A particularly fine example of the calligraphic ware produced in the Nishapur region, the simple black decoration on this white, slip-covered bowl is confined to four blocks of writing surrounding a central knot motif.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Bowl with Inscription
Date:10th century
Geography:Attributed to Iran or present-day Uzbekistan, Nishapur or Samarqand. Excavated in Iran, Nishapur
Medium:Earthenware; white slip with incised black slip decoration under transparent glaze
Dimensions:Diam. 10 13/16 in. (27.5 cm)
Classification:Ceramics
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1940
Object Number:40.170.25
Bowl
The ninth and tenth centuries in eastern Iran and nearby Central Asia gave birth to a remarkable series of decorative pottey types introducing fundamental innovations and displaying an extraordinarily high development of the technique of underglaze slip painting. In addition to the "black on white" wares, represented by this piece, there were among others, "white on black" wares, "polychrome on white" wares, and, for example, wares in which a red body was only partially covered with a white slip, and the whole then covered with a dark green glaze, producing a black-and-green effect when fired.
This bowl presents the combination of features typical of the finer "black on white" wares—exquisite design, fine calligraphy, pure white engobe, and colorless glaze—creating a striking effect. The inscription admonishes: "Whoever talks a lot, slips a lot," a proverb which has a parallel in extant oral tradition, "Whoever talks a lot will be blamed a lot." The decorator of this bowl could be said to have heeded the spirit of the saying; a more restrained and effective manifestation is seldom seen.
Underglaze painting was to remain one of the special glories of Islamic ceramics of this time forward, but rarely was it practiced with the elegant taste and technical perfection of the best of these tenth-century Iranian wares.
Manuel Keene in [Berlin 1981]
Inscription: In Arabic: "He who talks a lot, spills a lot."
"He who multiplies his words, multiplies his worthlessness" [S. Heidemann 2/2011]
A person who talks too much has many faults [man kathura kalamuhu kathura saqtuhu] (Ghouchani 1986, pl. 32)
1939, excavated at Tepe Madrasa in Nishapur, Iran by the Metropolitan Museum of Art's expedition; 1940, acquired by the Museum in the division of finds
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Calligraphy West of China," March 15–May 7, 1972, no catalogue.
Berlin. Museum für Islamische Kunst, Pergamonmuseum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. "The Arts of Islam. Masterpieces from the M.M.A.," June 15, 1981–August 8, 1981, no. 6.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Making The Met, 1870–2020," August 29, 2020–January 3, 2021.
Hauser, Walter, and Charles K. Wilkinson. "The Museum's Excavations at Nishapur." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin vol. 37 no. 4 (1942). p. 115, ill. fig. 41 (b/w).
Lane, Arthur. "Mesopotamia, Egypt and Persia." In Early Islamic Pottery. Faber Monographs on Pottery and Porcelain. London: Faber and Faber, 1947. p. 18, ill. pl. 18A (b/w).
Ghouchani, Abdollah. Inscriptions on Nishapur Pottery. Tehran, Iran, 1986. ill. pl. 32 (b/w).
"Calligraphy West of China." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin vol. 30, no. 5 (1972). p. 254, ill. (b/w).
Wilkinson, Charles K. Nishapur: Pottery of the Early Islamic Period. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1973. no. 19, ch. 3, pp. 98, 116, ill. fig. 19 (b/w).
Ettinghausen, Richard. "Islamic Art." MMA Bulletin vol. 33, no. 1 (Spring 1975). pp. 10–11, ill. (b/w).
"Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York." In The Arts of Islam. Berlin, 1981. no. 6, pp. 38–39, ill. (b/w).
Bayer, Andrea, and Laura D. Corey, ed. Making the Met, 1870–2020. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2020. p. 105, ill. fig. 109.
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