Galerie Golconda

Description :

Decorated plate painted black with a transparent turquoise underglaze. The adornment is composed of three elegant fish surrounded by vegetation. There are various chips. Two black bands, one thick the other thin, surround the edge.

This theme of water is "source of life". The turquoise blue colour is achieved with copper oxides with an alkaline or lead glaze and the black decorations are painted with a slip. The black silhouettes covered with a tinted glaze are quite common amongst the Seljuks. Examples of fish dishes under blue glaze were found in Lonya, Turkey. The animal scene occupies a special place in Islamic art in the same way as calligraphy. It concerns all species of land, air and aquatic environments. The animals are drawn in a stylized way, with naturalism, vivacity and often humor.