- 175
A large blue and yellow earthenware dish of eight compass directions, probably Spain, 18th/19th century
Estimate
25,000 - 35,000 GBP
bidding is closed
Description
- ceramic
featuring an eight-sided stellar composition at the centre, the everted rim with a blue band on which appear four inscriptions in a light glaze, the exterior plain
Condition
Broken in half, break line barely visible, with few resulting hairline cracks to surface, restored with associated overpainting and infill, six brackets for consolidation visible to reverse and rusted, 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
In its original design, this compass dish would have been filled with water, upon which floated a magnetised iron rod mounted on straw, a piece of cork, wood or any other suitable material. This type of compass was used in Mediterranean navigation, Arab and Christian, from the thirteenth century, and continued to be used even after the appearance of the dry compass needle. A Syrian bowl dating between 1516 and 1520, now in the National Museum of Damascus, Syria (see Memory and Civilization, Paris, 1993, pp.440-41), is the only other bowl that appears to be known that held a similar function to the present bowl, albeit in a slightly varied, more sophisticated form.
Three, almost imperceptible inscriptions were drawn onto the glaze in a lustre technique along the rim of the dish. These inscriptions, in Kufic, indicate al-mashriq (East) al-Maghrib (West) and between the two, al-Qibla, a term that is not used here to indicate the direction of Mecca but the South, as evidenced by its use by Ibn Majid in his treatise on navigation Kitab al-Fawa'id (circa 1490).
Three, almost imperceptible inscriptions were drawn onto the glaze in a lustre technique along the rim of the dish. These inscriptions, in Kufic, indicate al-mashriq (East) al-Maghrib (West) and between the two, al-Qibla, a term that is not used here to indicate the direction of Mecca but the South, as evidenced by its use by Ibn Majid in his treatise on navigation Kitab al-Fawa'id (circa 1490).