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Collections

Bowl with epigraphic and vegetal decoration10th century

Not on view
Ceramic bowl viewed from above, off-white glaze with bold dark brown Arabic script around the interior and a central scrolling rosette medallion, terracotta red accent details, crazed surface
Ceramic bowl with conical form and white slip glaze, decorated on the interior with Arabic calligraphy and a bird figure in dark brown and red; serrated band at rim, crackled glaze with visible restoration lines throughout.
Title
Bowl with epigraphic and vegetal decoration
Place Made
Iran, Nishapur or Uzbekistan, Samarqand
Date Made
10th century
Period
Samanid (819-1005)
Medium
Earthenware with white slip covering and decoration in pigments under a transparent glaze
Dimensions
3 1/8 x 8 7/8 in. (8.1 x 22.5 cm)
Credit Line
The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection, gift of Joan Palevsky
Accession Number
M.73.5.199
Classification
Ceramics
Collecting Area
Art of the Middle East: Islamic
Curatorial Notes

This strikingly modern bowl is made from humble earthenware, disguised and beautified through the application of a white slip, a semifluid colored clay. Its interior is decorated with an encircling black inscription, and the spaces between the letters are filled by abstract decoration that is augmented by the color red, all covered by a transparent glaze. Read by turning the bowl counterclockwise, the Arabic inscription presents a proverb that retains some resonance even today: "Greed is a sign of poverty."

Selected Bibliography
  • Komaroff, Linda, editor. Dining with the Sultan: The Fine Art of Feasting. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; New York: DelMonico Books, 2023.