'Golden Horn' Tondino, 1500-50 (fritware, with blue underglaze painting)

This tondino—a type of plate with a broad, flat rim and small, bowl-shaped center—is a superb example of Iznik production of the first half of the 16th century. The style of decoration, dominated by leafy spirals, is generally called “Golden Horn,” a reference to numerous fragments with comparable motifs found on the southern shore of the Golden Horn, an inlet dividing Istanbul. By the mid-16th century, green, turquoise, purple, and a thick, vibrant red paint known as bolus armenus were incorporated to the palette of Iznik wares, along with new decorative motifs dominated by floral bouquets.