Provenance: Collection of Margaret 'Daisy' Van Alen Bruguiére (1876-1969), then by descent until the 1980s;
US private collection.

An Iznik dish standing on a short foot-ring, decorated with floral ornamentation in red bole, cobalt blue, and viridian green outlined in black. The rim is decorated with a border of green leaves arranged in a zig-zag pattern, with half blossoms with white petals and red centres on a blue ground. The central decoration, which spans cavetto and well, consists of a large sprig of blue hyacinths, blue tulips, red roses, and red prunus blossoms growing from a grassy tuft. This combination of flowers is sometimes known as the ‘quatre fleurs’ motif. A dish with similar rim and the quatre fleurs motif at the centre is held in the British Museum, London (accession no. 1878,1230.498) and is dated to 1625–30. Another comparable dish is in the Musée national de la Renaissance at Château d’Écouen (accession no. E. Cl. 9602).[1] A very similar rim, with leaf-shaped zigzags, is held in the Louvre (accession on. AD 10136) and dated to the 17th century.

[1] See Mireille, Jacotin and Hitzel, Frédéric. Iznik l'aventure d'une collection : Les céramiques ottomanes du musée national de la Renaissance Château d'Ecouen. Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2005. Cat. 254, p. 191.