Fragment of a Mina'i Bowl

This fragment is overglaze-painted with an enthroned figure surrounded by attendants or companions with typical moon-shaped faces (mahruy) that were favored during this period. The painting technique, now called mina’i but historically referred to as haft rang (seven color), was a distinctive Iranian tradition employed on stonepaste, possibly transposed from glass enameling. Mina’i painted wares, however, share some stylistic features with coeval Syrian stonepaste vessels, including the moon-shaped faces of figures, that exemplify how a common visual language was adapted to and modified by local techniques, traditions, and tastes.

The fragment came to the Museum in 1920, together with a large group of objects bequeathed from the collection of the antique dealer William Milne Grinnell.