SAFAVID IRAN, LATE 17TH CENTURY

Named for the trading post on the south coast of Iran also known as Bandar Abbas, ceramics from Gombroon sought to emulate the Chinese porcelain that was so prized in Iran for both its aesthetic appeal and its technical qualities. Light shining through the incised lines of the trefoils and their floral patterns creates a play of translucency and opacity and emphasizes the thinness of the walls – a characteristic of Chinese porcelain that the Iranian craftsmen desired to mirror (Maryam D. Ekhtiar, Priscilla P. Soucek, Sheila R. Canby and Navina Najat Haidar, Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2011, p.233).