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Lot 16

An unusual gilt-bronze Kohl Flask
Persia, probably 9th-10th Century

23 April 2013, 10:30 BST
London, New Bond Street

£6,000 - £8,000

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An unusual gilt-bronze Kohl Flask
Persia, probably 9th-10th Century

of tear-drop shape form, slightly flattened sides, with gently flaring neck, and splayed palmette foot, the moulded decoration either side of abstract vegetal form
5.4 cm. high

Footnotes

The moulded decoration on this piece is reminiscent of early moulded glass pieces of the 9th Century from Mesopotamia. Carboni illustrates two clear glass pieces with similar decoration in the Al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait: a glass beaker and a small bowl (Stefano Carboni, Glass From Islamic Lands, London, 2001, cat. nos. 18a and 18b). Both are works of "cameo" glass and display semi-palmettes and a free-flowing design similar to our piece, designs which Carboni relates to cut-relief motifs of plants executed in Samarra and Nishapur. The form is reminiscent of a group of small "fish-shaped" glass flasks, examples of which can also be seen in the al-Sabah collection (ibid., pp. 134-35,cat nos. 240a-g).

Additional information