Enrica Medugno
Sale Coordinator
Lot 29R
A Kashan cockerel-headed lustre pottery ewer Persia, 13th Century
14 November 2023, 11:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£6,000 - £8,000
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Matthew Thomas
Senior Specialist
A Kashan cockerel-headed lustre pottery ewer
Persia, 13th Century
Persia, 13th Century
of globular form on a splayed foot with tapering neck surmounted by a cockerel head from another vessel, the body moulded with four protruding flanges interspersed by figures, decorated in a brownish gold lustre with pseudo inscriptions and vegetal interlace, the neck with inscriptions in kufic, the base with Kevorkian Collection label; New York Persian Exhibition 1940 label; and further unidentified collection label
24.8 cm. high
24.8 cm. high
Footnotes
Provenance
Formerly in the collection of Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962).
Anderson Galleries, sale 1553, New York, 26, 27, 28 & 29 January 1921, lot 770.
Sotheby's, Arts of the Islamic World, 24 October 2018, lot 128.
Exhibited
Munich Exhibition of Mohammedan Art, 1910.
Exhibition of Persian Art, The Iranian Institute, New York, 1940, Accession Number KH 230.
Published
Masterpieces of Islamic Art exhibition catalogue, Munich 1910 (illustrated).
Anderson Galleries, Catalogue of an unique collection of Greek and Roman Marbles, important gothic sculptures, primitive paintings, ceramics, tapestries and ancient rugs, including two monumental altars and Greek iconostas, coming from historical collections and gathered in England, France, Austria, Italy and the Levant by a well known European Connoisseur during many years of discriminating collecting, New York, 26-29th January 1921, page 133, lot 770 (illustrated on full page plate).
P. Ackerman, Guide to the Exhibition of Persian Art, The Iranian Institute, New York, 1940, p.76.
Inscriptions: to the body the repeat of a word, possibly al-'izz, 'Glory'.
The form and decoration of the present lot are evocative of the twelfth-century 'Monumental style' of Persian lustre pottery. As identified by Dr Oliver Watson, the sturdy form of the Seljuq Monumental style based on Egyptian lustre work is distinct from the delicacy of the lighter 'Miniature' style based on book illustration favoured in the last decade of the 12th century (Oliver Watson, 'Persian lustre-painted pottery, the Rayy and Kashan Styles,' Trans. Oriental Ceramic Society 40, 1973-5, p.12). The present lot features Kufic-style pseudo-inscriptions, the classical Seljuk face, and clothing rendered in foliate decoration, all characteristic features of the Monumental style. Similar decoration can be seen in a Kashan lustre bowl in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, dated to the late 12th or early 13th Century (EA1956.183).
Important Notice to Buyers
Some countries, e.g., the US, prohibit or restrict the purchase by its citizens (wherever located) and/or the import of certain types of works of particular origins. As a convenience to buyers, Bonhams has marked with the symbol R all lots of Iranian (Persian) and Syrian origin. It is each buyer's responsibility to ensure that they do not bid on or import a lot in contravention of the sanctions or trade embargoes that apply to them.