Iran, 11th-13th century, fritware with iridescent turquoise glaze having black painted decoration, of shallow rounded form with an everted rim on a short foot, unglazed to part of the underside and foot.

2 1/2 in., 10 1/4 in. diameter

From the collection of Thomas English Cody (1889-1948), the great nephew of Buffalo Bill Cody, and by family descent.

The 12th and 13th centuries were Persia’s Golden Age, and the specimens of pottery known to have been made at that time, bear every indication of having been created as works of art, commemorative of royal conquests, as regal gifts, even as portrait plaques. Many of them are decorated with representations of kings and princes and the logical inference is that the potters of those times were esteemed more as artists than as artisans. Hence their creations are the only pictorial records which remain to us of that romantic period of Persia’s history, and as such they are valuable historical documents.

A large repair with restoration along rim; black writing to underside.