Lot 114. A rare Ilkhanid moulded lustre pottery tile, Persia, probably Takht-i Suleyman, 13th-14th century;44 by 49cm. Estimate 4,000 — 6,000 GBP. Lot sold 27,500 GBP (31,471 EUR). Courtesy Sotheby's 2018

the fritware body moulded in relief and painted in underglaze cobalt blue with a lustre overglaze, with a central inscriptive niche containing a seated crowned figure, the ground and spandrels with scrolling arabesques, with raised border above featuring three seated figures, the border below with quadrupeds.

Provenance: Private collection, Lyon, France, early 20th century.
Purchased at M.A.M Indjoudjian, 26 rue Lafayette, Paris.

Note: Inscriptions: Undecipherable

This tile is associated to a group executed in a similar moulded and lustre design with a central lobed niche from the Takht-i Suleyman, the summer palace of the Ilkhanid ruler Abakha (r.1265–82 AD). This particular example stands out as it was decorated with seated figures, contrary to the other known models which feature an inscription from the Shahnameh and foliate decoration only. 

A closely comparable tile was sold in these rooms, 16 April 1985, lot 89, ex-Kevorkian collection and exhibited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (1973). For further information on these tiles see T. Masuya: 'Ilkhanid Courtly Life' in The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, ed. L. Komaroff and S. Carboni, 5 November 2002 - 16 February 2003, chapter 4, pp.75-103.  

Sotheby's. Arts of the Islamic World, London, 25 Apr 2018