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Lot Essay
The design of saz leaves forming a heart-shaped frame around central floral motif was popular in Iznik. Similar examples are in the Koç collection (Bilgi, 2015, nos.85-91). This, however, is a particularly finely drawn example.
Stefanos Lagonicos, from whose collection this dish came, was a member of the wealthy Greek community of Alexandria whose family settled in Egypt in the late 19th century. His collection of 47 Iznik ceramics was formed after the First World War, and comprised mostly plates and jugs from the classic (post 1570) period. At least six pieces from the collection were included in the important 1925 Exposition d'Art Musulman in Alexandria. The Lagonicos collection remained intact, surviving as a group until its sale in Monaco in 1991. Stefanos left Egypt for Switzerland in 1937, just before the rise of nationalism and the abolition of the Capitulations. His son Jean, an importer of dried fruits and nuts from the Levant in Marseilles, inherited most of the collection, which he kept in obscurity at his house in Provence until its dispersal at auction in 1991.
Stefanos Lagonicos, from whose collection this dish came, was a member of the wealthy Greek community of Alexandria whose family settled in Egypt in the late 19th century. His collection of 47 Iznik ceramics was formed after the First World War, and comprised mostly plates and jugs from the classic (post 1570) period. At least six pieces from the collection were included in the important 1925 Exposition d'Art Musulman in Alexandria. The Lagonicos collection remained intact, surviving as a group until its sale in Monaco in 1991. Stefanos left Egypt for Switzerland in 1937, just before the rise of nationalism and the abolition of the Capitulations. His son Jean, an importer of dried fruits and nuts from the Levant in Marseilles, inherited most of the collection, which he kept in obscurity at his house in Provence until its dispersal at auction in 1991.