Rare 12th C. Afghanistan Ceramic Vessel, TL Tested

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Exceptional Day 1: Antiquities & Asian Art

By Artemis Gallery

Sep 26, 2019

Set Reminder 2019-09-26 10:00:00 2019-09-26 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Exceptional Day 1: Antiquities & Asian Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/exceptional-day-1-antiquities-asian-art-4437
Day 1 of an important 2-day auction featuring exceptional, museum-worthy examples of Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan, Roman, Viking, Russian, Near Eastern, as well as Asian Art from China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma and India. Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com

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• Lot Description
  Central Asia, central Afghanistan, Jam in Ghur province, Ghurid Dynasty, ca. 12th to 13th century CE. A graceful spouted ceramic vessel from a little known culture, in a style called "Monar e Jam". It features a wide, near-spherical body with a slightly flared disc foot, a flanged shoulder, and a neck that rapidly narrows to midway up its height before expanding into a wider mouth with a double pointed lip. An elegant strap handle flows from the back of the mouth to the base of the neck. The entire exterior surface of the vessel from just above the foot is covered in a profusion of fine line black-on-cream decoration: abstract and floral motifs, crosshatching, tightly spaced lines, curves, and diamond-shaped outlines. The surface is highly decorated but never busy, instead presenting an ornate appearance. Size: 7.1" W x 10.8" H (18 cm x 27.4 cm)
  
  Afghanistan has had little modern archaeological research and as a result its history remains sadly unexplored - for example, most of the knowledge about its medieval ceramics is from the 1950s and 1960s. However, the country clearly has a rich heritage. The area today known as Jam was once Firuzkuh, the summer capital of the Ghurid sultanate, destroyed by the Mongols around 1222-1223 CE and rediscovered by international researchers because of its huge minaret in 1957. A profusion of different style vessels seem to have been made in medieval Jam during the short Ghurid Dynasty, which enjoyed brief but dazzling success in the 12th century before collapsing upon the death of its most charismatic rulers; indeed, when the Mongols destroyed Jam, it seems to have already been a city in decline. The pottery made there is all the more remarkable for the brief window in which it was made. This example, clearly inspired by contemporaneous Iranian ceramics, demonstrates the cosmopolitan nature of medieval Afghanistan.
  
  This piece has been tested using thermoluminescence (TL) analysis and has been found to be ancient and of the period stated. A full report will accompany purchase.
  
  Provenance: private California, USA collection, moved from Germany in 1997
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
  We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
  
  #148826

  Condition

  Intact, with light deposits on the surface. Excellent preservation of painted motifs. Pretty root marks across the surface. Small drill hole for TL on underside.
• Shipping Info

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