More Oriental Rug Notes by Barry O'Connell

Ceramics of Persia

• A Large Kashan Turquoise Glazed Pottery Tile 13TH C Lot 84 Apr 06

• A Fine Intact Kashan Lustre Cup With Handle C 1200 Lot 87 Apr 06

• A Kashan Lustre Pottery Bowl C 1200 Lot 85 Apr 06

• A Fine Intact Kashan Lustre Bottle C 1200 Lot 90 Apr 06

• Mashad or Nishapur Timurid Bowl second half of the fifteenth century.

• IL Khanid Era Kashan Star Tiles

  • Sotheby's A Kashan lustre-decorated star-form pottery tile 13th c. w/ onager lot 49

  • Sotheby's A Kashan lustre-decorated star-form pottery tile w/ elephant 13th c.

  • A Lustre-Decorated Kashan 13th C. Star Tile w/ Rabbits

  • A 13th Century star tile from Kashan, Iran

  • A Kashan Lustre Star Tile Dated 1279-80 AD Lot 87 Apr 04

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A Kashan Lustre Star Tile Dated 1279-80 AD Lot 87 Apr 04

Mina'i

Mina'i or enameled pottery was the high point of Seljuk pottery. With Mina'i pottery they apply the pigments and gold in layers which requires multiple kiln firings. This allows a level of detail that harkens to wall and miniature painting. Combined with a moderate production cost Mina'i became available to a broader range of the Persian culture and not just the ruling elite.

• A Kashan Minai Bowl with Turquoise Glaze Early 13th Lot 92 Apr 06

• A Dragon Mina'i or Lajvardina Star Tile C 1275 Lot 91 Apr 06

• An Ilkhanid Luster-Painted Tile Natanz Dedicated March-April 1308

• The Sheikh Abdolsamad Mosque in Natanz Iran

Ilkhanid Figural Tile Takht-e Suleyman, Persia, circa 1270-75

Takht-e Suleyman

• Ilkhanid Figural Tile Takht-e Suleyman, Persia, circa 1270-75

• A Dragon Mina'i or Lajvardina Star Tile C 1275 Lot 91 Apr 06

Sackler Gallery Simurgh Star Tile

• Fete Champetre   Shiraz circa 1575 Shiraz Edge Tiles

• Interlocking Arrow Tile

Interlocking Arrow Tile

I began to pay more attention to tile while I was researching a Shiraz artist named Abdollah-e Mozahheb. He was at the court of the Sultan Ibrahim Mirza in Khorasan circa 1555 to 1579. Abdollah painted in the style of Shiraz. He followed Bihzad in style but even in pictures where the Bihzad influence is obvious the Shiraz style stays close to the surface. So how do you spot the Shiraz style in the evil years? All the useual signs such as giding horses behind hills to cut down on the work to show them. Obvious signs include that Shiraz painter would have the horses head showing and the upper half of the rider showing and the rest behind a hill. Then the Turbans are important. The Turban would be as likely to go around a cap rther than a Taj. Physical contact is a clue, male to male is common elsewhere but male to female is almost always a provincial court particularly Shiraz. There are others but one thatparticularly intrigued me are these edge tiles. If they are present in a second half sixteenth century Safavid painting then there is a high probability that the painting was from Shiraz.