Dish
about 1525
Object PlaceIznik, Turkey
Medium/TechniqueFritware, blue decoration under clear glaze
DimensionsHeight x diameter: 7.5 x 39.5 cm (2 15/16 x 15 9/16 in.)
Credit LineThe John Pickering Lyman Collection—Gift of Miss Theodora Lyman
Accession number19.1196
On View
On viewClassificationsCeramics
Collections
Chinese porcelain has been a luxury in the Islamic world since the 8th century, and this particular ceramic dish, which imitates Chinese porcelain, was made around 1525 in Turkey during the rule of the Ottoman Empire. The dish is made out of fritware, an artificial clay invented in Iraq as an alternative to porcelain, and decorated with cobalt blue floral and vegetal designs. It is such a close imitation of actual Chinese porcelain of the same period that only an expert can distinguish it from a Chinese ware. The dish was likely used as a bowl due to its shape and may have been part of a larger set of dishes of similar design.
ProvenanceJohn Pickering Lyman (b. 1847 - d. 1914), Boston; by 1914, by descent to his sister, Miss Theodora Lyman (d. 1919), Portsmouth, NH; 1919, gift of Miss Thoedora Lyman to the MFA. (Accession Date: September 18, 1919)
about 1600
1725–1775
1725–1750
about 1573
late 17th–18th century
17th–18th century
second quarter of the 17th century
1575–1600
1575–1600
1575–1600