This Iranian blue and white dish is decorated with a large spray of leafy branch which invaded the whole surface of the dish. It springs from the right with a long feathery leaf and a central bloom while a winding branch with fan-shaped leaves and stylised flowers bursting out at different sections to the left bending towards the tip of the large feathery leaf. 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 long feathery leaf seems to take on a life of their 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.
