Dish with eight-pointed star design

At first glance this large blue-and-white dish might be thought to be Chinese. In fact, it was made in Persia during the heyday of the Safavid empire. Persia and China had admired each other’s art works and luxury goods for many centuries, and each had, at various times, adopted forms and motifs from the other’s creations. By the time this dish was made, wealthy Persians had been collecting and using Chinese blue-and-white porcelain for centuries. In 1611, the shah of Persia donated more than one thousand pieces of Chinese porcelain to a religious shrine.

The decoration here, with its sophisticated elaboration of an eight-pointed star, sensitive painting of floral sprays, and delicately incised patterns under the glaze rivals the best that Chinese ceramic artists achieved.