baluster formed, with a ridge above the foot and a double-groove around the shoulder, the neck with everted flat rim, the opaque white ground decorated with vertical trailing green bands
24.7 cm. high

Footnotes

Provenance:
Private collection;
Acquired Sotheby's, Arts of the Islamic World, 30th April 2003, lot 57.

This jar owes its form, opaque white glaze and green splashes to Chinese late Tang wares. An unusual shape in Persia at this time, it shares a feature associated with contemporary Mesopotamian wares, namely the raised ridge around the base of the body, a feature Wilkinson comments was known to have been adopted by Persian ceramicists (Wilkinson, C., Nishapur: Pottery of the Early Islamic Period, New York, 1973, p. 54), as seen on a vase from the collection of M. Berard, Paris (Soustiel, J., La Ceramique Islamique. Le Guide de Connaisseur, Fribourg, 1985, p. 61, no. 37). The indentation around the rim suggests that it once had a lid.

It is interesting to note that although sherds of Persian pottery were found at Nishapur along with Mesopotamian and Chinese pieces (Wilkinson 1973, pp. 185-86), the colour of the body of this particular lot is not the buff to reddish colour more commonly associated with Nishapur, suggesting a different centre of production.

The Sotheby's catalogue entry at the time of purchase by the vendor states that the jar underwent a thermoluminescence test (N103c80), confirming a date of manufacture consistent with the attribution.

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A rare splashware pottery Jar Persia, circa 10th Century

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Oliver White