Petit carreau de revêtement par Ustad Ali Muhammad... Lot n° 42

Iran, Tehran, Qajar art, circa 1885 Siliceous ceramic with molded decoration painted in cobalt blue and black on a white background, decorated with a large poly-lobed medallion, inscribed in Persian, in reserve within a black floral frame on a white background. In an old frame in dark wood. The inscription: Tehran, dar-e dâr-elkhelâfah, Amal-e Ustâd Ali Muhammad Kâshi-paz, Esfahâni, Kârkhâneh, darvâzah Shâh zâdeh, 'Abd al-'Azīm. Sight size : 14 x 13,8 cm Ustâd Ali is a ceramic craftsman from Isfahan. Following the advice of Robert Murdoch Smith, a British diplomat, he opened a ceramics workshop in Tehran in 1301H/1883-84, near the entrance gate of Shah Abdolazim (darvâzah-yi Shâh 'Abd al-'Azīm). He remained active there for about ten years. Reaching a certain celebrity, he made ceramics for Robert Murdoch Smith and Alfred Jean-Baptiste Lemaire using the Siyâh qalam technique. Some of his works are preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (Makki Nejad, Mehdi, Siâh Qalam: Ahvâl va âsâr-i ustâd 'Alî Muhammad-i Isfâhànî, Tehran, 1399 and the article: Ali Muhammed Isfahani, Tilemaker of Tehran, Oriental art (new series), volume 22, pp. 278-288).