Author
Unknown
Publication Date
1535
Publication Place
Iznik (made) Turkey (made) -
Subject
Italian
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Physical Dimensions
Diameter: 26.2cm, Height: 3.5cm
Library
Victoria and Albert Museum
Library Asset ID
5763-1859
Record ID
5763-1859
Library Location
Middle East Section
Date
1535
Notes
This plate is the only known example of an Iznik vessel decorated with a portrait. Even more strikingly, the portrait is not of a Turk but of an Italian youth. He is shown wearing a cap with a feather and buttoned shirt with a collar against a landscape background composed of a series of hills with trees. Iznik is the name given to the splendid ceramics produced in the town of that name in north-west Turkey in the 15th to 17th centuries. This plate belongs to a group of wares made around 1500 to 1550 and painted in blue and turquoise with decoration inspired by diverse sources. These included Chinese porcelain and Italian maiolica, which may have been the source of the portrait on this piece. The shape of the plate is also Italian, with a wide, flat rim and a shallow central recess. This object is clear evidence of the intense commercial and other contacts between Turkey and Italy in the 16th century.
Tarihsel bağlam
This plate belongs to a group of wares painted in blue and turquoise which are exemplary of a new trend in Iznik pottery which looked to Italian majolica and Chinese porcelain for decorative inspiration. The shape of the plate with its wide flat rim and shallow recess is also of Italian origin.
Malzemeler ve teknikler
Fritware, painted under the glaze Fritware Glaze Overglaze Firing Painting Overglaze
Fiziksel açıklama
Broad-rimmed dish (tondino) with a depiction of an Italian youth in a landscape, Turkey (Iznik), around 1535-40.
Üslup
Ottoman Iznik
