TWO POLYCHROME-PAINTED ARMENIAN EARTHENWARE POTTERY VESSELS
Jerusalem or Palestine, ca. 1920s

Comprising a shallow rounded bowl, resting on a straight circular foot, painted in yellow, orange, green, brown, turquoise, cobalt blue and black outlines against a white slip-covered ground, the interior decorated in the style of Roman and Umayyad mosaics, with vines stemming from a central vase, bearing bunches of ripe grapes and lush foliage, amidst the scrolling vines a variety of birds, a clear allusion to the Tree of Life and its nourishing properties, the cavetto and rim with intertwined vine trellis, the exterior repeating the same motif, the base unmarked, in line with David Ohanessian's work, 27.5cm diam.; and an Iznik-style flower vase with cusped arabesque cartouches filled with rosettes and stylised saz leaves, surrounded by further floral medallions and vegetal decorative motifs, the base unmarked, 31cm high.