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拍品專文
In the words of the late Oliver Watson, “the invention of overglaze enamel on pottery is one of the notable achievements of the Kashan potters” (Oliver Watson, Ceramics of Iran, London, 2020, p.238). Within this tradition this bowl is a notable example. The figures are worthy of an illustrated manuscript, it has a lavish use of cut gold-leaf decoration, and the red outlines are very well controlled. As Oliver Watson wrote, red was “the most difficult ceramic colour of all” (Oliver Watson, Ceramics From Islamic Lands, London, 2004, p.363). The monumental size of this bowl also sets it apart from most others.
Mina’i bowls tend to be around 20cm. in diameter but a limited number of fragmentary bases and wall sherds prove the existence of what must have been far larger vessels (Richard McCleary, Mina'i Ware A Reassessment and Comprehensive Study of Iranian Polychrome Overglaze Wares through Sherds, Edinburgh, 2026, pp.97-98). Our dish provides one of the few complete examples of mina’i dishes of this larger size. Another example is in the Aga Khan Museum (AKM773), measuring 29.2cm. One of the finest large base sherds which would have formed a part of a large bowl stylistically similar to our bowl is in the Keir Collection (15C; see Watson, ‘Ceramics’, B.W. Robinson (ed.), Islamic Art in the Keir Collection, 1988, London, p.153, pl.42). While mina’i bowls of normal size are usually of a hemispherical shape, our bowl can be compared to Kashan’s earlier lustreware, such as two dishes in the Sarikhani Collection measuring 33.5 and 33.2cm. in diameter (I.CE.2219, I.CE.2245).
The large bowls provided the potters with the space to make use of monumental motifs, particularly equestrian scenes (McCleary, op.cit., pp.154-5). The rider, at the centre of our bowl is clearly a prince given the symbolic associations of the falcon nestled in the foliage to his right. However, he is quite diminutive compared to the seated figures surrounding him, thus going against Robert Hillenbrand’s argument on the iconography of earlier Kashan lustreware that the ruler is fixed at the centre of a turning world, with smaller attendants moving around him, emphasizing their mobility and his stability (Robert Hillenbrand, ‘Images of Authority on Kashan Lustreware,’ James W. Allan (ed.), Islamic Art in the Ashmolean Museum, Part I, ed. J.W.Allan, Oxford, 1995, p.173-4). A fragment of a large mina’i jar was sold in these Rooms, 5 October 2010, lot 108, now in the Sarakhani Collection today (I.CE.2223; Oliver Watson, Ceramics of Iran, London, 2020, no.119).
Mina’i bowls tend to be around 20cm. in diameter but a limited number of fragmentary bases and wall sherds prove the existence of what must have been far larger vessels (Richard McCleary, Mina'i Ware A Reassessment and Comprehensive Study of Iranian Polychrome Overglaze Wares through Sherds, Edinburgh, 2026, pp.97-98). Our dish provides one of the few complete examples of mina’i dishes of this larger size. Another example is in the Aga Khan Museum (AKM773), measuring 29.2cm. One of the finest large base sherds which would have formed a part of a large bowl stylistically similar to our bowl is in the Keir Collection (15C; see Watson, ‘Ceramics’, B.W. Robinson (ed.), Islamic Art in the Keir Collection, 1988, London, p.153, pl.42). While mina’i bowls of normal size are usually of a hemispherical shape, our bowl can be compared to Kashan’s earlier lustreware, such as two dishes in the Sarikhani Collection measuring 33.5 and 33.2cm. in diameter (I.CE.2219, I.CE.2245).
The large bowls provided the potters with the space to make use of monumental motifs, particularly equestrian scenes (McCleary, op.cit., pp.154-5). The rider, at the centre of our bowl is clearly a prince given the symbolic associations of the falcon nestled in the foliage to his right. However, he is quite diminutive compared to the seated figures surrounding him, thus going against Robert Hillenbrand’s argument on the iconography of earlier Kashan lustreware that the ruler is fixed at the centre of a turning world, with smaller attendants moving around him, emphasizing their mobility and his stability (Robert Hillenbrand, ‘Images of Authority on Kashan Lustreware,’ James W. Allan (ed.), Islamic Art in the Ashmolean Museum, Part I, ed. J.W.Allan, Oxford, 1995, p.173-4). A fragment of a large mina’i jar was sold in these Rooms, 5 October 2010, lot 108, now in the Sarakhani Collection today (I.CE.2223; Oliver Watson, Ceramics of Iran, London, 2020, no.119).