A FINE NISHAPUR BLACK AND WHITE JUG with rounded body, wide flaring mouth and loop handle on short foot, the exterior plain white save for an elegant black kufic inscription running around the body, 10th century (repaired)

Details

A FINE NISHAPUR BLACK AND WHITE JUG with rounded body, wide flaring mouth and loop handle on short foot, the exterior plain white save for an elegant black kufic inscription running around the body, 10th century (repaired)
4in. (10.2cm.) high

Lot Essay

The inscription can be translated: The noblest of virtues and manliness. This is part of the complete aphorism which is found on a bowl in the Foroughi Collection, Teheran, which reads: knowledge is the noblest of virtues and manliness is the most intricate of lineages (Volov, L., 'Plaited Kufic on Samanid Epigraphic Pottery, Ars Orientalis, 6, 1966, pp.107-133, fig.5).

It is unusual to find an inscription of this quality on any Nishapur vessel other than a bowl

More from Islamic

View All