A KUBACHI POLYCHROME POTTERY DISH
A KUBACHI POLYCHROME POTTERY DISH

NORTH IRAN, EARLY 17TH CENTURY

Details
A KUBACHI POLYCHROME POTTERY DISH
NORTH IRAN, EARLY 17TH CENTURY
With sloping rim and short foot, the white ground painted in blue, green, red, brown and ochre with a central bust portrait of an elegant youth wearing a large turban and holding in his left hand a floral spray, the youth flanked with further floral sprays and waving trees, the rim with cartouches of colourful fish-scale motif on blue ground, hair cracks
13¾in. (35cm.) diam.
Provenance
Greek private collection since 1885

Brought to you by

Andrew Butler-Wheelhouse
Andrew Butler-Wheelhouse

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Lot Essay

This dish is a particularly elegant example of Kubachi ware. The name derives from the Caucasian town where many examples were found in the 19th century decorating houses. The figure painted here is that of a young man wearing a turban typical of that worn under the reign of Shah Abbas I (1587-1642). By depicting only the bust of human figures, artists such as those who worked on this lot and the following, were attempting an innovative approach, whilst remaining within a traditional framework. At a time where human figures were traditionally presented standing in a floral landscape, the bust-portrait representation constituted a new genre, perhaps influenced by the European mode (Istanbul, Isfahan, Delhi. 3 Capitals of Islamic Art. Masterpieces from the Louvre Collection, Istanbul, 2008, pp.216-17).

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