Fritware dish, with decoration cut through a blue slip under a transparent glaze. Iran, Kerman?; 17th century. H: 8.5; Diam: 46.5 cm. Inv. no. 1/1986.  The David Collection. © THE DAVID COLLECTION

In the final analysis, this unusually large dish reflects the same Chinese influence that was found in by far the majority of Persian blue and white ceramics after c. 1400. But there are clear differences. The nervous peony, whose petals almost look like Chinese cloud ornaments, is of Far Eastern origin, while the rim’s split-leaf ornamentation, in contrast, is purely Islamic. 

The technique is almost diametrically opposed to the normal one used, in which a white dish is painted in blue. This dish was covered with an intense blue slip through which the decoration was cut, revealing the white body.