SAMARKAND, UZBEKISTAN, CIRCA 1350

Details

A LATE ILKHANID CARVED POTTERY INSCRIPTION TILE
SAMARKAND, UZBEKISTAN, CIRCA 1350
Of curved form, probably from a cornice or surrounding a mihrab, the main register filled with deeply carved scrolling vine around a white glazed foliated kufic inscription, a band of cobalt-blue meandering leafy vine above, damages to highpoints and edges
9¾in. (24.5cm.) wide

Provenance

Purchased by the father of the present owner in the 1950s.

Special Notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The inscription reads [al-'a]zima li'llah (Majesty is God's).

Identical tiles can be found in the decoration of the façade of the Khwaja Ahmad mausoleum circa 1350AD, part of the Shah-i Zindeh necropolis (Jean Soustiel and Yves Porter: Tombs of Paradise. The Shah-e Zende in Samarkand and Architectural Ceramics of Central Asia, Saint-Remy-en-L'Eau, 2003, p.80; and Fréderique Beaupertuis-Bressand: The Blue Gold of Samarkand Paris, 1997, p.112).

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