Lot 14. A lajvardina pottery jug, Ilkhanid Iran, 13th century; 10 ¾in. (27.1cm.) high. Estimate GBP 20,000 - GBP 30,000 (USD 26,000 - USD 39,000). Price realised GBP 25,000. Courtesy Sotheby's.

The drop-shaped body decorated with red and gold lattice roundels interspersed with stylised leaf-motifs on a cobalt-blue ground, beneath a band of geometric motifs, the neck similarly decorated, the glaze mostly iridised.

Provenance: Private Japanese collection late 1960s, from whom purchased by Japanese trade in 1981.

Note: Lajvardina wares are named after the Persian word lajvard meaning "blue". It is applied principally to a group of vessels and tiles covered with a very intense cobalt-blue as is seen here, and then decorated in overglaze enamels, often in red, white and gold – typically with abstract floral and geometric motifs such as the bold rosettes seen here. As a term is has also been applied to the turquoise glazed enamel decorated vessels and tiles from the same group, as well as the rare examples worked on a white ground. Tiles in this technique are found in buildings dating from the later thirteenth century, notably from Takht-i Sulayman. It continued in use into the Timurid period in Central Asia, although with different designs.

A jug, with closely related decoration of stylised crosses alternated with calligraphic panels was sold at Sotheby’s, London, 24 October 2007, lot 128. A more recent example of a lajvardina pottery vessel sold in these Rooms, 26 April, 2018, lot 48.

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