Lot 15. A Kashan lustre pottery jug, Central Iran, early 13th century; 7 5/8in. (19.4cm.) high. Estimate GBP 30,000 - GBP 40,000 (USD 39,000 - USD 52,000). Price realised GBP 37,500. Courtesy Sotheby's.

The rounded body decorated with a band of kufic on a scrolling arabesque ground, repeated stylised palmette motifs and a band of geometric motifs with roundels above and below, the neck with a similar kufic inscription with a smaller inscription below, the handle decorated with a geometric interlacing scroll, intact.

Provenance: Private Japanese collection late 1960s, by repute, from whom purchased by Japanese trade before 1978.

Note: The shape of our jug is closely related to a lustre Kashan jug in the Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin, (Watson, 1985, pl.80, p.102), and two other larger examples: a turquoise glazed Kashan jug published in Bahrami's, Gurgan Faiences (1949, pl.XVIII) and a lustre decorated jug in the Agha Khan Museum (inv. no. AKM763). For a note on lustreware, see lot 13 in the present sale. The example excavated at Gurgan, noted by Bahrami, while on a larger scale, has a very similar powerful treatment of the large kufic band around the mouth, the background worked with scrolling vine, reserved against a dark, in this case lustre, ground.

Sotheby's. Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds Including Oriental Rugs and Carpets, 28 October 2020