AN ABBASID TIN-GLAZED POTTERY BOWL
MESOPOTAMIA OR PERSIA, 9th CENTURY
Estimate: £6,000 - £8,000
Auction: Islamic Art | Lots 1 to 66 | 12 June at 10am
Description
of rounded form on a short foot with everted lip, the cream ground decorated in cobalt blue with symmetrical strands of wheat and a central vertical strand
Dimensions
21.5cm (8 ½in) diameter
Footnote
Note:
This bowl is a superb example of the elegant Basran blue on white wares produced in Mesopotamia in the 9th Century. They are characterised by a minimum use of elegant monochrome decoration in cobalt blue on a white ground.
Whilst their shape is inspired by earlier Chinese Tang-ware, their decoration is entirely Islamic.
For a further discussion on this type and other examples, see Oliver Watson, Ceramics from Islamic Lands, London, 2004, pp. 171-173.