Imre Jakabffy (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 5. (Budapest, 1977)

FEHÉRVÁRI, Géza: A Hoard of Blue and White Sherds from the Dasht-e Kavir

role of the flowers is only secondary. DK. 21 (fig. 15) is yet another beautiful example of the floral decoration. In certain respect it recalls the decoration of some Iznik plates. DK. 18 (fig. 15) is entirely Chinese in style, that of DK. 19 (fig. 15), while it may be basically Chinese, it assumed an entirely Near Eastern character. The rosette placed over four leaves on DK. 20 (fig. 15), however, remained Chinese, with perhaps one important difference: on a Chinese vessel the background would have been more regular and tightly controlled. The decoration of DK. 17 (fig. 15) is almost identical to no. 75.15 (figs 6—7), the fragmentary bowl in the Hopp Museum. The shape of the Hopp Museum bowl is identical to those convex-sided everted rimmed vessels mentioned above. The decoration inside the Hopp Museum bowl, just as on DK. 17, shows a rosette in the centre, surrounded by vine leaves, which are separated from each other by sword-shaped patterns. This design again recalls Chinese models, like for example the base decoration of a Chinese porcelain bowl with a Ch'eng Hua mark.

19 A narrow band of stylised wave patterns runs inside below the rim. Outside there are remains of three spurmarks (fig. 7). Wave patterns, occasionally combined with rocks and leaves, frequently occur on the inside of bowls or on the everted rims of large plates of Persian blue and white. Basically, it is a Chinese design, just as the vine scroll represented in this special form, although the origin of this latter pattern may be traced back to the Near and Middle East to Hellenistic traditions. A variation of these vine leaves fills the base fragment of no. 75.19 (fig. 8), and another one appears on DK. 22 (fig. 15) . Outside of no. 75.19 there is a tasselmark: ^ Lane mentions this mark and states, that it was common in the 18th century.

20 In connection with this base mark we may return to that which is on the outside of no. 75.18 (fig. 5). It is more complex and includes three signs: jßf.f\fi^ Again it was Lane, who took note of this, and claimed that in fact it was used on 17th century underglaze polychrome vessels, which were probably made in Yezd.

21 In connection with these two tasselmarks, a third one, that of DK. 27 (fig. 16) , should also be mentioned. It is clearly a pseudo-Chinese mark. These were very common on Persian blue and white wares of the 17th and 18th centuries. Truning to somewhat rare and unusual decorations on some of these sherds, the down-turned leaf and the two bamboos on DK. 24 (fig. 16) should be mentioned first. This design appears on Chinese porcelain during the Wan-li period. Later they are also present on Japanese Arita wares in the second half of the 17th century. A similar leaf is for example depicted on an underglaze-painted blue dish, dated between 1658 and 1683.

22 Flying or standing birds shown in a floral landscape as they appear on DK. 14 (fig. 14) and DK. 25—26 (fig. 16), were favourite themes on 17th century Chinese porcelain,

23 or again on Japanese porcelain of the same period.r

' A standing bird in a floral landscape, similar to that of DK. 25 (fig. 16) is represented on a blue and black underglazepainted large plate, which was considered by the author to be the work of either Yezd or Isfahan potters of the early 18th century.

25 Finally, the base of a large plate or 114