Unlike the many early Islamic ceramics adorned with geometric and vegetal motifs, including several examples in this section, this tenth-century bowl from northeastern Iran features a boldly executed figural design. Displaying a flowering branch in one hand and a beaded drinking vessel in the other, the seated figure at the center of the design is flanked on either side by a bird, one of which is perched in the figure’s flowing tresses. Although the precise meaning of such imagery remains a mystery, it may be related to ancient Iranian feasts such as Nowruz (the New Year) or Mihragan (the Feast of the Harvest), which continued to be celebrated even after the advent of Islam.

• Lo Terrenal y lo Divino: Arte Islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Ángeles. Santiago: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015.

• Pal, Pratapaditya, ed.  Islamic Art:  The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection.  Los Angeles:  Museum Associates, 1973.
• Donahue, Kenneth.  X, a Decade of Collecting:  1965-1975.  Los Angeles:  Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1975.