saray held an important collection of Yuan and early Ming dynasty wares (Rackham 1959, p.26, no.61).

The confluence of all these inspired designs, as well as this dish's prestigious provenance and publication history dating back to the 1950s, mark it out as a truly rare piece whose academic importance is matched by its artistic beauty.