Ceramic, Bottle, depicting a hunting scene painted in blue and black; Iran, made 1642-1666

A bottle depicting a hunting scene painted in blue and black. The small vase-head shows birds in flight among clouds. The main body of the bottle shows a gunman wearing (possibly) a turban and short sleeves, down on one knee pointing his rifle at 1 o'clock. The space around the gunman is covered with vegetal and floral designs.

Historical significance: Depiction of a crouching hunter is typically Persian and it is as equally popluar as the theme of the partridge.

Persian blue and white ceramics were primarily produced during the rule of the Safavid Dynasty in Iran (early 16th century to early 18th century). Iranian potters were almost exclusively preoccupied with making wares in the styles of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain some close copies and some more fanciful. Echoes of earlier traditions remained, in particular in the black-under-turquoise colour scheme that dates back in Iran to the end of the 12th century. Towards the end of the 16th century there was a widening of interest that blossomed in the 17th century to a wide range of styles and techniques in which blue and white plays a dominant but not exclusive role.

2500-1876