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Reciting Poetry in a Garden

first quarter 17th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 462
A lush landscape provides the setting for a picnic, complete with fruit and beverages in Chinese‑style blue-and-white vessels. Two men sit in conversation, one writing and holding a safina (an oblong format book typically containing poetry), flanked by a man standing on the left and a woman on the right carrying a covered bowl decorated with Chinese designs. The patterned robes, silk sashes, and striped turbans resemble costumes depicted in seventeenth‑century Persian drawings and paintings.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Reciting Poetry in a Garden
  • Date: first quarter 17th century
  • Geography: From Iran, Isfahan
  • Medium: Stonepaste; polychrome glaze within black wax resist outlines (cuerda seca technique)
  • Dimensions: Panel with tabs: H. 35 1/4 in. (89.5 cm)
    W. 61 3/8 in. (155.9 cm)
    D. 2 1/2 in. (6.4 cm)
    Wt. 300 lbs. (136.1 kg)
    Each tile: H. 8 7/8 in. (22.5 cm)
    W. 8 7/8 in. (22.5 cm)


  • Classification: Ceramics-Tiles
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1903
  • Object Number: 03.9b
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

Audio

Cover Image for 6721. Reciting Poetry in a Garden, Part 1

6721. Reciting Poetry in a Garden, Part 1

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More Artwork

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Tile Panel, Stonepaste; polychrome glazed within black wax resist outlines (cuerda seca technique)
Tile Panel
first quarter 17th century
Garden Gathering, Stonepaste; painted and polychrome glazed (cuerda seca technique)
Garden Gathering
1640–50
Dish with Two Intertwined Dragons, Stonepaste; painted in blue under transparent glaze
Dish with Two Intertwined Dragons
ca. 1640
Tile Panel, Stonepaste; polychrome painted under transparent glaze
Tile Panel
early 17th century
Polychrome Bowl with Cloud Decoration, Stonepaste; polychrome painted under transparent glaze
Polychrome Bowl with Cloud Decoration
late 17th–early 18th century

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