SAFAVID NORTH WEST IRAN, LATE 16TH/EARLY 17TH CENTURY

The North Caucasian city of Kubachi in present-day Daghestan gave its name to a large group of Persian potteries where many of these 16th and 17th century pieces were found on the walls of houses (for such an example see Watson, 2004, no.U.12, p.460). They have since been reattributed to Tabriz or possibly elsewhere in north west Iran. The potteries were probably set up by craftsmen from Samarqand during the 15th century and at first produced a very different type of pottery, of direct Chinese influence (Watson, 2004, no.U.7, p.455). North west Iran was exposed to the Ottoman influence military and culturally. The dynamic layout of the floral sprays, the fish-scale motif in the border and the palette seen on our dish show the clear influence of the productions from Iznik potteries. The swaying tree however is a purely Persian design, found to one side in many figural paintings from Isfahan, the capital