.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The careful elaboration and detailing of this Mina’i ewer displays the talent of 12th century ceramicists in Iran. The delicacy of the overglaze technique suggests that this was manufactured primarily for the upper classes and was only ever intended for display use (Ernst Grube, Islamic Pottery of the Eighth to the Fifteenth century in the Keir Collection, London, 1976).
The body is decorated with a repeated pairs of confronted birds, interspersed with gilded bosses with pierced holes. These gilded bosses further compound the suggestion that this ewer was designed to be decorative as well as purposeful. A bottle with similar decoration was sold in these Rooms, 1 May 2025, lot 17 and the distinctive gilded bosses can also be seen on a bowl in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc.no.57.36.11).
The body is decorated with a repeated pairs of confronted birds, interspersed with gilded bosses with pierced holes. These gilded bosses further compound the suggestion that this ewer was designed to be decorative as well as purposeful. A bottle with similar decoration was sold in these Rooms, 1 May 2025, lot 17 and the distinctive gilded bosses can also be seen on a bowl in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc.no.57.36.11).