A Timurid blue and white dish, Persia, probably Tabriz, 15th century

VAT reduced rate

Auction Closed

October 25, 04:59 PM GMT

Estimate

18,000 - 25,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

of shallow form with flattened rim on a short foot, decorated in underglaze cobalt blue with a central floral bouquet of roses separated by foliate stems, the cavetto with eight equidistant roses, the rim with stylised breaking wave border, the back of the cavetto with a broad band of zig-zag pattern composed of confronting triangles containing spiral motifs and separated with palm leaves, marked 'AMM 61'

32cm. diam.

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Léon-Edmond-Marie Bachelier (1862-1947).

To his granddaughter Marie Lucy Giraud (b.1910), thence by descent.

Collection Guillaume Ephis.

Under the Timurid dynasty, Persia benefited from the Pax Mongolica and developed a growing cultural and commercial relation with the Far-East. This particularly affected the local production of ceramics, with the reappropriation of the Chinese blue and white technique by centres including Nishapur and Mashhad between the 15th and early 16th century. However, it is in Tabriz that appeared the most elaborated pieces, clearly inspired by contemporary Ming porcelain dishes with floral decoration (Soustiel 1985, p.216).

A similar dish was sold in these rooms, 24 October 2007, lot 160. A number of blue and white pieces are known to share the same rim decoration, including a dish in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (inv. no.559-1905) and another in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (inv. no.EA1978.1740), although the rest of their decorative programme differ from the present piece. Together, they illustrate the wealth of imagery mastered by the potters of Tabriz.