A CALLIGRAPHIC POTTERY BOWL

The present bowl shows strong similarities with a large incised green-glazed jar in the Al-Sabah Collection decorated with fleshy palmette scrollwork over carved ground (Oliver Watson, Ceramics from Islamic lands, London, 2004, cat.Jb.1, p.285). The style of the inscription carved around the shoulder of that jar also closely relates to that of the present piece. In his discussion of this piece, Watson describes this group of incised wares from Fatimid Egypt as "one of the hidden treasures of Islamic pottery".