Rider's cup

Rider's cup

Iran, Kashan, late 12th - early 13th century

In lustre-glazed earthenware with metallic sheen, on a straight foot, with a characteristic flared body, a rider on the bottom, the sides decorated with plant motifs in mihrab-shaped arches, and the rim highlighted with a frieze in kufic pseudo-calligraphy. The outside is decorated with trees of life in mihrabs. The exterior is decorated with trees of life in mihrabs (restorations and fractures visible). 10 x 21.5 cm INCLUDED is a Kashan star tile, Iran, 13th century, decorated with metallic lustre, featuring four musicians. 30 x 31 cm (Damage and restoration). Provenance : Jean-Charles Tauzin Collection (1889-1957) Acquired from Galerie C. K. Kevorkian, in 1941. Metallic lustre decoration first appeared in Egypt, probably during the 2nd half of the 8th century, and was first applied to glass objects. It seems to have been used shortly afterwards by potters in Abbasid Iraq, in the workshops of Basra, and its use is attested in Fatimid Egypt, from the 10th to the 12th century. The technique emerged in the workshops of Kashan, in central Iran, probably during the 2nd half of the 12th century. A Kashan pottery bowl decorated with a figure on horseback, and star-shaped tile decorated with musucians, Iran, late 12th-early 13th century