Bowl with radial design and inscribed rim
Iranian
Description
From Kashan.
Lustre glazed pottery was continuously produced in different parts of the Islamic world from the ninth to the eighteenth centuries. Some of the finest luster products, such as this bowl, are attributed to Kashan, a city in central Iran whose kilns excelled in this technique during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The rim of this piece is inscribed with an extremely cursive and interconnected type of naskh script, which thrice repeats the phrase “glory and progress”; otherwise the inscription is largely ornamental. Although the majority of Kashan luster vessels contain rich figural designs, this one is largely occupied by an eight-pointed geometric pattern that is probably inspired by metalwork. Although in very good condition, the center of the bowl shows signs of wear, suggesting that it may have been used for food.
Yasser Tabbaa, Guest Curator, ‘Art of the Written Word,” 1/15–6/5/2005
Subject Matter:
"The general appearance of this vessel, its nearly perfect state of preservation, the dark chocolate brown color of the lustre painting, and the manner in which the exterior piece has been decorated all suggest that it belongs with the group of ceramics excavated by villagers near the medieval city of Jurjan, in the coastal plain southeast of the Caspian Sea. Some of the pieces excavated at Jurjan may be of local manufacture, but the lustre-painted examples appear to have been produced in the central Iranian city of Kashan, a noted ceramic-producing center during the twelfth-fourteenth centuries. The heart-shaped leaves placed point-upward around the circumference of the museum's bowl are known on a number of Kashan lustre-painted vessels."
Physical Description:
"A Persian inscription is incised into the broad band of lustre decorating the vessel's rim. The main element in the decoration is a loosely drawn eight-pointed star from which a further series of eight- and sixteen-pointed stars are generated; beyond them are registers filled with medallions and cartouches. This structure, unusual in ceramic decor, is reminiscent of that found on metalwork vessels of this same period from Iran."
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