IZNIK POTTERY DISH FROM THE LAGONIKOS COLLECTION Turkey, Ottoman Empire, ca. 1600. Painted in blue, emerald green, and Bolus-red engobe with a saz leaf, tulips, roses, and carnations in a border of climbing green tulips and blue flowers. On the reverse side, alternating flowers and a wavy band line. Ø 33.5 cm. Restored. Provenance: - The Stephanos Lagonikos Collection, Alexandria (1920s), No. 54 (paper label). - Private collection, Geneva, since 1966-1976, according to non-specified invoices. A group of influential and wealthy Greeks who settled in Alexandria, Egypt, in the late 19th century were among the world's most renowned collectors of Iznik pottery in the early 20th century. The plate on offer bears the remains of an inventory label from the Stefanos Lagonikos Collection. Alexandria had been a hub for trade, art, and creativity since the late 19th century. Lagonikos and, above all, Anthony Benaki, after whom the important Benaki Museum in Athens is named, Ch. A. Nomicos, a Greek art historian, the Choremis family, and the Salvagos enjoyed a key position in Alexandrian society and were extremely successful in business thanks to the booming trade in the Egyptian cotton industry. Against this background, prestigious collections of European antiquities were established. A small circle within this group devoted themselves to collecting Islamic art, led by Anthony Benaki and Ch. A. Nomikos. In 1925, Alexandria became the venue for a highly acclaimed exhibition of Islamic art, which exclusively presented objects from private collections, including several Iznik plates from the collection of Stefanos Lagonikos. The then-curator of the Louvre Gaston Migeon curated the exhibition and wrote the foreword to “Exposition d'art Musulman,” published in Alexandria and Paris (Gaston Migeon, Exposition d'art musulman. Les amis de l'art, Alexandrie, mars 1925). In 1991, a large portion of the Lagonikos Collection was put up for sale in Monaco, under the supervision of John Carswell (La Collection Lagonico, Sotheby's Monaco, 7 December 1991).