A rare Laqabi ware pottery dish, Syria, 13th Century

of shallow form with short slightly inverted sides and flattened everted rim, incised and decorated in cobalt blue on a white ground with a sphinx surrounded by a lion, a hare, a bird and a palmette, the rim with abstract vegetal motifs, remains of collection label to base
35.8 cm. diam.

Provenance
Millea Bros. Ltd., Boonton, U.S., Asian & Islamic Art, December 11 2014, lot 319.
Formerly in a private US collection, reputedly acquired in the 1950's.

This is a very rare example of a type of pottery which was historically believed to have come from Persia, but it is now clear from the manner of the incising and colours that it was made in Syria. The technique is related to that used in Tell Minis and Raqqa pottery of the same period. Sherds and a waster of a similar ware have been found in Egypt so it is possible that the type originated there before production moved to Syria. For an example of a sherd found at Fustat in Egpyt, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, see Arthur Lane, Early Islamic Pottery, London, 1947, pl. 40b.