Plate

The polychrome underglaze painted dish with a sloping rim and a deep well shows a male human figure outlined in black on a white background. The man is dressed in uncoloured wide trousers, a pale blue jacket and a white blouse with green sleeves. His hat and shoes and the flower that he holds in his right hand are of thick pale red. Five flowers on thin curved stems – two red-dotted blue tulips and three smaller ones with red blossoms – fill the area around the man. The rim shows a zigzag pattern composed of almond-shaped leafs. The triangular areas are coloured alternately in light blue and a bright green and filled with half-rosettes, each with a red dot at the centre. On the back the dish is painted with three large blue dots under a transparent, light turquoise coloured glaze. The foot-ring is pierced once for suspension.
Figurative depictions on Iznik ceramics were inspired by the popular imagery of miniature costume albums, many of which were produced for sale to Europeans from the beginning of the AH 11th / AD 17th century. The standardised painting of the man and the formulaic character of the flower decoration are due to the mass production of the open market.

Source: [https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;se;Mus01;19;en&cp]

How date and origin were established:
The object was dated from its decoration. Figurative depictions, frequently in combination with a zigzag pattern on the rim, occurred in great number on Iznik ceramics from the beginning of the 11th / 17th century. They were inspired by single-figure costume studies such as the Album of Sultan Ahmed I (r. 1011–25 / 1603–17) and its popular copies.

How Object was obtained:
Bequest of the Hungarian scientist, Nobel Prize winner and art collector, Georg von Békésy (1899–1972).

How provenance was established:
The zigzag pattern on the rim in combination with the human figure occurred in great number on Iznik ceramics from the beginning of the 11th / 17th century.

Source: [https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;se;Mus01;19;en&cp]