Lot 159: A LARGE POLYCHROME EARTHENWARE ALHAMBRA VASE ON EBONISED PLINTH, 19TH CENTURY

This large amphora-shaped ceramic vessel is modelled in the style of the fourteenth-century Nasrid Alhambra vases. The piece is constructed from earthenware with relief-moulded decoration finished in polychrome tin glazes, including turquoise, cobalt blue, emerald green, and ochre yellow. The form features oversized flat wing-like handles decorated with vertical panels of calligraphic script and foliate scrolls. The neck and body are covered in complex interlacing geometric and arabesque patterns. A central lobed medallion in cobalt blue contains a white escutcheon with a green diagonal band. The band bears the Nasrid motto in Arabic script, which translates as There is no conqueror but God. A wide horizontal band of repeating pseudo-Kufic script encircles the middle of the body. The vase is mounted on a separate octagonal ebonised wooden plinth with stepped mouldings.