Lot 178. An Iznik pottery dish, Ottoman Turkey, circa 1590, 12¼in. (31cm.) diam. Estimate £40,000 - GBP 60,000. Price realised GBP 74,500. © Christie's Image Ltd 2015

With cusped sloping rim on short foot, the white ground painted in bole-red, cobalt-blue, green and black with a central bunch of tulips issuing from a central vase, symmetrically enclosed by branches of lilies and carnations, the rim with 'wave and rock' pattern, the reverse with alternating rosettes and flowers, intact.

Provenance: Dr. Chompret (1888-1956)
Sold Pescheteau-badin, Godeau, Leroy, Drouot-Richelieu, Paris 28 February 2000, lot 3

Note: A dish in the collection of the Musée National de la Renaissance dated to circa 1570 has a very similar symmetrical floral design with a vase issuing flowers at the centre, (Frédéric Hitzel and Mireille Jacotin, Iznik. L’Aventure d’Une Collection, Paris, 2005, fig. 57, p. 91). The floral stems painted with very fine black lines are also common to both dishes. Each of the dishes have the central floral spray issuing from a series of curved leaves spread out in the form of a fan and held together at the base by a cusped cloudband. This is probably in reference to earlier Chinese designs in which the floral spray issued from a unified point with roots below that were bound together by a curved ribbon. The ribbon and the roots in the case of our dish have been adapted and transformed into an Ottoman-style cloudband. An Iznik dish dated slightly later than our example but also with a vessel issuing a floral spray was sold in these Rooms, 10 April 2014, lot 199.