- 154
A dated Kashan lustre bowl from the "Gurgan Hoard", Persia, Muharram 604 AH/July-August 1207 AD
Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 GBP
bidding is closed
Description
- Fritware
of deep rounded form slightly thickened at the rim, on everted foot, decorated in overglaze lustre with five ducks in a central medallion with attached radial pendants and cartouches, the interstices filled with Persian verses in cursive script, the rim with further poetic inscriptions painted in reserve alongside a band of kufesque ornament, the back with a frieze of large leaf motifs
Exhibited
Perpetual Glory. Medieval Islamic Ceramics From the Harvey B. Plotnick Collection, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2007.
Literature
O. Pancaroglu, Perpetual Glory. Medieval Islamic Ceramics from The Harvey B. Plotnick Collection, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2007, pp.124-5, no.80.
Condition
intact and in overall good condition, minor rim chips, one with assocaited crack running into cavetto, some discolouration to the glaze due to burial affecting the lustre decoration in parts, as viewed
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
inscriptions
Around the rim, reserved against lustre, a Persian quatrain and the date:
hamvareh to-ra dawlat o ‘izz afzun bad
eqbal-e to bogzashteh ze hadd birun bad
ta harcheh azin kaseh be-kam-e to rasad
ey sadr-e jahan to-ra be-jan afzun bad
‘May your wealth and glory be always increasing,
May your prosperity surpass all times,
So that whatever reaches your palate from this bowl,
O master of the world may add to your life’(For similar verses see, Ernst J. Grube, Cobalt and Lustre, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, vol. IX, 1994, nos. 261, 272, 277 and 283)
fi muharram sana arba’ wa sittami’a
‘In Muharram, the year six hundred and four (AD 1207)’
Around the wall in lustre, a Persian quatrain, a date, a Persian couplet and another date:
goftam keh neqab az qamarat bar giram
gazi ze lab-e chun shekarat bar giram
gofta li cho sham’ qisseh ra gaz koni
bichareh natarsi/ keh sarat bar giram
‘I wished to take the veil from your moonlike face;
I wished to have a bite of those lips, sweet as sugar,
She said, why talk of pincers, you who burn like a candle [in my love],
Are you not afraid, O poor one that your head might be cut off in the attempt?’
(As translated by M. Bahrami, Gurgan Faiences, Cairo, 1949, p.121).
fi muharram sana arba’ [wa] sittami’a
‘In Muharram, the year six hundred [and] four (AD 1207)’
negah kardan andar hameh karha
beh az dorr o gawhar be-kharvarha
‘Consideration for all affairs,
Is better than loads of pearls and gems'
fi muharram sana arba’ wa sittami’a
‘In Muharram, the year six hundred and four (AD 1207)’
Oya Pancaroglu writes of this piece: "This bowl is among a group of some one hundred ceramic vessels that were reportedly excavated in the 1940s in the medieval city of Gurgan, near modern Gunbad-i Qabus in the Caspian region of Iran. Found stockpiled in large storage jars, these vessels consisted of monochrome, unglazed and luster-painted ceramics datable, stylistically and by inscribed dates, to the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. ...It has since been proposed that the vessels contained in the jars could have been the supply of a merchant who had imported them presumably from Kashan and had hidden them for safekeeping on the eve of the Mongol invasions. ...The luster wares found in Gurgan are remarkable for their fine state of preservation and for the variety of decoration found on them." (Pancaroglu 2007, p.124)
Around the rim, reserved against lustre, a Persian quatrain and the date:
hamvareh to-ra dawlat o ‘izz afzun bad
eqbal-e to bogzashteh ze hadd birun bad
ta harcheh azin kaseh be-kam-e to rasad
ey sadr-e jahan to-ra be-jan afzun bad
‘May your wealth and glory be always increasing,
May your prosperity surpass all times,
So that whatever reaches your palate from this bowl,
O master of the world may add to your life’(For similar verses see, Ernst J. Grube, Cobalt and Lustre, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, vol. IX, 1994, nos. 261, 272, 277 and 283)
fi muharram sana arba’ wa sittami’a
‘In Muharram, the year six hundred and four (AD 1207)’
Around the wall in lustre, a Persian quatrain, a date, a Persian couplet and another date:
goftam keh neqab az qamarat bar giram
gazi ze lab-e chun shekarat bar giram
gofta li cho sham’ qisseh ra gaz koni
bichareh natarsi/ keh sarat bar giram
‘I wished to take the veil from your moonlike face;
I wished to have a bite of those lips, sweet as sugar,
She said, why talk of pincers, you who burn like a candle [in my love],
Are you not afraid, O poor one that your head might be cut off in the attempt?’
(As translated by M. Bahrami, Gurgan Faiences, Cairo, 1949, p.121).
fi muharram sana arba’ [wa] sittami’a
‘In Muharram, the year six hundred [and] four (AD 1207)’
negah kardan andar hameh karha
beh az dorr o gawhar be-kharvarha
‘Consideration for all affairs,
Is better than loads of pearls and gems'
fi muharram sana arba’ wa sittami’a
‘In Muharram, the year six hundred and four (AD 1207)’
Oya Pancaroglu writes of this piece: "This bowl is among a group of some one hundred ceramic vessels that were reportedly excavated in the 1940s in the medieval city of Gurgan, near modern Gunbad-i Qabus in the Caspian region of Iran. Found stockpiled in large storage jars, these vessels consisted of monochrome, unglazed and luster-painted ceramics datable, stylistically and by inscribed dates, to the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. ...It has since been proposed that the vessels contained in the jars could have been the supply of a merchant who had imported them presumably from Kashan and had hidden them for safekeeping on the eve of the Mongol invasions. ...The luster wares found in Gurgan are remarkable for their fine state of preservation and for the variety of decoration found on them." (Pancaroglu 2007, p.124)