An Abbasid lustre bowl depicting a bird, Iraq, 10th century

the earthenware body of open form with everted rim on a low foot, painted in a golden lustre on an opaque white glaze, the central roundel featuring a stylised bird possibly a peacock with two inscriptions, surrounded by a stylised peacock-eye motif border, the exterior with four large medallions against a background with hatched designs, single word to base

Sold at Sotheby's, 10 October 1978, lot 1.
ex-Croisier Collection, Switzerland

Islamic Pottery: 800-1400 AD, an exhibition arranged by the Islamic Art Circle, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1 October-30 November 1969.
Céramiques Islamiques dans les collections Genevoises, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Geneva, 1981.
Treasures of Islam, exhibition catalogue, Geneva, 1985.
Céramiques du Monde Musulman, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, 1999.
Perpetual Glory, Medieval Islamic Ceramics From The Harvey B. Plotnick Collection, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2007.

Islamic Pottery: 800-1400 AD, London, 1969, p.14, no.21.
Céramiques Islamiques dans les collections Genevoises, Geneva, 1981, p.22, no.28.
Treasures of Islam, Geneva, 1985, p.211, no.199.
Céramiques du Monde Musulman, Paris, 1999, p.58.
O. Pancaroglu, Perpetual Glory, Medieval Islamic Ceramics From The Harvey B. Plotnick Collection, Chicago, 2007, pp.50-51, no.10.

 

In general good condition, some abrasion to base of foot ring, once broken and restored with overpainting and overcoating, as viewed.
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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."

inscriptions
baraka/lisa/hibihi/’amal
‘Blessing to its owner, work of’
Under the base, the word: baraka ‘Blessing’

The bird represents one of the most common animate motifs used by the decorators of Abbasid pottery. On this dish, the bird has a large tail and is possibly a peacock or a pheasant, both of which were kept within royal households. The composition, in which the bird holds a leaf in its beak and which includes a peacock-eye or pearl-like border resembles a design topos often found on luxury Sassanian silk textiles that hold courtly connotations. A related dish is in the Louvre, see Caiger-Smith 1985, fig.8.