.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Larger but similarly worked tiles with confronted peacock design are known. One is in the Louvre (inv.no.MAO 1189, Istanbul, Isfahan, Delhi. Three Capitals of Islamic Art, exhibition catalogue, Istanbul, 2008, no.118, p.247) and another was sold in these Rooms, 14 October 2003, lot 121. Both of those examples had almost identical compositions, colours and sizes. Another, identical to those decorates surmounts the door of the Shah Mosque at Isfahan, and dates to 1627.
The iconography can be traced back in the Safavid period to the Friday Mosque in Kirman whose tilework was embellished by an Isfahani artist in AH 957/1550 AD (Porter, Y. and Degorge, G., L'Art de la céramique dans l'architecture musulmane, Paris, 2001, p.102). The motif of the peacock appeared very early in Islamic art. In classical Iranian poetry - particularly in the works of the great poets Rudaki and Attar - it seems to be associated with the sun. It then became an extension of a theme associated with royalty (Three Capitals of Islamic Art, p.247).
A thermoluminecense tests performed by Oxford Authentfication confirms the proposed dating for this lot (sample number N110j90). Two samples were taken, one from the upper right hand edge and the other from the left edge (an area likely to be later restoration). The former confirms our dating, whilst the restoration was last fired less than 100 years ago.
The iconography can be traced back in the Safavid period to the Friday Mosque in Kirman whose tilework was embellished by an Isfahani artist in AH 957/1550 AD (Porter, Y. and Degorge, G., L'Art de la céramique dans l'architecture musulmane, Paris, 2001, p.102). The motif of the peacock appeared very early in Islamic art. In classical Iranian poetry - particularly in the works of the great poets Rudaki and Attar - it seems to be associated with the sun. It then became an extension of a theme associated with royalty (Three Capitals of Islamic Art, p.247).
A thermoluminecense tests performed by Oxford Authentfication confirms the proposed dating for this lot (sample number N110j90). Two samples were taken, one from the upper right hand edge and the other from the left edge (an area likely to be later restoration). The former confirms our dating, whilst the restoration was last fired less than 100 years ago.