Turquoise-and-Black Bowl - LO.719, Origin: Central Asia, Circa: 1450 AD to 1600 AD, Dimensions: 3.75" (9.5cm) high x 8" (20.3cm) depth, Collection: Islamic Art, Style: Turquoise-and-Black, ex 'Kubachi', Medium: Fritware., The deep bowl, made of greyish fritware, with narrow straight footring, the interior painted in black under a turquoise blue glaze. A six-petals design radiating from a central circular medallion, each petal decorated with a central arabesque, the space between the rim and the petals filled with a net pattern. The previously called 'Kubachi ware' are not a typologically homogeneous group, as in fact they were named after the Caucasian village of Kubachi in Daghestan where a large number of them were found, at the beginning of the 20th century. They, however, were definitely not produced in loco, but imported probably from Persian centres like Samarkand, Nishapur and Meshhed. Painting in black under turquoise glaze had been practiced continually in Persia since the end of the 12th century. Yet the rendition of a radiating flower (lotus) panel was drawn from Chinese models. Chinese stylistic influence was already present during the Timurid period, when the earliest example of 'Turquoise- and-black' ware were indeed produced in Nishapur. The earliest datable example is in the Museo Nazionale d'Arte Orientale in Rome and is dated 1468. The decoration of all these Timurid luxury vessels reveals a combination of the silhouette and the underglaze painted techniques; all of them are coated with a transparent turquoise blue glaze, hence the name turquoise-and-black ware. For comparable examples see: G. Fehervari, Ceramics of the Islamic World, 2000: pp.235-236 and 272-3. E.Grube, 'Notes on the Decorative Arts of the Timurid Period I' in Gururajamanjarika, Studi in Onore di Giuseppe Tucci, Naples, 1974:pp. 233- 79.

Antiquities
Ancient Near East