A SPLASHED SGRAFFIATO POTTERY BOWL Possibly Nishapur, Iran, 10th century Of conical shape, on a short circular rim, the red earthenware body covered with a white slip and splashed in green, yellow and brown, the sgraffiato decoration consisting of a central hatched ground and abstract foliage, vegetal motifs and scrolls to the cavetto, the exterior splashed in green and yellow, 33cm diam. Provenance: Acquired in 1960’s – 1970’s in Iran and in the UK since 1981. Our bowl shares the same shape and hatched centre of a splashed pottery bowl in the al-Sabah Collection (LNS.278.C). Oliver Watson specifies that the hatched centre is peculiar to many pieces from Nishapur and that the design, although more symmetrical than previous ones, still groups the petals of the cavetto in pairs, reflecting perhaps a distant origin in a calligraphic design (O. Watson, Ceramics from Islamic Lands, London, 2004, p. 202). Our bowl also shares another feature with the al-Sabah's bowl: the face-up firing, denoting a strong connection to the 10th-century Nishapuri kiln.