A KASHAN COBALT-BLUE, TURQUOISE AND LUSTRE PAINTED MOULDED POTTERY

FROM THE TAKHT-I SULAYMAN, CENTRAL PERSIA, DATEABLE TO 1270-75 AD

Details

A KASHAN COBALT-BLUE, TURQUOISE AND LUSTRE PAINTED MOULDED POTTERY
FROM THE TAKHT-I SULAYMAN, CENTRAL PERSIA, DATEABLE TO 1270-75 AD
Of square form, the main lower register with moulded lotus branches and a bird on a ground of fine lustre flowering vine around the figure of Bahram Gur mounted on a turquoise camel displaying his master shot as the deer scratches its ear, his lady Azada strumming her harp on the back of the camel, the upper frieze with a band of fleeting animals on a lustre ground of flowering vine, a raised band of stylised kufic inscriptions long the lower edge, repaired breaks
12.5/8 x 13in. (32 x 33cm.)

Provenance

H Khan Monif, New York
Anon sale, Parke Bernet Galleries, January 24th, 1969, lot 45.
Lester Wolfe, New York, sold Sotheby Parke Bernet, March 4th 1975, lot 123

Lot Essay

Tiles of this design were found at the site of the Summer Palace of the Mongol Abaqa Khan at Takht-i Sulayman. Inscriptions on star tiles found there bear dates which correspond to years between 1270 and 1275 AD. While none of the larger frieze tiles are dated, it is fairly safe to assume they date from the same period.

A tile of identical design was formerly in the Victoria and Albert Museum until stolen in 1984 (Watson, O.: Persian Lustre Ware, London, 1985, colour plate L).

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