Christie's. Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds Including Oriental Rugs and Carpets, London, 26 April 2018
A blue and white pottery dish, probably Tabriz, Iran, circa 16th century
Lot 69. A blue and white pottery dish, probably Tabriz, Iran, circa 16th century; 14 ¼in. (36.2cm.) diam. Estimate GBP 4,000 - GBP 6,000 (USD 5,672 - USD 8,508). © Christie’s Images Limited 2018.
Of typical form, decorated with seven large blooms on a dense scrolling ground, the rim with similar decoration.
Note: The design on this dish featuring large plump blossoms, shaped like chrysanthemums against a ground of vines with tiny leaves derives from late fifteenth to early sixteenth-century Chinese blue and white porcelain. Our dish illustrates the Persian potter’s interpretation of Chinese lotuses or peonies. Such patterns were very popular in Tabriz as evident by the large number of surviving examples. The motif on the rim is also a common feature of Tabriz wares. The floral design on the exterior is an unusual feature which Lisa Golombek has described as a sign of the transitional phase between the rosette scrolls of finer Tabriz wares and the mass-produced “weed-back” of the second half of the sixteenth century. For a similar example of this group see Lisa Golombek, Persian Pottery in the First Global Age, Leiden, 2014, cat.no 3, ROM18, pp.286-87. For a further example sold at auction see Sotheby’s, London, 24 October 2007, lot 160.