This bowl is an example of the splashware made throughout Iraq, Iran, and western Central Asia, a type possibly inspired by Tang Chinese wares that were mainly decorated in a combination of green, yellow, and brown glazes. The addition of geometric and floral patterns, scratched into the surface of the bowl before the glazes were applied, is uniquely Iranian, and the vigorous yet refined drawing of the foliate forms makes this one of the finest splashed sgraffito pieces excavated.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Bowl with Green, Yellow, and Brown Splashed Decoration
Date:10th century
Geography:Excavated in Iran, Nishapur
Medium:Earthenware; white slip, incised and splashed with polychrome glazes under transparent glaze (sgraffito ware)
Dimensions:H. 2 7/8 in. (7.3 cm) Diam. 10 1/4 in. (26 cm)
Classification:Ceramics
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1938
Accession Number:38.40.137
1937, excavated at Sabz Pushan in Nishapur, Iran by the Metropolitan Museum of Art's expedition; 1938, acquired by the Museum in the division of finds
Wilkinson, Charles K., Joseph M. Upton, and Walter Hauser. "The Iranian Expedition 1937." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin vol. 33, section II (1938). p. 15, ill. fig. 19 (b/w).
Dimand, Maurice S. A Handbook of Muhammadan Art. 2nd rev. and enl. ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1944. pp. 160, 162, ill. fig. 95 (b/w).
Lane, Arthur. "Mesopotamia, Egypt and Persia." In Early Islamic Pottery. Faber Monographs on Pottery and Porcelain. London: Faber and Faber, 1947. p. 12, ill. pl. 6B (b/w).
Wilkinson, Charles K. Nishapur: Pottery of the Early Islamic Period. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1973. no. 66, ch. 2, pp. 69, 88, ill. p. 88 (b/w).
Jenkins-Madina, Marilyn, Suzanne G. Valenstein, and Julia Meech-Pekarik. "The Metropolitan Museum of Art." In Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections. vol. 12. Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd., 1977. no. 231, ill. interior and profile.
Jenkins-Madina, Marilyn. "Islamic Pottery: A Brief History." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series, vol. 40, no. 4 (Spring 1983). no. 8, p. 11, ill. pl. 8 (color).
Ettinghausen, Richard, and Oleg Grabar. The Art and Architecture of Islam: 650–1250. Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, 1987. p. 228, ill. fig. 237 (b/w).
Welch, Stuart Cary. The Islamic World. vol. 11. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987. pp. 23–24, ill. fig. 12 (color).
Ettinghausen, Richard, Oleg Grabar, and Marilyn Jenkins-Madina. Islamic Art and Architecture 650–1250. 2nd ed. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2001. p. 118, ill. fig. 185 (color).
Ekhtiar, Maryam, and Claire Moore, ed. "A Resource for Educators." In Art of the Islamic World. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012. pp. 170–71, ill. pl. 33 (color).
Blair, Sheila S. Text and Image in Medieval Persian Art. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2014. p. 20, ill. fig. 2.8 (color).
Coen, Ester. Matisse arabesque. Rome: Skira, 2015. p. 58, ill. fig. 1 (b/w).
Senior Research Assistant Courtney A. Stewart takes a look at Islamic and Chinese ceramics in The Met collection and highlights key similarities in their style and production.
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