The dark outlines of the decoration on this dish have not been painted. Rather, they have been incised using a little-known technique that involves applying pigment in a single step as a wash. Here, Chinese-style flowers on the interior of the dish and felines on the exterior have replaced the ubiquitous leaf scrolls which decorated ceramics until the 14th century. After a period of intense contact between Iran and China during the Mongol Yuan period (1271 – 1368), there was little direct interaction with China during Iran’s Savafid period (1501 – 1722). Local imitations of low-quality Chinese blue-and-white wares date from this period. Masshad, in eastern Iran’s Khorasan province, was one source of the Chinese-style wares but this dish may have been made in the northwest, suggesting a wider distribution.