This Iranian blue and white dish is decorated with an egret perched on a branch amidst a large floral spray at the centre surface. There is a pavilion in the background of the dish. Around the rim, there are lotus flowers interspersed with leafy vines. Flowers and leaves as such are popular choice of patterns for Iranian potters. Together with the potter’s creative imagination, the design invokes a sense of elasticity and fluidness as the winding branch spread itself on the body of the dish and the egret at centre seems to take on a life of its own. Chinese blue and white porcelains found great favor in Iran during the Safavid period (1502-1736). As a result, numerous models were imitated and locally produced. Iranian blue and white ceramics, such as the proposed example, reveal both the reverence felt by Iranian potters for the original Chinese models as well as their own creativity as they added different painted designs to the surface.
