IRAN, CIRCA 1200

Details

A MINA'I POTTERY BOWL
IRAN, CIRCA 1200
The white ground painted over the glaze with blue, turquoise, red and black pigment, the central roundel depicting two figures flanking a tree, a zig-zag band around, the cavetto with a band of blue and turquoise camels below a border of mock-kufic decoration, the exterior with a band of black pseudo-calligraphy between two thin red-brown lines, the base plain, repaired breaks
8 5/8in. (21.9cm.) diam.

Provenance

Private Collection, Japan, 1960s
With Japanese Trade, 1981, from which acquired by the current owner, 2008

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

Though the iconography on this bowl is made up of several different elements, they are all part of a well-established corpus of motifs which appear on mina'i ware. Sherds in the Metropolitan Museum of Art include a base depicting a camel, saddled yet riderless, within a similar hatched circular border (acc.no.20.120.119). Another sherd depicts a pair of figures sat by a tree with similar dotted leaves, of which the person on the right wears a striped tunic (acc.no.20.120.134 and 20.120.122). The same mock-kufic inscription, somewhat resembling the Arabic word al-dawla, often translated as 'wealth' is also found.

Complete bowls with the same decorative repertoire of figures seated by trees, hatched borders, and a mock-kufic rim have been sold in these Rooms, 6 October 2011, lot 86 and at Christie's Paris, 6 May 2015, lot 108.

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