Lot Essay
Polychrome 'Kubachi' dishes were undoubtedly popular in Persia at the time of manufacture; examples have been excavated from sites all over the country (Lane, A.: Later Islamic Pottery, London, 1957, p.81). Their precise place of manufacture however has never been satisfactorily established. Tabriz has been suggested, but is unconfirmed by positive evidence. If Tabriz were the centre, it would certainly explain the appearance in the later sixteenth century of polychrome wares whose colour scheme, particularly including the red slip painting, must have been influenced by the wares of Iznik. Among the group, it is probably the figural dishes which are the most memorable and charming, copying clearly the figural drawing style developed by the court artists of Isfahan, but retaining an immediacy which is often lacking in later Persian pottery. Men are more frequently the subjects of these dishes, but women were also depicted on a few occasions (Fehérvári, G.: Islamic Pottery - A Comprehensive Study based on the Barlow Collection, London, 1973, no.174, p.136 and col.pl.J and dust jacket).