PAIRE DE VASES FLORAUX D'INSPIRATION TANG

EASTERN IRAN, KHORASSAN, 10th-12th CENTURY Cast bronze, with eight gadroons on each side forming a flared foot and a corolla opening with eight petals. The decoration is engraved with alternating birds and palmettes in cartouches and medallions on each projecting part and on each petal, underlined by friezes of scrolls of palmettes. A VERY RARE PAIR OF TANG INSPIRED FLORAL SHAPE MOULDED AND ENGRAVED BRONZE VASES, PERSIA, GHAZNAVID, 10TH/11TH CENTURY. H: 23 cm - Ø: 18.5 cm The flared form of these vases evokes that of Asian metal and ceramic pieces of the Tang period, as illustrated by a similar gilded vase containing flowers, shown in a painting of a shahnameh in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which takes place at the Chinese court (Aimée Froom (Ed.), Bestowing Beauty, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2019, Fg.1, p. 249). Indeed, Central Asia's strategic position on major trade routes encouraged trade between Asia and the East, and thus allowed craftsmen to draw on different influences. These forms also copied gold and silver vessels (Rachel Ward, Islamic Metalwork, British Museum Press, London, 1993, fig. 21, p. 33). Several vases of very similar shape are known, but it is very rare to find them in pairs. Some are in museums: one vase is in the Linden-Museum in Stuttgart (Johannes Kalter and Margareta Pavaloi (Eds.), Uzbekistan. Heirs to the Silk Road, Thames and Hudson, London, 1997, ill. 208, p 128), another in the collection of Hossein Afshar, (Aimée Froom (Ed.), op. cit, cat. 86, p. 249). ), and a third of close form is in the Keir Collection (Rachel Ward, op. cit, fig. 21, p. 33). A PAIR OF CAST BRONZE VASES WITH PRONOUNCED RIBS AND A WIDE SPLAYED FOOT MIRRORING THE MOUTH. EASTERN PERSIA, 10TH-12TH CENTURY Expert : L.S. Has been cleaned; many traces of red patina and green oxidation.