PERSIA IN DOUBLE BAY, (L – R) FRANCES BROWN, SYLVIA CAMPBELL, MARGARET AND LEIGH MACKAY. PHOTO GILL GREEN – TAASA Review September 2012

Amongst the many lovely items Frances passed around the group (helped by her sister, Sylvia) were glazed bowls with sophisticated Chinese-inspired blue-and-white patterns, which contrasted with ceramics bearing folk motifs, as well as tribal rugs and animal trappings with their bold and colourful geometric designs.

Amongst the interesting metal artefacts was a relatively rare brass `compass’ that showed Muslim worshippers the direction of Mecca.

Frances explained the history, techniques and motifs of selected items, ranging over some 2,500 years from the Achaemenid dynasty of Cyrus and Darius to the glories of 16th century Isfahan under Shah Abbas. Interestingly, one of the oldest of the Persian rugs, a Shirazi (Southwest Iran) on the floor, was acquired not by Frances but by her parents when she was a girl...