20 août 2018

Bottle, blue-green glass with luster decoration. Modern neck, Egypt?, end of 9th-beginning of 10th century, H: 13.5 cm, Inv. no. 1/1985. © The David Collection, Copenhagen. The luster technique was probably discovered by Egyptian glassmakers as early as the 4th century, but in the 8th-12th century, it experienced a renaissance in Egypt and Syria. In this technique, a decoration of metal oxides is painted on the ready-blown glass, which after firing has taken on an indiscernible metallic layer: luster. By using different... [Lire la suite]

Beaker, greenish glass, with pinched decoration, Egypt, 9th-10th century, H: 8.4; Diam: 8.1 cm, Inv. no. 24/2008. © The David Collection, Copenhagen. A simple early decoration technique that was found in both Egypt and Iran was the use of tongs on the hot glass mass. This technique was only suitable for pieces with large openings, since the arms of the tongs with the pattern had to be able to press the inside and outside of the glass together. Then it might be necessary to heat and correct the shape of the glass from the inside if... [Lire la suite]

Fragmentary earthenware bowl, painted in luster over an opaque, white glaze, Egypt, 11th century H: 6.5; Diam: 28 cm, Inv. no. 3/1992. © The David Collection, Copenhagen. Birds were a favorite motif for Fatimid lusterware. The partly reconstructed bowl shows two symmetrical birds in the center, while fowl with large head crests – a motif that goes back to pre-Islamic times – are found in the tendrils. This bowl is painted in a style, where the birds and the foliage appear as large silhouettes without decoration. The painter placed... [Lire la suite]

Earthenware bowl, painted in luster over a white glaze, Egypt, 11th century, H: 5.5; Diam: 20.5 cm, Inv. no. 4/1992. © The David Collection, Copenhagen. While the motifs on figurative bowls painted in luster in Abbasid Iraq were stylized, a number of quite naturalistic depictions of courtiers, dancers, wrestlers, etc. are known from Fatimid Egypt. Here we have a young man in a long-sleeved tunic with a tirazband and wearing an elaborately wound turban. He is pouring a dark drink, presumably wine, from a glass decanter into a... [Lire la suite]

Earthenware bowl, covered with a thin, white slip and painted in yellow, green, and manganese under a transparent glaze, Fayyum type, Egypt, 9th-11th century, H: 6: Diam: 22.5 cm, Inv. no. 3/2004. © The David Collection, Copenhagen. The bowl’s manganese lines form a radial pattern that also separates the green and yellow sections. This is quite a simple type of decoration that was widespread in the 9th-11th century from Nishapur and Susa in Iran to Fayyum and Fustat in Egypt. This bowl is most closely related to the Egyptian... [Lire la suite]

Fragment of a painting on paper. “A Harpy”, Egypt, 11th-12th century, 20.5 × 7 cm, Inv. no. 50/1977. © The David Collection, Copenhagen. Very few illustrated manuscripts have been preserved from the period before 1200, but it would be strange if there were not illustrations in some of the books that once stood in the great libraries of Abbasid Baghdad, Umayyad Cordoba, and Fatimid Cairo. We know that monumental painting was used in palace architecture, and Fatimid pottery shows that there were competent painters. We cannot... [Lire la suite]

Amulet scroll (tarsh) with polychrome block print, Egypt, perhaps Iran, 10th-11th century, H: 86,6; W: 4,5 cm, Inv. no. 85/2003. © The David Collection, Copenhagen. Amulet scrolls like this one, with brief printed quotations from the Koran and God’s 99 names, were probably not intended to be read, only enclosed in a good-luck charm. The text at the top – “God’s support and a speedy victory” – is known from Islamic armor, indicating that the scroll was intended for a warrior. The printing technique employed for... [Lire la suite]

Lot 273. A straw-glazed pottery ovoid jar and cover, Tang dynasty (618-907); 211 in. (27.9 cm.) high. Estimate USD 3,000 - USD 5,000. Price realised USD 4,800. © Christie's Images Ltd 2007 Heavily potted, with ovoid body, short neck and lipped rim, covered inside and out with a finely crackled clear glaze over a white slip that falls short of the flat base to expose the fine white ware, the domed cover with everted rim and bud-form knop similarly glazed, box. Christie's. Fine Chinese... [Lire la suite]

Lot 267. An unusual chestnut and straw-glazed pottery figure of a Bactrian camel, Tang dynasty (618-907); 21 in. (53.3 cm.) high. Estimate USD 10,000 - USD 12,000. Price realised USD 15,600. © Christie's Images Ltd 2007 Well modelled standing with head raised and mouth open in a bray, the hair on the front of the neck applied in small, well defined overlapping sections and covered with a straw glaze, while fine gouging indicates the hair on the humps, the body glazed a deep chestnut color. ... [Lire la suite]

Lot 264. A rare small sancai-glazed pottery cat-form waterdropper, Liao dynasty (907-1125); 4¼ in. (10.9 cm.) long. Estimate USD 5,000 - USD 7,000. Price realised USD 6,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2007 Hollow-molded as a recumbent cat with pricked ears and an aperture in the mouth, with a collar tied around the neck with long green-glazed ribbons that trail below the small aperture and loop handle in the center of the back, all in amber, green and cream glaze. Provenance: Sotheby's,... [Lire la suite]