Plate thumbnail 1
Plate thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Islamic Middle East, Room 42, The Jameel Gallery

Plate

1625-1650 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This plate was probably made in Iznik, in north-west Anatolia. By the 1530s, small sprays of tulips and other recognisable flowers were a common motif on Iznik ceramics. From the 1550s these were replaced by compositions on a larger scale, such as this design with a sailing ship.

The Ottoman court renewed its patronage of Iznik ceramics during the construction of the Süleymaniye mosque in Istanbul in 1550 to 1557. The first Iznik tiles were produced, and potters added a bright red to the range of colours painted under the glaze. This was achieved with a slip (liquid clay) made from a special clay.

In the following decades, tiles of high quality were decorated in red, green and tones of blue on a white ground. Dishes, bottles and other vessels had similar decoration on white or coloured grounds.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Fritware, polychrome underglaze painted, glazed
Brief description
Deep dish depicting a European-style sailing ship, Turkey (probably Iznik), 1625-1650.
Physical description
Deep dish depicting a European-style sailing ship at sea. Crude spirals in the rim approximate Chinese wave-motifs.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 31.2cm
  • Height: 4.9cm
Styles
Gallery label
  • Jameel Gallery Variety of Shape and Design The shapes of Iznik vessels were derived from sources as varied as metalwork (9–11), leatherwork (14) and Chinese and Italian ceramics. Models included the Chinese ‘grape dish’ (2) and the Italian tondino form (15). By the 1530s, small sprays of tulips and other recognisable flowers were a common motif (9, 10, 15), but from the 1550s these were replaced by compositions on a larger scale. Many were originally developed for tilework (1, 3). 8 Dish with Ship Turkey, probably Iznik 1625-50 Fritware painted under the glaze Museum no. 315-1867(Jameel Gallery)
  • DISH White earthenware painted in underglaze colours. TURKISH (IZNIK); second half of the 16th century.(Old gallery label)
Historical context
This curious plate is one of a number of Iznik wares of the early seventeenth century which depict sailing ships. The painter has made an admirable effort at realism, as can be seen in the puffed-out sails and the inclusion of details like the crow's-nests; yet abstract motifs remain a staple of the genre, as can be seen in the S-shaped "clouds" in the sky.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This plate was probably made in Iznik, in north-west Anatolia. By the 1530s, small sprays of tulips and other recognisable flowers were a common motif on Iznik ceramics. From the 1550s these were replaced by compositions on a larger scale, such as this design with a sailing ship.

The Ottoman court renewed its patronage of Iznik ceramics during the construction of the Süleymaniye mosque in Istanbul in 1550 to 1557. The first Iznik tiles were produced, and potters added a bright red to the range of colours painted under the glaze. This was achieved with a slip (liquid clay) made from a special clay.

In the following decades, tiles of high quality were decorated in red, green and tones of blue on a white ground. Dishes, bottles and other vessels had similar decoration on white or coloured grounds.
Bibliographic reference
Lane, Arthur. Later Islamic Pottery. London: Faber and Faber, 1957. 133p., ill. Pages 56-58, plate 46B
Collection
Accession number
315-1867

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Record createdNovember 18, 2003
Record URL
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