Bowl1187/Muharram, 583 A.H.

Not on view

Large ceramic bowl viewed from above, with cream ground painted in turquoise, cobalt blue, and red; interior shows a multi-figure courtly scene with a cypress tree, birds, and bands of Arabic or Persian script near the rim

Ceramic bowl with flared rim and low foot, cream ground decorated with a band of Arabic script in black, hanging medallion motifs in turquoise and red, and an interior frieze of turquoise arabesque scrollwork beneath a cobalt blue inscription band; visible crazing and restored cracks throughout.

Ceramic bowl with cream ground, decorated in mina'i technique with a courtly scene: a kneeling figure at left faces a group of haloed seated figures at right, flanked by a tall cypress tree with checkered pattern; birds and foliate scrolls fill the background; bands of Arabic script encircle the rim and interior well; polychrome palette of turquoise, cobalt, red, and brown.

Title: Bowl
Place Made: Iran, Kashan
Date Made: 1187/Muharram, 583 A.H.
Medium: Fritware, inglaze- and overglaze-painted (mina'i)
Dimensions: 3 5/8 x 8 3/8 in. (9.2075 x 21.2725 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Allan C. Balch
Accession Number: M.45.3.116
Classification: Ceramics
Collecting Area: Art of the Middle East: Islamic
Curatorial Notes: Mina’i wares such as this demonstrate the technical virtuosity of the Persian potter and the evident demand in medieval Iran for functional objects of great beauty. The method for producing the polychrome enamel pigments is described in a treatise on pottery making by Abu’l-Qasim of Kashan, completed in AD 1301, by which time mina’i or haft rang (seven colors) wares, as they are known in the textual tradition, were no longer being produced.

Some mina’i ceramics enjoy a particularly close relationship to poetry. Many examples are inscribed with verses, and others are decorated with figures referring to well-known poetic themes and tales, including Firdawsi’s Shahnama or Book of Kings, the Iranian national epic, completed in AD 1010. Several of these colorful wares, including this bowl, perhaps depict the act of poetic recitation itself: it can be imagined that the performer here, seated at the left before a courtly audience, is delivering the verses inscribed along the exterior rim of the bowl, which begin: "If the beloved leaves me, what am I to do? If s/he does not see the wisdom of our union, what am I to do?" An alternate interpretation proposes that the scene relates to the hero later king Faridun and his three sons, as recounted in the Shahnama.
Selected Bibliography: Pancaroglu, Oya. "Potter's trail: an Abu Zayd ewer in the Saint Louis Art Museum." in Metalwork and Material Culture in the Islamic World: Art, Craft, Text, edited by Venetia Porter and Mariam Rosser-Owen, 397-409. London: I.B. Tauris, 2012.
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.
Hopkins, Henry T., ed. Illustrated Handbook of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. West Germany: Bruder Hartmann, 1965.
Pope, Arthur Upham, and Phyllis Ackerman, eds. A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present. Vol. 5, Plates 511-980: Architectural Ornament; Pottery and Faience; The Art of the Book. London: Oxford University Press, 1938.
Watson, Oliver. "Documentary Mina'i and Abu Zaid's Bowls." In The Art of the Saljūqs in Iran and Anatolia: Proceedings of a Symposium Held in Edinburgh in 1982, edited by Robert Hillenbrand, 170-181. Costa Mesa: Mazda Publishers, 1994.

Komaroff, Linda. Beauty and Identity: Islamic Art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2016.
Porter, Yves. "Epic Iconography or Folktale Illustrations? Narrative Devices on Kashan Ceramics (Late 12th-Early 13th Century)," in Under the Adorned Dome: Four Essays on the Arts of Iran and India (Leiden: Brill, 2023), 52-105.
Hirx, John. "Ceramic Decals on Mina'i Wares." In Iranian Art from the Sasanians to the Islamic Republic: Essays in Honour of Linda Komaroff, edited by Sheila S. Blair, Jonathan M. Bloom and Sandra S. Williams. Edinburgh University Press, 2024.

Related Unframed

Bowl1187/Muharram, 583 A.H.

Not on view

Title: Bowl
Place Made: Iran, Kashan
Date Made: 1187/Muharram, 583 A.H.
Medium: Fritware, inglaze- and overglaze-painted (mina'i)
Dimensions: 3 5/8 x 8 3/8 in. (9.2075 x 21.2725 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Allan C. Balch
Accession Number: M.45.3.116
Classification: Ceramics
Collecting Area: Art of the Middle East: Islamic
Curatorial Notes: Mina’i wares such as this demonstrate the technical virtuosity of the Persian potter and the evident demand in medieval Iran for functional objects of great beauty. The method for producing the polychrome enamel pigments is described in a treatise on pottery making by Abu’l-Qasim of Kashan, completed in AD 1301, by which time mina’i or haft rang (seven colors) wares, as they are known in the textual tradition, were no longer being produced.

Some mina’i ceramics enjoy a particularly close relationship to poetry. Many examples are inscribed with verses, and others are decorated with figures referring to well-known poetic themes and tales, including Firdawsi’s Shahnama or Book of Kings, the Iranian national epic, completed in AD 1010. Several of these colorful wares, including this bowl, perhaps depict the act of poetic recitation itself: it can be imagined that the performer here, seated at the left before a courtly audience, is delivering the verses inscribed along the exterior rim of the bowl, which begin: "If the beloved leaves me, what am I to do? If s/he does not see the wisdom of our union, what am I to do?" An alternate interpretation proposes that the scene relates to the hero later king Faridun and his three sons, as recounted in the Shahnama.
Selected Bibliography: Pancaroglu, Oya. "Potter's trail: an Abu Zayd ewer in the Saint Louis Art Museum." in Metalwork and Material Culture in the Islamic World: Art, Craft, Text, edited by Venetia Porter and Mariam Rosser-Owen, 397-409. London: I.B. Tauris, 2012.
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.
Hopkins, Henry T., ed. Illustrated Handbook of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. West Germany: Bruder Hartmann, 1965.
Pope, Arthur Upham, and Phyllis Ackerman, eds. A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present. Vol. 5, Plates 511-980: Architectural Ornament; Pottery and Faience; The Art of the Book. London: Oxford University Press, 1938.
Watson, Oliver. "Documentary Mina'i and Abu Zaid's Bowls." In The Art of the Saljūqs in Iran and Anatolia: Proceedings of a Symposium Held in Edinburgh in 1982, edited by Robert Hillenbrand, 170-181. Costa Mesa: Mazda Publishers, 1994.

Komaroff, Linda. Beauty and Identity: Islamic Art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2016.
Porter, Yves. "Epic Iconography or Folktale Illustrations? Narrative Devices on Kashan Ceramics (Late 12th-Early 13th Century)," in Under the Adorned Dome: Four Essays on the Arts of Iran and India (Leiden: Brill, 2023), 52-105.
Hirx, John. "Ceramic Decals on Mina'i Wares." In Iranian Art from the Sasanians to the Islamic Republic: Essays in Honour of Linda Komaroff, edited by Sheila S. Blair, Jonathan M. Bloom and Sandra S. Williams. Edinburgh University Press, 2024.