Beschreibung:

A Kashan underglaze-painted pottery bowl
Persia, 12th-13th Centuryof deep rounded form on a long foot, decorated in cobalt-blue, manganese and black on a white ground with a central rosette to the well surrounded by bands of fish interspersed by dot motifs, the exterior with repeated linear strokes, accompanied by a photograph from M. Aaron
20.1 cm. diam. max.FootnotesProvenance
Private UK collection, acquired from M. Aaron in Tehran in the 1970s.
Designs featuring a multitude of fish swarming towards a central motif were popular during this period, not only featuring on pottery but also commonly found on metalwork. As Caiger-Smith notes, this design has been assigned multiple meanings, including its interpretation as a sun-symbol as well as simply an apt design for a water vessel (A. Caiger-Smith, Lustre Pottery, Faber & Faber, 1985, p. 78). For further discussion, see E. J. Grube, Islamic Pottery of the Eighth to the Fifteenth Century in the Keir Collection, London, 1976, pp. 228-234. An example of a pottery bowl featuring a fish design dated to the 14th/ 15th Century is in the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide (Accession Number 20035C20).
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.