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Collections

Bowl13th century

Not on view
Ceramic bowl with wide flaring form and low ring foot, cream glaze with peach-toned patches, cobalt blue and black repeating leaf motifs along the interior rim
Ceramic plate viewed from above, white ground with a border of repeating blue leaf or fish-shaped motifs linked by fine painted vines; concentric dark-line rings encircle a central blue and grey radiating burst pattern, with visible age-related wear and crazing to the glaze.
Ceramic bowl with wide flaring rim and raised foot, cream-colored exterior with horizontal incised bands and worn glaze; interior decorated with dense small leaf or seed motifs in white on white, bordered by a band of blue floral and scroll designs along the rim.
Title
Bowl
Place Made
Iran, Kashan
Date Made
13th century
Medium
Fritware, pierced decoration, underglaze painted
Dimensions
3 3/4 x 8 1/2 in. (9.53 x 21.59 cm)
Credit Line
The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection, gift of Joan Palevsky
Accession Number
M.73.5.197
Classification
Ceramics
Collecting Area
Art of the Middle East: Islamic
Curatorial Notes

With its white surface and thin, flaring walls, this bowl appears to be based on a Chinese porcelain prototype. However, scholars have debated the origins of its most distinctive feature—a band of pierced decoration, filled with glaze, which allows the passage of light and creates the illusion of being perforated. This technique may have also been adapted from Chinese porcelains, or it may represent an innovation of Iranian potters.

Selected Bibliography

  • 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.