The bowl is thought to have Byzantine, Crusader, or Frankish origins.
 


If we look at bowls made in this region during a similar time period, they are comparable in color and style. The division of the bowl into four quadrants is similar throughout the pieces, including the imitated piece. The traditional Islamic bowls utilize a green pigment instead of a cobalt blue color, but both were popular choices during the time period. 





Because the ceramic from Dumbarton Oaks is a restored bowl, it is unknown what the four radii separating the quadrants looked like. The automated blue lines given on the restored version show that they matched the color on the ring of the upper section of the bowl.