This bowl and 64.178.1 are the earliest dated pieces attributed to Abu Zayd al‑Kashani, a famous potter and painter specializing in both luster and mina'i. Inscribed in both Arabic and Persian, both bowls bear dates on the exterior, good wishes to their owners in the kufic band around the rim, and verses of poetry—composed by Abu Zayd himself—below the fish pond. The figural scenes do not directly illustrate the verses, but may relate thematically.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Bowl
Maker:Abu Zayd al-Kashani (Iranian)
Date:dated 583 AH/1187 CE
Geography:Attributed to Iran
Medium:Stonepaste; polychrome inglaze and overglaze painted on opaque monochrome glaze (mina'i)
Dimensions:H. 3 5/8 in. (9.2 cm) Diam. of rim. 8 1/2 in. (21.6 cm)
Classification:Ceramics
Credit Line:Fletcher Fund, 1964
Object Number:64.178.2
Inscription: All poems on this bowl are from Abu Zayd, the famous potter from Kashan.
On the interior in kufic script:
العز الدائم و الاقبال ... و الجد الصاعد و الو و السلامة و السعادة و الکرامة و النصر و النعمة ...
in the register below there is a Persian poem in naskhi script:
مُردمی کز تو تا در عالمی لیک با آن کس که داند مردمی
آدمی کز مردمی برون شود پس چه گاو و خر چه دیو و آدمی
On the exterior there is a Persian poem in Naskhi script that reads:
روئی چو میت؟ بدل بگشایی اکنون ... ماه سبق می برد ای خاتون
مسکین دل من ده مرده گه ... ...ـست گه غرقۀ خون
In Arabic:
قائله کاتبه بعد ماعمله کتب فی یوم السبت اوایل محرم لسنة ثلث و ثمانین و خمسمائة هجریة عربیة بقاء لصاحبه و لکاتبه و لقارئه
(A. Ghouchani, 2011)
Marking: -Sticker below base: PERSIAN / EXHIBITION / NEW YORK / 1940 / PW / 11 / 78721 -Sticker below base (typed): 27626 -Sticker below base: PX49 / 492
Emile Tabbagh, New York (until 1936; sale, Anderson Galleries,New York, January 4, 1936); [ M. Parish-Watson, New York, by 1938–at least 1940]; Mr. and Mrs. Fred Olsen, Guildford, CT (until 1964; sale,Sotheby's, London, June 8, 1964, no. 134, to MMA)
London. Burlington House. "International Exhibition of Persian Art," January 7, 1931–February 28, 1931.
Iranian Institute. "Exhibition of Persian Art," 1940, Gal. I, no. 27F.
Muhlemann, Corinne. Complex Weaves : Technique, Text, and Cultural History of Striped Silks. Affalterbach, Württ: Didymos-Verlag, p. 131, ill. fig. 64.
Anderson Galleries, Inc. "January 4, 1936." In Emile Tabbagh Collection. New York, January 4, 1936. pp. 61–63, ill. p. 63.
Harari, Ralph, and Richard Ettinghausen. A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present, edited by Arthur Upham Pope. vol. I–VI. London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1938. vol. II, p. 1628; ill. vol. V, pl. 686.
Ackerman, Phyllis. "The Iranian Institute, New York." In Guide to the Exhibition of Persian Art. 2nd. ed. New York: Iranian Institute, 1940. Gallery I, case 27F, p. 31.
Sotheby's, London. "London, June 8, 1964." In Mr. and Mrs. Fred Olsen Collection. London, 1964. no. 134, p. 52, ill. opposite.
Grube, Ernst J. "The Art of Islamic Pottery." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin vol. 23, no. 6 (February 1965). pp. 225–26, ill. fig. 31 (b/w).
Ettinghausen, Richard, and Oleg Grabar. The Art and Architecture of Islam: 650–1250. Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, 1987. p. 346, ill. fig. 368 (b/w).
Soucek, Priscilla, ed. Content and Context of Visual Arts in the Islamic World : papers from a colloquium in memory of Richard Ettinghausen, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Monographs on the fine arts, vol. 44. University Park, PA: College Art Association of America, 1988. pp. 27, 40, ill. fig. 3 (b/w).
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. 175, ill. fig. 272 (color).
Porter, Yves. "Arts and Archeology of the Islamic World." Under the Adorned Dome : Four Essays in the Arts of Iran and India vol. 19 (2023). p. 72, ill. fig. 2.20.
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