Lot 144. An Iznik polychrome dish, Turkey, circa 1580; 27.5cm. diameter. Estimate 30,000-50,000 GBP. Lot sold 55,250 GBP Photo Sotheby"s

of circular form on a broad low foot, decorated in underglaze cobalt blue, viridian green and relief red with a peacock and quail amongst floral stems, the border with a stylised breaking wave pattern, the reverse with paired flowers and rosettes, the underside with a black outline drawing of a bird and a harpy perched on a flower.

EXHIBITED: Couleurs d'Orient, Brussels, 2010
Turkophilia, Paris, 2011

LITTERATURE: Brussels 2010, p.26
Paris 2011, p.47

NOTE: The peacock with its dotted tail feathers is reminiscent of other depictions of these birds on Iznik pottery. A dish in the Gulbenkian Museum sports a bird climbing a flowering stem in a similarly precarious manner (Ribeiro 1996, p.256-7, no.93). An Iznik dish in the Louvre of the so-called 'Damascus' group has another closely related bird and shows that the manner had been evolved by the second quarter of the sixteenth century (Paris 1989, p.160, no.131). A tile sold through these rooms bears a design of a bird amongst flowers and saz leaves which must be a near contemporary to that on the present dish (26th April 1982, lot 264, illustrated in Frankfurt 1985, p.31, Abb.18

Sotheby's. An Eye For Opulence- Art of the Ottoman Empire. Londres | 24 avr. 2012, 02:30 PM