In Iznik ceramics, the earliest recorded fish-scale design is found on a jug in the shape of a fish in the Benaki Museum, Athens, dating from circa 1510. Please see, John Carswell, Mina Moraitou and Melanie Gibson, Iznik Ceramics at the Benaki Museum, Benaki Museum - Gingko, London, 2023, p. 54. In the following decades, the design was stylized and became one of the favourite motifs of Iznik potters.

The fish-scale design is one of the major decorative elements, with cross-cultural background, in the repertoire of Iznik ceramics. It appears both in the West and the East as a popular motif. In the West, for example, it is found on the rim of Italian Majolica dishes from the mid-16th century. Please see, Frederick Hitzel & Mireille Jacotin, Iznik: l’aventure d’une collection, Paris, 2005, p. 71. In the East, it appears on Chinese ceramics produced under the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) such as the plate in the Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul. Please see, Morris Rossabi, Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire, Washington D.C., 2009, FIG. 30.8, p. 228.

The fish-scale design was much favoured by Iznik potters, and it became a major motif. It was particularly preferred in the background on dishes for creating a sense of depth as can be seen in an important dish in the Louvre Museum (inv. no. 6320), Paris. Please see, Nurhan Atasoy & Julian Raby in Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, Thames & Hudson, London, 1989, No. 364. Also see, No. 370.

A closely related Iznik tankard with very similar decoration is in the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Museum (Inv. No. 816), Lisbon. See, ibid, p. 346, fig. 751.

Two other comparable Iznik tankards decorated with blue and green fish-scale design are in the Ömer M. Koç collection and the Musee National de la Renaissance – Chateau d’Écouen. Please see, Hülya Bilgi, Ateşin Oyunu – Sadberk Hanım Müzesi ve Ömer M. Koç Koleksiyonlarından İznik Çini ve Seramikleri, Vehbi Koç Vakfı, İstanbul, 2009, No. 178, p. 300 and Frédéric Hitzel et al. Iznik – L’Aventure d’une Collection, Musee National de la Renaissance – Chateau d’Écouen, Paris, 2005, No. 41. p. 83. For another related example in the David Collection please see, The David Collection: Islamic Art, Copenhagen, 1975, p. 108.