Arts of the Islamic World & India including Fine Rugs and Carpets
Arts of the Islamic World & India including Fine Rugs and Carpets
A bowl with Arabic inscriptions, China, early 18th century
Auction Closed
March 30, 12:47 PM GMT
Estimate
4,000 - 6,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
of rounded form, on short foot, the porcelain decorated in grey under a transparent glaze with concentric bands of Arabic, the ground alternatively hatched and plain, on the reverse of the foot the letter ‘ba’ outlined and an ideogram-shaped scribble
6.5cm. height; 15cm. diam.
Inscriptions
The Shahadah; Qur’an, part of surah al-Hashr (LIX), vv.6 and 22; the nada 'ali quatrain; part of surah al-Isra' (XVII), most of v.82; part of surah al-Kafirun (CIX), al-Ilkhlas (CXII), al-Falaq (CXIII) and al-Nas (CXIV); surah al-Baqarah (II), v.255.
A bowl in the Sadberk Hanim Museum, Istanbul, is of the same size and very close to the current piece (inv. no.H.K.113-3176, published in Carswell 1985, p.84, no.90). They are both decorated with concentric bands of Arabic calligraphy and have a chevron ring at the rim, with a ground alternatively hatched and plain. They both bear the shahada in the central roundel and surah verses in the concentric bands. The Topkapi Saray Museum holds a set of seven bowls comparable to the present, of the same dimentions and with similar calligraphy (inv. nos.TKS 15/5482, 5484-85, 5487, 5494 and 5496; published in Krahl 1986, pp.1161-2).