2-730-259 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Gilded Dish with Flowers and Leaves, c. 1590. This popular floral design with a central swaying saz leaf, red roses, and blue hyacinths was further enhanced with glittering gold, a feature that rarely survives. Turkish potters developed the red-the most difficult colour to achieve in ceramics-with a clay slip rich in iron. The rim displays a simplified "rock and wave" design adopted from Chinese ceramics which were abundant in the imperial Topkapi Palace.