Sherd, splashware sgraffiato, Samarkand, Uzbekistan, 10th or 11th Century

Base sherd. Red fabric, with a white slip, light yellow glaze, sgraffiato decoration and green, manganese and yellow-brown splash decoration on the interior; white slip and light yellow glaze on the exterior.

Bought from the Myers collection.

The British collector W.J. Myers had a cordial relationship with the V&A, and in his will, he stipulated that his collections of glass and tiles be offered to the museum for £3000 and £1000 respectively. Myers died in October 1899, and on 3 January 1900, his executor wrote to the Museum making the offer he had stipulated. A valuation process then followed, and on 24 January Frederick Ducane Godman and George Salting, as advisers to the museum, signed a letter to the Director firmly recommending purchase. The objects were then delivered to the V&A, where they were divided in three parts. Two parts, listed in separate inventories dated 23 May 1900, were sent to the South Kensington Museum’s sister institutions in Edinburgh and Dublin. The third and largest part remained at the Museum. Invoices for the glass and tiles were paid on 5 June 1900, at £2253.15s.0d for the glass and £829.15s.0d for the tiles.

697:9-1900