An antique Persian pottery bottle vase dating to the Qajar period, c. 1850-1880. Hand-thrown on a potter''s wheel from a white siliceous stonepaste (fritware) body, it displays the traditional material used for many fine Persian ceramics. An old chip to the footrim reveals the characteristic granular, sugary texture of the body together with a naturally developed age patina.The elegant pear-shaped form is covered with a transparent lead glaze displaying a richly developed network of authentic age craquelure. Designed for viewing from all sides, the vase combines the portrait of a young Qajar nobleman or courtier with a traditional Islimi floral composition of cobalt-blue blossoms, carnation buds and scrolling turquoise-green foliage.The long neck is decorated with vertical cobalt-blue bands and floral scrolls. Visible glaze pooling, slight asymmetry at the rim, traces of glaze run-off and firing deposits around the footrim all reflect traditional workshop manufacture.An att...