Dish with an Arabic inscription

This large dish was designed to serve meat at opulent Renaissance banquets. It is a luxury product of the workshops of Muslim potters who stayed in Spain after the Catholic reconquest that affected the region of Valencia from the 13th century onward.

At the request of the person who commissioned the work, the purely Islamic decorative repertoire was also allowed to include heraldic motifs and Christian inscriptions.

Against a background of cobalt blue floral motifs, the decor comprises a cross, around which stylized representations of branches of the Tree of Life are intertwined. A central band bearing imitation Arabic lettering is framed by two rows that repeat the schematic graphic formula “al-afya,” meaning "good health."

The “enameled” decoration was applied in successive firings, starting with the blue motifs on a creamy-white background. The effect achieved using a metallic luster is typical of pottery described as “hispano-moresque.” This luxury porcelain ware was highly prized in the late Middle Ages, before being replaced by majolica from Italy. Whole dinner services were exported from Valencia to adorn the tables of European and Mediterranean nobility.