Lot 308
ABBASID SLIP-PAINTED POTTERY BOWL
MESOPOTAMIA, 9TH/10TH CENTURY
Fine Asian & Islamic Works of Art
Auction: 15 May 2019 at 17:00 BST
Description
of rounded everted form on a short foot, decorated with five green splashes to the rim and a central corresponding roundel to the well, with an inscription running up the side of the bowl
Dimensions
20cm diameter
Footnote
Provenance:
Lots 308-319 are from the private Islamic arts collection of a distinguished British connoisseur. The collection was assembled over a period of 40 years from the 1970s. It started as a byproduct of visiting museums from Istanbul and Rhodes to New York and Washington as a student. It comprises fine Islamic pottery examples from the most important centres of ceramic production, including: Nishapur, from the early Abbasid to Samanid periods; Kashan, from the 12th to 14th century; and Iznik, from the height of the Ottoman Empire. All the pieces, as identified by some of the labels, were acquired either from auction or from reputable dealers in London, and selected for either their representativeness of a classic style or originality in an established idiom.
Note:
The ceramics of the Islamic world are closely connected to those of China. Early Islamic potters made imitations of Chinese porcelain by covering earthenware bodies in a fine white clay and adding splashes of glaze. What sets aside this bowl from a Chinese original is the single radial line of inscription in manganese. For a similar example in the al-Sabah collection, see Oliver Watson, Ceramics from Islamic Lands, London 2004, cat. D.7.