PROBABLY SAMARKAND, CENTRAL ASIA, 10TH CENTURY

Details

A SAMANID CONICAL POTTERY BOWL
PROBABLY SAMARKAND, CENTRAL ASIA, 10TH CENTURY
Of conical form on short foot, the white interior with a central dot surrounded by a minor sepia band and an elegant kufic inscription in dark sepia and red, the rim with a band of circles on green ground surrounded by minor red lines and an outer band of sepia cusped design, the exterior plain white, repaired breaks, glaze flaking around the rim
10¼in. (26.3cm.) diam.

Special notice

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Lot Essay

The inscription reads:
al-jud min akhlaq ahl al-janna (Generosity is a disposition of the dwellers of Paradise).

This is a line that occurs on a number of dishes and bowls from this period. What is very unusual is the combination of this, written in the very elegant kufic seen here, with the coloured band around the rim. The colouring and drawing of that are more typical of vessels found at Samarkand and make a Nishapur provenance much less probable.

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