Lot 1579. A large black and turquoise-enameled Persian and Arabic-inscribed dish, Late Ming dynasty, late 16th-early 17th century, 14 in. (35.6 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 10,000 - USD 15,000. Price realised USD 50,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2016 

The dish has rounded sides and is decorated on the interior with a central roundel enclosing a lengthy inscription consisting of Qur'anic verses in Arabic, four smaller roundels enclosing and encircled by further Qur'anic verses, and verses from the diwan of the 14th century poet Jalal al-din Azud Yazdi inscribed in Persian below an iron-red double line border at the rim, all written in black enamel highlighted by turquoise glaze. The exterior is plain, Japanese wood box.  

Note: A very similar dish, identified as 'Swatow' ware (35.5 cm. diam.), is illustrated by R. Krahl and J. Ayers in Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, vol. II, London, 1986, p. 895, and col. pl. p. 480, no. 1939, where the inscriptions are identified as Arabic quoting the Koran, and the poem is also translated. See, also, a related dish of comparable size (36.5 cm. diam.) illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Japan, 1987, p. 881.