Timurid plate 15^th century -
source Simon Ray

During the Timurid Period, the same wares were produced as under the Mongols. However a new type of pottery known as “Kubachi” ware was produced. It was named after the village in Daghestan in the Caucasus where it was first found, however, the place of manufacture is unknown, but thought to be North West Iran, possibly around Tabriz. The occupants of the Kubachi village were metalworkers who swapped their wares with the potters (or traders). These wares have a soft body with a brilliant crackled glaze. There were several types: painted in black under a transparent blue or turquoise coloured glaze, decorated with floral or geometric patterns. One or two have a date inscription confirming the period. There was also a later development of blue and white, different in shape, colour and decoration from Jorjan wares. It was influenced by Chinese imported porcelain; there were small “rice” bowls decorated with lotuses and flying phoenixes painted in indigo blue or black and blue under a clear glaze. This ware is also thought to have been produced in Kerman. Large, underglaze-painted, polychrome plates having crackled glaze were particularly popular. There was clearly an export market for these wares as some have been found as far as East Africa.

9.55 The Safavid Dynasty

After some 850 years of foreign rule the native Iranian Safavid Dynasty took over from 1502 until 1722 AD. The founder was 15-year-old Shah Ismail (1502-1524 AD) who united the country and ushered in a golden age for arts. It is no surprise that this native Dynasty triggered a new epoch in the long history of Islamic pottery, not only a renaissance of long forgotten technology but new wares as well. They built richly decorated mosques, madrasahs and palaces. External influences on pottery came from local Ottomans as well as Europeans and Chinese. Considerable copying of Chinese wares took place in the 16^th and 17^th centuries. During the Safavid period the Persian language and literature spread widely through the Islamic Empire.

The body of the Safavid wares was so fine, thin and translucent that it came close to the imported Chinese porcelain. It was a version of fritware, but much finer than that of the Seljuk period. Gombroon ware, named after the Gulf Port, was exported by the Dutch and British merchants to Europe and the Far East from the 17^th to the 19^th century. It featured this hard, white, body with incised decoration or painted blue and black under a clear glaze. Again fine pieces were delicately pierced with small holes that filled with glaze. This revival from Seljuk times was imitated in China in the 18^th century. Bowls, ewers, jugs and cups were made, some undecorated, relying on their elegant shape and body quality. A second ware was a later, blue and white type made in Kerman with a different, softer, porous body. It imitated Chinese decoration, with floral motifs, landscapes and figures, but with a clearly Persian flavour. Frequently the pots had pseudo-Chinese marks. Other blue and white ware slightly different in body and colour were made in Mashad and Yazd.

Kubatchi proto-porcelain dish
17^th century - Image courtesy
of the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery,
Stoke-on-Trent

Colourful Safavid tile 17^th
century AD - source Simon Ray

The manufacture of Kubachi ware continued, although the inky blue paint appeared to run under the glaze. Polychrome ware became popular, coloured in blue, brown/red, yellow and green under a clear glaze. The decoration was influenced by the Ottoman Iznik and Chinese styles. Portraits of ladies and gentlemen appear against a scrollwork or floral background, as well as landscapes, particularly on large dishes.