DAMASCUS, SYRIA, CIRCA 1420-50

Details

A GROUP OF FOUR MAMLUK HEXAGONAL POTTERY TILES
DAMASCUS, SYRIA, CIRCA 1420-50
Comprising two black, blue and white tiles with central radiating roundels amidst scrolling tendrils, and two blue and white tiles with a lobed palmette design
Largest 7 ½in. (19cm.) across

Provenance

Lockwood de Forest, late 19th century, and thence by descent to the present owner

Special notice

These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

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Sara Plumbly

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Lot Essay

The two tiles with fleshy palmettes in this group relate to one discussed by John Carswell, which is in the Cairo museum. The fleshy cusped arabesque formed concentrically around an ovoid centre on hatched ground is very similar to ours (John Carswell, 'Six Tiles' in Richard Ettinghausen (ed.), Islamic Art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1972, p.102). The tile with central rosette amidst scrolling vine compares with a tile in the Victoria and Albert Museum (inv.no.413-1898) attributed to Damascus, circa 1420-50.

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