Although the iconography of buff-colored earthenwares like this bowl is not well understood, it is clear that a number of pieces with similar colors were created in a Christian context. At the time, Nishapur was also a Nestorian bishopric, and a number of these pieces incorporate crosses in their decoration.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Bowl
Date:10th century
Geography:Attributed to Iran, Nishapur
Medium:Earthenware; polychrome slip under transparent glaze
Dimensions:H. 4 7/8 in. (12.4 cm) Diam. of rim: 12 3/4 in. (32.4 cm)
Classification:Ceramics
Credit Line:Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Lester Wolfe, 1965
Object Number:65.270.1
Bowl
Apparently peculiar to Nishapur was the production of a distinctive type of pottery that features a well-fired buff body painted in the manner seen here, although the majority of the pieces have neither the red color nor figural or animal motifs. The manner of applying the green glaze seems to relate pieces like this bowl to the color-splashed wares, and the painting style (for example, of these faces) to certain ninth-century Iraqi wares. Although much if not most of the iconography of this group is little understood, it is clear from a number of the pieces that they had a Nestorian Christian context (Nishapur was at the time the seat of a Nestorian bishopric). Not only do a number of the type incorporate specific Nestorian-type crosses in their decoration, but there is a piece in the Archeological Museum, Teheran, that has an inscription in Syriac, the lithurgical language of the Nestorians. And although the Arabic "inscriptions" on this ware in all cases save one are, as here, merely decorative pseudo-inscriptions, there is a remarkable fragmentary bowl in the Metropolitan's collection with a rhyming Arabic proverb that asserts: "Every People has a Book, and every act has its reckoning." This reference to "people of the book" (those such as Christians, Jews, and Sabateans, who along with Muslims had a common prophetic and biblical tradition), must further strengthen the Christian connection.
Manuel Keene in [The Arts of Islam: Masterpieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, 1981]
Marking: - Stickers on base: H.K. Monif; No. 836
[probably Hassan Khan Monif, New York]; Mr. and Mrs. Lester Wolfe, New York (by 1961–65; gifted to MMA)
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. 4.
"Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York." In The Arts of Islam. Berlin, 1981. no. 4, pp. 34–35, ill. (b/w).
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