"The Safavid period was a truly global age evidenced by its material culture. In this ground-breaking survey of both elite Iranian pottery and imported Chinese porcelain, Lisa Golombek and her team have separated out fact from fiction and extracted revelatory details from a paucity of documentary sources, to unravel a concise linear narrative. This critical survey places this overlooked luxury ware in its socio-economic and cultural context. Consumption is introduced through discussions of shape and purpose; caravanserai, Armenian merchants and East India Company distribution networks; and the importance of contemporary connoisseurship, imperial collecting and royal kitchens is introduced. The commoditization of the potteries, potters and technological innovations are other themes of discourse. Ubiquitous chinoiseries and other foreign patterns are justified by fashionability, inextricably linked with all luxury goods. Integrating modern petrography and archaeology with traditional art history, explored in Tamerlanes Tablewares, has further clarified the mystery of marks and production centres. Golembek, with authors Robert Mason, Patricia Proctor, and Eileen Reilly are to be lauded for providing a level platform for future researchers to build on." - Patricia Ferguson, Consulting Curator, Victoria and Albert Museum
"... lensemble constitue ą nen pas douter un ouvrage de référence, trčs attendu, et une réelle avancée pour lhistoire de la céramique iranienne des xvie et xviie sičcles. Le fonds de céramiques safavides du ROM est intéressant, sans źtre exceptionnel ou particuličrement diversifié ; en faisant de cette collection le moteur dun programme de recherche, Lisa Golombek est parvenue ą allier ą merveille conservation et recherche, haussant ainsi cette collection au rang de référence". - Sandra Aube, in: BCAI 31 (2016)
