the deep polylobed bowl with moulded petalled rim on a short foot, decorated in reddish golden lustre, the centre with a leopard amidst foliage, inscriptions in alternating petals, the exterior glazed blue with purple tinge; 7cm. approx. height; 19.5cm. diam.

Provenance: Ex-collection Charles Kettaneh.
Hotel Drouot, Boisgirard, Paris, 1 October 1986, lot 110.

Note: This plate relates to a select number of polylobed dishes with a central roundel depicting an animal generally dated to the twelfth century. A small example, 12cm in diameter, is now in the Ishiguro Collection (Ishiguro 1976, inv.no.87); its exterior is not glazed in blue but the central roundel has a figure of a bird and calligraphic bands on the polylobed rim. A larger comparable bowl, 23cm in diameter and with a more angular polylobed rim, is illustrated in Watson (Watson 1985, p.66). Another example, with a harpy in the centre, similar blue glazing on the exterior and cartouches with inscriptions on the rim, was offered in Paris, Boisgirard-Antonini, 7 December 2012, lot 119..

Sotheby's. Arts of the Islamic World, London, 26 Apr 2017, 10:30 AM