CENTRAL IRAN, EARLY 13TH CENTURY

The present bowl is an excellent example of the 'Kashan style' of lustreware identified by Oliver Watson which developed at the turn of the 13th century (Ceramics of Iran, New Haven and London, 2020, p.201). Abu Zayd Kashani is the most famous potter of the period and key exponent of the Kashan style, although he worked across both lustre and mina'i wares. The very tight yet expressive drawing on the present bowl relates closely in style and quality to that found in works signed by Abu Zayd, for examples a turquoise and cobalt-blue decorated lustre bowl signed by the master in the Kunstmuseum den Haag (obj.no. 0405183). The composition of the lion above a body of water containing fish and a palmette sky relates to that on a mina'i bowl by Abu Zayd in the British Museum dating to 1187 (inv.no. 1945,1017.261). A Kashan lustre bowl with a similar roundel but depicting three birds above a fish rather than the lion of the present bowl was sold in these Rooms, 27 October 2022, lot 33. The present lot relates particularly closely to a Kashan lustre bowl depicting a leopard in the central roundel sold in these Rooms, 5 October 2010, lot 15 and another similar bowl, depicting birds rather than a leopard, was sold in these Rooms 27 October 2022, lot 33.

In comparison to the above examples, the present bowl is particularly rare for combining three sources of poetry in the inscriptions, something not found on other lustre vessels of this period. The inscription in kufic is one popularly found on many other Kashan ceramics.