Page 252 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

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173. Plate with three bunches of grapes, second quarter sixteenth century
(New York, The Metropolitan Museum of An, 66.4.10)

tern, employing calligraphic lines with soft washes and deli- Grapes with dark blue "eyes" and leaves detailed with lin-
cate strokes. The number of points on the rim is ignored in ear or reserved veins are characteristic of this series of plates,
the two types of floral sprays decorating the cavetto. Three as are the wave patterns on the rims and the floral sprays in
bunches of grapes with scrolling vines and large leaves fill the the cavetti. Although the theme was most frequently ren-
central medallion. Turquoise, used sparingly in the rim and dered in blue-and-white 79 and blue-and-turquoise ceramics, 80
cavetto, is applied to the upper portions of the grape leaves there are also plates with green, purple, or red bunches of
and the loops of the scrolling vine, playfully disregarding the grapes. 81 In some examples floral scrolls were used in the
concept of full and void. The exterior of the cavetto repeats cavetto instead of sprays 82 and one of the more innovative
the design used on the interior. plates added a tree to the center, its branches interwined with

251