A rare Iznik slip-painted pottery dish, Turkey, circa 1570-1585

of shallow rimless form on a short ground-down foot, decorated in the interior with a central stylised flowerhead surrounded by eight floral sprays with spiky leaves in the Safavid style, contained within a blue line border, the back undecorated

This striking and unusual slip-painted dish is a rare example of Iznik imitating Safavid pottery, and in particular the lustre and slip-painted wares attributed to Kirman. 

Radial patterns featuring leaf and flower sprays with cloud clips around a central rosette were part of the fashionable repertory of design at Iznik from the 1560s onwards (see Atasoy and Raby 1989, nos.421, 446 and 708).  But what is unique about this dish is that the spiky leaves are quite clearly derived from a Safavid ceramic model, of a type that has until now been attributed to Kirman in the seventeenth century (see Allan 1991, no.39, pp.62-3). Given the late sixteenth century date of this Iznik derivative, the dating of the Kirman wares can probably be put back by several decades.

The reverse influence - Iznik on Kubachi ware, for instance - is well-documented: see for example the Kubachi ware dish in the Keir Collection (Robinson, B., (ed.), Islamic Art in the Keir Collection, London, 1988, pl.44, C.47); but it is rare to see Iznik potters copying Kirman designs.

See Atasoy and Raby 1989, nos. 707-709, for related slip-painted wares from Iznik.