* TWO FIGURAL KUBACHI POTTERY TILES  PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTION   Iran, 17th century  Each of octagonal form, underglaze painted in black, blue and green with vibrant red and yellow slips on a white ground, the decoration consisting of a female youth dressed in traditional outfit playing the tambourine amidst lush floral motifs, and of a male youth holding a jar with similar background motifs, the reverse marked with old inventory numbers, 18.5cm x 18.5cm. The name Kubachi comes from a remote Daghestani village where many examples of tiles and wares similar to these two were found. Such pottery items were used to decorate villagers’ houses towards the end of the nineteenth century. The pictorial style and design of the composition of our tiles are very similar to a dish in the Al Sabah Collection in Kuwait. The colours and the form of the flowers might seem indebted to the Iznik pottery tradition to a certain extent, but the figures and their outfits follow contemporary conventions in Persian manuscript painting (Oliver Watson, Ceramics from Islamic Lands, 2004, p. 460). * Please note that this lot is subject to import VAT at a preferential rate of 5% on the Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on the Buyer's Premium.