A DAMASCUS MOULDED BLUE AND WHITE TOMBSTONE of rectangular form, moulded with three panels for script below an arched panel within a plain border, the arched panel painted with blue floral sprays and cypress trees flanking a central larger tree, the spandrels with stylised clouds and rosettes, the three lines below and border with elongated naskh inscriptions, the raised border stripes with further inscriptions and stylised scrolling motifs, 15th century (slight restorations and repairs)

Details

A DAMASCUS MOULDED BLUE AND WHITE TOMBSTONE of rectangular form, moulded with three panels for script below an arched panel within a plain border, the arched panel painted with blue floral sprays and cypress trees flanking a central larger tree, the spandrels with stylised clouds and rosettes, the three lines below and border with elongated naskh inscriptions, the raised border stripes with further inscriptions and stylised scrolling motifs, 15th century (slight restorations and repairs)
16 x 14½in. (40.6 x 36.8cm.)

Lot Essay

The translation of the text reads:
Made in the province of Qumis by Ahmad ibn Amir Ghiyath al-Din ibn Amir Sabiq from Barquhi, on the 15th day of the month of Rabi' II. in the year 939.

The present piece is of considerable importance since it mentions its maker's name, its place of production and the exact date. The mention of Qumis fills in a lacuna in the history of the production of Persian ceramics in the early Safavid period. It is conceivable that the present piece was part of a larger commission of architectural tile decoration.

Another example of dated and signed blue and white ware is a well known astrological disk in the Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin. It is decorated with the signs of the zodiac and was made by 'Abdu'l-Wahid in 1563-64 AD (Lane, A., Later Islamic Pottery, London, 1957, pl. 53A, p. 93). Lane connects this piece to early Kubachi wares.

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