A large and important dated Kashan lustre dish, Persia, inscribed jumadi al-ula (sic), year 590 / April-May 1194

of wide open form with straight flaring walls and everted rim on a low footring, decorated in yellowish lustre in concentric zones with a central double-line medallion depicting a pair of confronted horsemen and attendants facing inwards towards a dotted tree, the cavetto is divided into two concentric zones each sub-divided into twelve sections depicting different scenes, the theme of horsemen and a camping site with dotted trees is repeated with in some cases the hind quarters of the horse being cut off, further riders are shown by a pond and further seated and standing figures in dotted and chequered garments including tunics, long robes, trousers and shirts, the rim is decorated with a repeating Kufic inscription, and a narrow inner band contains Persian verses and the date in naskh script, the back with vertical chain bands

Published in 1400 Years of Islamic Art 1981, no.112

inscriptions

Persian verses (not many deciphered).  Those in Kufic are repetition of possibly:

wa al-daw[la]  'And Wealth'

Dated jumadi al-ula (sic), year 590 (April-May 1194) 

This piece is of exceptional importance as it is the largest dated Kashan lustre dish to have survived from the medieval period.

The dish was first published by G. Fehérvári (1400 Years of Islamic Art, London, 1981, no.112) and then again by Oliver Watson (Persian Lustre Ware, 1985, p. 72, fig. 39), both times with the date wrongly calculated as May 1193.

There is only one other dated dish of this monumental size known and that is in the Art Institute of Chicago (inv. no.1927.414) dated 587 / 1191, published in the Survey of Persian Art (Pope and Ackermann 1938-9, pl.638); and by Oliver Watson (Watson 1985, p.71, fig.38). The Chicago dish is quite damaged and missing large sections; it is also considerably smaller, measuring 38cm. in diameter compared to an impressive 54cm. of the present example.