IRAN, SECOND QUARTER 17TH CENTURY

A closely related jar is in the Louvre (Three Empires of Islam. Istanbul, Isfahan, Delhi, exhibition catalogue, no.125, pp.342-43). In her discussion on that jar, Delphine Miroudot discusses the dragons as a development of fifteenth century Chinese models which greatly influenced Persian potters. The band of small medallions is also found on a group of kendis, two of which are dated, 1627 and 1641 (Yolande Crowe, Persia and China. Safavid Blue and White Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum 1501-1738, London, 2002, nos.121 and 111, pp.98-101). On the basis of this this jar can be attributed to the reigns of Shah Abbas I (1587-1629) and Shah Safi I (1629-1642).