Lustreware basin with muhammadan style decoration

Tin glazed basin with cobalt blue and lustre decoration in the “muhammadan style”, with geometrical and floral motifs surrounded by the so called “fish border” pattern. In the obverse there are concentric circles with a central circumference broken in its diameter. These type of plates were known as “baci gran” and were used to present fruit or cooked dishes. When they were not used, they were hung on the wall by two small holes pierced in the rim, or stored in a cupboard as a prestigious object, as we can see in the codex of the Ghent-Bruges master belonging to Mary of Burgundy (1477-1490), wife of Maximilian I and mother of Philip the Fair, conserved in the Bodleian Library in Oxford. This object shows a clear inspiration on the Nasrid lustreware decoration from Malaga, famous and imitated to the point that the earthenware from Manises was called “Malaga work” in the Valencia commercial documents. Manises earthenware. End of 14th century.