NORTH EAST IRAN, 12TH CENTURY

Details

TWO NISHAPUR MOULDED POTTERY BOWLS
NORTH EAST IRAN, 12TH CENTURY
Each of typical form, the body moulded with a large inscription in kufic against a ground of arabesques with animals, glazed with cobalt-blue and turquoise, the interior plain, on an unglazed foot, each restored
5 7/8in. (14.8cm.) and 6in. (15.2cm.) diam.

Provenance

Each excavated Rayy, cobalt blue bowl 1943; the turquoise bowl 1922

Engraved

The cobalt-blue bowl has fragmentary inscriptions reading wa’l-…‘ada (al-sa’adah?) wa’l-d… wa’l-ki[rama?] …, ‘… and happiness(?) and … and generosity(?) …’

Further Details

Some countries prohibit or restrict the purchase and/or import of Iranian-origin property. Bidders must familiarise themselves with any laws or shipping restrictions that apply to them before bidding on these lots. For example, the USA prohibits dealings in and import of Iranian-origin “works of conventional craftsmanship” (such as carpets, textiles, decorative objects, and scientific instruments) without an appropriate licence. Christie’s has a general OFAC licence which, subject to compliance with certain conditions, would enable a buyer to import this type of lot into the USA. If you intend to use Christie’s licence, please contact us for further information before you bid.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

These bowls, the high sides decorated with a kufic inscription and a range of animals both mythological and real, were created through the use of moulds. One such mould is in the al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, which is reported to have been excavated in Ghazni in present-day Afghanistan (Oliver Watson, Ceramics from Islamic Lands, London, 2004, pp.144-5, Cat. Af.6). The fact that these bowls were excavated in Rayy in the centre of Iran suggests either that the practice of making bowls with moulds was widespread, or that moulded bowls from Eastern Iran were traded westwards.

A high-sided moulded bowl with a blue cobalt glaze, though lacking calligraphy, is in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford (acc.no. EAX.1206). The turquoise glazed example is unusual for the technique of piercing the body prior to glazing to create translucent perforations in the glaze: another example with perforated sides includes a remarkable bowl with a depiction of a lion hunt in the main band in the Sarikhani Collection (acc.no. I.CE.2164; Oliver Watson, Ceramics of Iran, p.180).

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