4 "Arabesque" Bread & butter plates

Inspired by a lid decorated with arabesques

This small lid is beautifully decorated with arabesques, composed of an interlaced pattern of palmettes organised in strict symmetry. The lid was produced in the town of Iznik, formerly Nicaea, which was a major ceramics centre from the 15th century.

The pieces produced are made of a silicaceous pottery on which was placed a fine layer of silica. The decoration was then painted and covered with a transparent glaze.

The compositions of the pottery, the layer of silica and the glaze are very similar and, in addition to great solidity, give the decoration an effect of depth. The red colour, obtained from Armenian bole, is in low relief. This colour appears on ceramics from 1557.