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Lot Essay
Contemporary European travellers and the records of the Dutch and British East India Companies unanimously agree that during the second half of the 17th century, much of the best Persian pottery was made at Kirman (Arthur Lane, Later Islamic Pottery, London, 1971, p.81-82). Examples of this type, and that of the two following lots, provide evidence for a revival in the taste for polychrome decoration which occurred during a period when the influence of Chinese blue and white porcelain predominated.
The design on this impressive bottle relates closely to one in the Victoria and Albert Museum dated to the period between 1650-1700 (inv.no.871-1876; https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O64736/flask-unknown/). Unlike earlier Iranian pottery, the shape and decoration, which uses coloured slip and underglaze blue, was native to the Islamic world rather and did not imitate Chinese designs. It has been suggested that the new sensitivity of the distinctive floral decoration that covers both our bottle and the Victoria and Albert example, was influenced by India (Three Empires of Islam. Istanbul, Isfahan, Delhi, exhibition catalogue, p.384). The contemporaneous pietra dura ornamentation of Indian Mughal architecture for instance that which adorns the Taj Mahal, includes similar floral sprays (Lisa Golombek, ‘The Safavid Ceramic Industry at Kirman’, Iran, Journal of Persian Studies, XLI, 2003, p.262). An interesting Indian comparable is an enamelled box, formerly in the Simon Digby collection and sold in these Rooms, 7 April 2011, lot 246. Dated to circa 1600 it was decorated with very similar floral motifs (Mark Zebrowski, Gold, Silver and Bronze from Mughal India, London, 1997, figs.75-77, p.88). The bottle offered here is also distinctive for its impressive size
The design on this impressive bottle relates closely to one in the Victoria and Albert Museum dated to the period between 1650-1700 (inv.no.871-1876; https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O64736/flask-unknown/). Unlike earlier Iranian pottery, the shape and decoration, which uses coloured slip and underglaze blue, was native to the Islamic world rather and did not imitate Chinese designs. It has been suggested that the new sensitivity of the distinctive floral decoration that covers both our bottle and the Victoria and Albert example, was influenced by India (Three Empires of Islam. Istanbul, Isfahan, Delhi, exhibition catalogue, p.384). The contemporaneous pietra dura ornamentation of Indian Mughal architecture for instance that which adorns the Taj Mahal, includes similar floral sprays (Lisa Golombek, ‘The Safavid Ceramic Industry at Kirman’, Iran, Journal of Persian Studies, XLI, 2003, p.262). An interesting Indian comparable is an enamelled box, formerly in the Simon Digby collection and sold in these Rooms, 7 April 2011, lot 246. Dated to circa 1600 it was decorated with very similar floral motifs (Mark Zebrowski, Gold, Silver and Bronze from Mughal India, London, 1997, figs.75-77, p.88). The bottle offered here is also distinctive for its impressive size