LARGE OTTOMAN LANCIER DISH Round and hollow dish in polychrome earthenware, the central decoration is mainly in blue monochrome of a Turkish lancer rider, perhaps the Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror (1432-1481), wearing a green turban and carrying a scimitar at his side, he stands on his rearing horse on a yellow yellow terrace. The wing is decorated with twenty-eight circles of interlaced palms in light green shaded blue. Reverse with colourless glaze and snail of snails. Two original suspension holes. Italy, Deruta, 16th century, circa 1530 Height: 8 cm - Diameter: 40.7 cm (Visible damage and restorations) The Ottoman Empire was the largest empire of the Islamic world and the one that has survived survived. Followers of Sunni Islam the Ottomans rapidly expanded their territories and seized Constantinople in 1453. Selim I ("the sinister", r. 1512 - 20) recaptured Egypt and Syria from the Mamluks in 1517, and campaigns in Iran led to a major major defeat of their Safavid rivals. Selim's successor, Suleiman I 'The Magnificent the Magnificent" led the Ottoman forces to Vienna Vienna, where they were repulsed in 1529. It was against this backdrop that our majolica dish was produced. our majolica dish: the representation of the of the Ottoman cavalryman at full gallop was an image as feared as it was admired in the West in the first half of the 16th century. It is probably a representation of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror (1432 - 1481). Dishes with the Ottoman Lancier can be found in the British Museum [N°1855,0313. 3], the Fitzwilliam Museum [C. 100-1927] and the MAK (Museum für Angewandte Kunst) in Vienna.