Dish

Art Historical Context

This shallow earthenware dish draws the eye with its wide, gently sloping rim and central medallion filled with six-petaled rosettes in soft blue and purple slip. Delicate leaf and vine motifs ring the outer border, while radiating lines and a subtle lattice pattern divide the surface into graceful compartments. The creamy white ground, visible cracks, and faint sheen of the transparent bluish glaze reveal both the age and the careful layering of colors beneath the surface. Created in the fifteenth century by an unknown artist, the dish belongs to the Islamic Art collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Its technique—white slip with polychrome slip decoration under a transparent glaze—reflects the refined ceramic traditions of the period, where floral and geometric designs were combined to create objects of quiet elegance for daily or ceremonial use. Acquired in 1938 through the Rogers Fund, the piece offers visitors a direct connection to the artistic sensibilities of its time.