Dish

The dish is complete; there is some missing enamel around the rim, particularly at the corners, and a break has been repaired with iron studs. The dish is rectangular with plain sides. In cross-section, the wing is almost flat, while the rim slopes towards the bottom; the wall is rounded and the bottom is flat. The reverse of the dish has a slightly rounded center. The base of the dish is rounded. The body is pinkish-beige in color and covered with a bluish-white enamel; there are burrs of enamel under the dish, near the rim. Three traces of linear and triangular pernettes are visible under the marli. The dish has a break along its entire length, which is repaired with six rusty iron spikes; made from a double iron rod, each is inserted into a pair of small circular holes drilled in the back of the dish and held in place by a hard white paste. The enamel on the reverse of the dish is dotted with the small holes, and the base shows areas of amati enamel and wear marks on its support; the decoration is molded and hand-painted in two-tone. It has been traced and painted in dark blue underglaze and red overglaze. It features compartmentalized braid and a floral basket. The molded decoration is perceptible on the wing: it consists of a row of small gadroons molded in relief. Painted decoration is applied on the wing, on the border near the edge and in the center of the base. On the wing and on the border, the decoration is tripartite: a row of gadroons and a braid separated by a band. On the narrow wing, a row of bands is painted in blue on a thin fillet, separated by a dash; these elements are outlined in black. This row is separated from the inner braid by a wide blue band. This braid is drawn in black and painted in blue and red; it is underlined with a dash. The braid is adorned with two alternately repeated motifs. One is in reserve on a blue-painted background: it consists of mirrored motifs on either side of a half-flower flanked by two scrolls, followed by quarter-flowers topped with scrolls. These flowers are adorned with red radiating lines. The other motif is a latticework drawn in red and trimmed with blue-painted pearls. These two motifs are separated by a half-flower made of red radiating lines with a blue-painted core; it is set in two arched bands, with the inner portion in reserve and the sides painted blue. The background features a flowering basket. The basket is truncated cone-shaped, with a flat swollen bottom and a flat swollen rim; it is outlined in blue and partially filled with dashes painted red; the basket’s rendering imitates rattan. From the top of the basket emerge a central flower framed by two leaves and two flowers; these are surrounded by a flower, leafy plant stems, two of which are long on the sides, and grapes. Some of the flowers and their leaves are outlined in blue and partially filled in with red radiating lines; the large central flower is painted in faded blue, as are the grapes. The curved plant stems and other leaves are outlined and painted blue. Two red tendrils hang from either side of the basket. The basket rests on an ironwork-like support, the elements of which are arranged in a mirror-like fashion. It consists of two scrolls ending in acanthus leaves curving upwards. Beneath the center of the support is a plant motif featuring three curved, beaded plant stems. These elements are traced and painted in blue, except for the core of the main motif, which is in reserve and trimmed with lines painted in red.