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Lot Essay
This bowl relates very closely to pottery vessels found at Sarai Berke (founded by Berke Khan on the Volga, in South Russia in 13th century). Excavations in the mid-19th century and after the First World War included unglazed and glazed pottery vessels not dissimilar from those from Sultanabad; however, from the discovery of kilns it appears that these were made locally. These pieces can be found in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, for an illustration of one see Lane, A.: Later Islamic Pottery, London, 1947, pp.13-15, fig. 5A,B. and Masterpieces Of Islamic Art In the Hermitage Museum, Kuwait, 1990). It shows a goose in a central medallion surrounded by pointed comma-shaped white leaves and has been dated to the first half of 14th century.
The leaf motifs used in Golden Horde pieces tend to be more sharply drawn and the white slip motifs are more thickly applied, as in our bowl, in contrast to Sultanabad pieces where the motifs are more closely interlinked and are more rounded in shape. Our bowl relates to the most striking examples found and is unusual for its large size and the boldness with which the animals have been drawn.
The leaf motifs used in Golden Horde pieces tend to be more sharply drawn and the white slip motifs are more thickly applied, as in our bowl, in contrast to Sultanabad pieces where the motifs are more closely interlinked and are more rounded in shape. Our bowl relates to the most striking examples found and is unusual for its large size and the boldness with which the animals have been drawn.