CENTRAL IRAN, EARLY 13TH CENTURY

Details

A PIERCED KASHAN BLUE AND WHITE POTTERY BOWL
CENTRAL IRAN, EARLY 13TH CENTURY
The white ground painted in cobalt-blue and black under the glaze, decorated with a central blue and black medallion, the cavetto with alternating round and triangular panels of pierced arabesques, white naskh in a black band around the rim, the exterior plain, repaired breaks
8 ½in. (21.6cm.) diam.

Provenance

Excavated Kashan, 1934
With Ayoub Rabenou, New York, by 1970

Engraved

Around the inside of the rim, 'May your wealth and glory always increase, may your prosperity surpass all limits, so whatever reaches your palate from this bowl, o master of the world, may add to your life'

Further details

Some countries prohibit or restrict the purchase and/or import of Iranian-origin property. Bidders must familiarise themselves with any laws or shipping restrictions that apply to them before bidding. For example, the USA prohibits dealings in and import of Iranian-origin “works of conventional craftsmanship” (such as carpets, textiles, decorative objects, and scientific instruments) without an appropriate licence. Christie’s has a general OFAC licence which, subject to compliance with certain conditions, would enable a buyer to import this type of lot into the USA. If you intend to use Christie’s licence, please contact us for further information before you bid.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

From the eleventh century, the introduction in Iran of stonepaste, a substance primarily consisting of ground quartz with just enough white clay to ensure sufficient plasticity for shaping, facilitated the manufacture of exceptionally delicate ceramics (Sophie Makariou (ed.), Islamic Art at the Musee du Louvre, Paris, 2012, p.157). While such wares were initially made with a turquoise glaze, by the twelfth century the naturally pale ground was exploited to its fullest through the use of transparent glazes. On the present bowl, the delicate, plain interior accentuates the poetic inscription around the rim and the blue pattern in the centre.

A contemporaneous bowl with the same inscription around the rim is in the collection of Harvey B. Plotnick (Oya Pancaroglu, Perpetual Glory: Medieval Islamic Ceramics from the Harvey B. Plotnick Collection, New Haven and London, 2007, p.116). A Kashan pierced pottery bowl of comparable size and lay-out, but with a turquoise glaze was sold in these Rooms, 23 October 2007, lot 48.

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