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MAGNIFICENT ISLAMIC SELJUK TURQUOISE BOWL WITH TWO LIONS

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Coins: Ancient Start Price:6,000.00 USD Estimated At:12,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD
MAGNIFICENT ISLAMIC SELJUK TURQUOISE BOWL WITH TWO LIONS
A VERY RARE & MAGNIFICENT INTACT ISLAMIC SELJUK TURQUOISE GLAZED BOWL WITH TWO LIONS, CIRCA 12TH-13TH CENTURY. KASHAN SELJUQ EMPIRE PERIOD, Of rounded form on short spreading foot, the interior moulded under the glaze with two large different lions prowling around the central roundel, on tight scrolling flowering and palmette vine ground, a line of manganese around the rim, the turquoise exterior with a band of manganese rope-pattern and occasional vertical stripes, intact These Turquoise glazed molded wares form a distinct group of pottery, unified by their fabric, shapes, techniques of making and decorating and their motifs. These wares are made in molds many examples of which have been excavated at very well preserved sites complete with intact kilns. They show ornament in relief on the interior of small bowls. During the manufacturing process, the bowls were stacked on tripods which left distinctive scars on the inside of the bowls. This bowl is decorated with a repetitive scrolling pattern and distinguished by its beautiful iridescence.
According to the historian ‘Ala al-Din ‘Ata- Malik Juvayni d. 1283 AD the city of Bamiyan suffered great retribution in 1221-2 AD at the hands of the Mongol Emperor Chingiz Khan, because his favorite grandson Mutugen, son of Chaghatay was killed in that city. Chingiz Khan gave orders that every living creature should be killed and no prisoners be taken; and that henceforth no living creature should inhabit the place henceforth. Such a catastrophe might be good reason for the number of preserved pieces found from that area.

A very similar Bamiyan moulded rich deep turquoise glazed bowl with two lions chasing each other around the interior is in the Khalili Collection (Ernst J. Grube, Cobalt and Lustre, London, 1994, no.343, pp.302-3). Another example in the same collection is a simpler version of the same design, while a third shows the more usual composition of two lions both facing in the same direction (Grube, op. cit., nos.381 and 378, pp.318-319).