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Lot Essay
This large bowl has a very unusual combination of elements and particularly colouration. Two bowls are noted in the excavations at Nishapur which had an "unusual grayish purplish engobe" (Wilkinson, Charles K.: Nishapur Pottery of the Early Islamic Period, New York, 1973, no.33, p.166 and no.48, p.169). When discussing the latter, more fully decorated piece, Wilkinson notes that the decoration is more typical of Sistan and Lashkari Bazar in western and southern Afghanistan than Nishapur.
Three related bowls have appeared at auction, two at Sotheby's (12 October 2000, lots 122 and 124) and one at Bonhams (24 April 2002, lot 250). All three share with the present bowl the coloured slip ground, the filler panels of differently coloured slip filled with small coloured dots and borders of white designs on plain black stripes. All also use the same range of colours. The first of the comparable pieces was a calligraphic bowl with a central interlace roundel, comparable to the present example but without the foliate terminals. The second, a small bowl, had as its central motif a sturgeon very close indeed to the present designs. Th third, again with large central motif, had a heraldic lion, the interstices filled with similar roundels as well as dotted panels in the same way that they are here.
Wilkinson (op.cit, p.130) notes that the products of Samarkand and the surrounding region typically have foliate forms or interlaced bands on the bottom, such as those that are found here and in the inscribed dish noted above. A Paris exhibition of finds from Samarkand published numerous examples where the filler decoration is innumerable small repeated motifs or dots on a coloured slip ground (Terres Secrètes de Samarcande, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1992). Animals are also found with similar drawing to that seen here, arranged in groups, their bodies filled with dots in the same way that can be seen on the related lion dish noted above (Terres secrètes, no.200 in particular). A Samarkand origin is certainly the most probable unless another kiln site is discovered for these most unusual and impressive dishes.
The present bowl is easily the largest of the group (the others were 32.8, 14.3 and 29cm. diam. respectively). The drawing has the same heraldic impact noted by the cataloguer on the lion dish, coupled with a sense of powerful movement. The strength of the drawing, and the clarity of depiction of the fish, who with the off-centre mouth are almost certainly sturgeon, combine to make a remarkable ensemble.
Three related bowls have appeared at auction, two at Sotheby's (12 October 2000, lots 122 and 124) and one at Bonhams (24 April 2002, lot 250). All three share with the present bowl the coloured slip ground, the filler panels of differently coloured slip filled with small coloured dots and borders of white designs on plain black stripes. All also use the same range of colours. The first of the comparable pieces was a calligraphic bowl with a central interlace roundel, comparable to the present example but without the foliate terminals. The second, a small bowl, had as its central motif a sturgeon very close indeed to the present designs. Th third, again with large central motif, had a heraldic lion, the interstices filled with similar roundels as well as dotted panels in the same way that they are here.
Wilkinson (op.cit, p.130) notes that the products of Samarkand and the surrounding region typically have foliate forms or interlaced bands on the bottom, such as those that are found here and in the inscribed dish noted above. A Paris exhibition of finds from Samarkand published numerous examples where the filler decoration is innumerable small repeated motifs or dots on a coloured slip ground (Terres Secrètes de Samarcande, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1992). Animals are also found with similar drawing to that seen here, arranged in groups, their bodies filled with dots in the same way that can be seen on the related lion dish noted above (Terres secrètes, no.200 in particular). A Samarkand origin is certainly the most probable unless another kiln site is discovered for these most unusual and impressive dishes.
The present bowl is easily the largest of the group (the others were 32.8, 14.3 and 29cm. diam. respectively). The drawing has the same heraldic impact noted by the cataloguer on the lion dish, coupled with a sense of powerful movement. The strength of the drawing, and the clarity of depiction of the fish, who with the off-centre mouth are almost certainly sturgeon, combine to make a remarkable ensemble.