Ancient Near East/Western Asia, Persia (Iran), Nishapur or Kashan, ca. late 10th century to early 13th century CE. An exceptionally well preserved mold-made ceramic bowl covered with a beautiful turquoise glaze. The deep bowl sits upon a flared concave foot and its interior surface is decorated with a bas relief woven band motif flanked by linear bands. The rim is further adorned with black dots/strokes. Nishapur was a center of politics and culture in medieval Persia, and their pottery is some of the most unique and beautiful we see from this time period. Size: 6.5" in diameter x 3.5" H (16.5 cm x 8.9 cm)
Nishapur turquoise pieces like this example are the result of technological innovation at the end of the 10th century. The body of this vessel was made of finely ground quartz mixed with clay; this created a white surface upon which the artists could pour the colorful glaze and sometimes paint additional designs. The glaze is alkaline, with a copper base to give it its color, and would be poured over the clay. Manganese creates the black motifs along the rim. Scholars believe that such Nishapur pieces may have been inspired by the blue and white glazed pottery that travelled the Silk Road from Tang Dynasty China; however, the end result was clearly not just an imitation, but rather an entirely different, radical style that developed in Nishapur.
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
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#148834
Condition
Chips to foot. Intact with a few tiny abrasions on the rim. Light deposits on surface with excellent craquelure to the glaze. Tiny drill hole on underside of foot for TL test.