28th Oct, 2022 11:00

Islamic Art - Property of a European Collector Part IV

 
  Lot 9
 

A MOULDED COPPER LUSTRE-PAINTED FUNERARY POTTERY TILE
Possibly Kashan, Timurid Iran, late 15th - early 16th century

A MOULDED COPPER LUSTRE-PAINTED FUNERARY POTTERY TILE
Possibly Kashan, Timurid Iran, late 15th - early 16th century

Of typical rectangular shape, moulded in relief, painted in copper lustre on a white ground, the moulded design resembling a mihrab with a mosque lamp hanging in the centre of a cusped arch, the squinches decorated with vegetal meanders, the copper lustre-painted sloppy naskh inscriptions covering the full surface with prayers and auspicious blessings to the Prophet, his family and the Imams on the outer border and a funerary message in Farsi in the central panel on behalf of the deceased, Mir Muhammad, encouraging viewers to recite the Sura al-Fatiha (1) for him, and his date of passing, three days before Nouruz (missing the year), 24.7cm x 34.3cm.

Provenance:

Private Collection of Dr Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987), USA

Christie’s London, 18 October 1994, lot 315

Christie's London, 6 October 2011, lot 123

Literature:

Published in the journal article by Yui Kanda, "Kashan Revisited: a Luster-Painted Ceramic Tombstone Inscribed with a Chronogram Poem by Muhtasham Kashani", in Muqarnas, Vol. 34 (2017), cat. TSL-6, p. 283.

Following the Mongol invasion and the establishment of a new world order, the production of lustre wares slowly resumed after a gap of approximately forty years. Although the post-Ilkhanid period suffers from a substantial lack of material and textual evidence regarding the production sites of ceramics, scholars have suggested that Kashan, together with Shiraz, Yazd, Isfahan and later on, Kirman, were all active pottery centres in the Timurid and Safavid periods (see Yui Kanda, "Kashan Revisited", in Muqarnas, Vol. 34 [2017], p. 273). The style, decorative techniques and shapes of Iranian ceramics, though, underwent substantial changes.

The art of lustre painting, which flourished in Iran from the 12th to the 14th centuries, suffered a period of decline in the 15th and 16th centuries, before getting revived by the Safavid potters in the late 17th century. It is precisely in the post-Mongol decline phase that lustre-painted tiles, especially the ones featuring moulded decoration and dense inscriptions like our lot, became increasingly recurrent and sought-after. Under the Ilkhanids and Timurids, one could divide the overall tile production into two main groups: some were destined for religious buildings, whilst the others were displayed on secular buildings only (G. Fehervari, Ceramics of the Islamic World in the Tareq Rajab Museum, 2000, p. 227). Funerary tiles, such as ours, started appearing more frequently, partially replacing heavy hardstone steles and inscribed marble tombstones, which were rather costly and laborious to produce. These tiles were often inscribed with Persian verses commemorating the deceased, and occasionally, they also provided factual details like the name and date of death of their owners.

Dates were often presented in disguise, through the use of complex abjad calculations. Strangely enough, in the present lot, the day of the owner's death, Mir Muhammad, is quite accurately reported, but the year is absent in either numeral or abjad form. This makes one wonder if perhaps, this tile was once accompanied by a twin or another panel with further verses and the exact year. The suggestion stems from the interpretation of the do dar (two-door) caravansary, mentioned in the inscription, as a hint of two sites of passage, i.e. the moulded arch on the present tile acting as one gate and the latter on an adjacent panel. The lack of the exact year on our example requires an attribution by comparison. Two analogous moulded and lustre-painted Timurid tombstones, dating respectively 1481 and 1486, are published in Oliver Watson's book, Persian Lustre Ware, 1985, cats. 131 and 132, p. 161. The first one was made for Bibi Malik Khatun; the latter for Muhammad, the tailor of Aran, a village not far from Kashan, the locus classicus of Iranian wares. The strong resemblance between the two tiles and the geographic proximity between Aran and Kashan led Watson to suggest they must have been produced by the same workshop, most probably situated in Kashan (Ibidem, p. 160). Their shape, composition, style and dimensions (ca. 36cm x 25cm) are also very similar to our tile, indicating a comparable place and date of production. Later in the Safavid period, lustre-painted funerary tiles kept on being produced following a similar design but they were deprived of the moulded decoration in relief, as indicated in the panel dated 23 March 1560 AD published in Yui Kanda's article ("Kashan Revisited", in Muqarnas, Vol. 34 [2017], fig. 2, p. 275), further corroborating the late 15th - early 16th-century dating of the present lot.

Sold for £3,750

Includes Buyer's Premium


 

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