PROBABLY SAMARRA, 9TH CENTURY

Details

AN ABBASID LEAD GLAZED POTTERY BOWL
Probably Samarra, 9th Century
Of shallow hemispherical form on short foot, the green interior with a band of radiating manganese-brown stripes around a central yellow roundel with brown circle, the exterior plain, clear glaze, intact
7in. (18cm.) diam.

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Lot Essay

This unusual bowl is closely related to a small number of pieces found at Samarra. A comparable bowl is in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford,, which is itself a less ambitious piece than one formerly in the Eumorphopoulos as well as the Barlow Collections (Fehérvári, Geza: Islamic Pottery, A Comprehensive Study based on the Barlow Collection, London, 1973, nos. 2 and 3). While similar pieces were also found at Nishapur (Wlikinson, Charles K.: Nishapur, Pottery of the Early Islamic Period, New York, n.d., nos.2.9 and 2.10, p.59, pl.p.73, they are made with a red clay body, in contrast to the buff clay seen here. The present bowl also has a raised foot-rim, unlike the Barlow buff-bodied examples.

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