The lion was a symbol of power, strength, and royalty. Its reigning planet is the Sun, which is shown here as a circular disk against which the whimsically spotted lion is set. The bowl was made in Kashan, in central Iran, where the technology for making luster-glazed ceramics was introduced in the early twelfth century, with the arrival of the potters from Egypt who carried the secret knowledge for creating this decorative effect.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Bowl with Leopard
Date:early 13th century
Geography:Attributed to Iran, Kashan
Medium:Stonepaste; luster-painted on opaque white glaze
Dimensions:H. 4 1/8 in. (10.5 cm) Diam. of rim: 8 3/4 in. (22.2 cm) Wt. 14.9 oz. (422.5 g)
Classification:Ceramics
Credit Line:Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Lewis Balamuth, 1968
Object Number:68.215.10
Bowl
The profile of this fine bowl, with its straight, low, hollow foot; a transitional section between the foot and the body that splays outward; and straight, flaring sides, makes it typical of the ceramic objects decorated with luster paint by Kashan workshops in the early thirteenth century. The bowl is in very good condition, its brown luster decoration still crisp and shiny. Its exterior was painted with a simple pattern of medallions between bands; its interior, following a common decorative device dictated by the shape of the bowl, was divided into concentric circles. Some of the patterns were drawn in reserve and others were painted directly in luster, creating a dichromatic contrast that contributes to the overall appeal of the object.
The interior of the bowl contains a medallion in the shape of a sun disk with thirty-seven rays; in the center, drawn in reserve, is a feline walking to the left, its body dotted with spots of luster paint. The sun medallion also includes a plump bird flying above the lion and three half-palmette motifs in reserve. Although this image might be interpreted simply as a symbol of power and wealth, the presence of a lion inside the circle of the Sun suggests that it also must be regarded as the astrological emblem of Leo with its Planetary Lord, the Sun. Therefore, this bowl seems to combine a cosmological and talismanic symbolism along with a basic representation of power. This interpretation is supported by the talisman-like looped dragons, with their confronted heads and wide-open mouths, that form the band that encircles the central medallion.
Images of this type, which also have astronomical and astrological associations with the Head and the Tail of the Dragon, as in the representation of the pseudo-planet Jawzahr were especially common in Iraq and southeastern Anatolia, as confirmed by the decoration on the so-called Bah al-Tilism (Gate of the Talisman) in Baghdad, unfortunately destroyed at the beginning of the century but known from old photographs.
The dragon-filled band includes pseudo-kufic writing, while the two bands closer to the rim contain inscriptions in a hurried cursive naskh script, one copied in reserve by scratching the luster away, the other written upside down in luster against the white slip. The garbled calligraphy seems to repeat several short sentences in both Arabic and Persian, which, if decipherable, perhaps would shed light on a better understanding of the symbolism of the bowl.
[Carboni 1997]
Dr. and Mrs. Lewis Balamuth, New York (until 1968; gifted to MMA)
New York. The Hagop Kevorkian Special Exhibitions Gallery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Following the Stars: Images of the Zodiac in Islamic Art," February 4–August 31, 1997, no. 13.
Dallas. Trammell and Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art. "Clay Between Two Seas: From the Abbasid Court to Puebla de los Angeles," September 16, 2016–February 12, 2017.
Carboni, Stefano. Following the Stars: Images of the Zodiac in Islamic Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997. no. 13, pp. 32–33, ill. (b/w).
Canby, Sheila R., Deniz Beyazit, and Martina Rugiadi. "The Great Age of the Seljuqs." In Court and Cosmos. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016. p. 231, ill. fig. 90.
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