An early Miletus ware blue and white dish, Turkey, 15th century, of shallow form with raised foot and wide everted rim, decorated to interior well with a flower head and radial petals, and blue circles and swirls to rim, 18cm. diam. Provenance: Theo Sarmas (d. 2018) collection in London since early 1960s, Bonhams sale 6639 Lot 186 Property from the private collection of Theo Sarmas 1938 -2018. Theo Sarmas was a London businessman who was a passionate collector of Byzantine ceramics and Greek coinage. Princeton University, New Jersey holds the Theo Sarmas collection of medieval Greek coinage. Miletus ware is a type of pottery that was produced in various locations in Anatolia between the late 14th and mid 15th centuries. The pottery was discovered through excavations in the 1930s by Friedrich Sarre at Miletus, hence the ware's name. This pottery type was not produced at Miletus, but in other towns such as ?znik and Kütahya. Miletus ware used red clay as a base, covered with white slip, with simple designs in blue, turquoise and purple. The design often incorporated "sunburst" and vegetal patterns. Miletus ware was superseded in the early 15th century by Iznik pottery, with the introduction of white bodies instead of the red clays. However, there is a certain continuity in the colours used for the decoration Please refer to department for condition report