Bowl with Radial Foliate Design
12th-13th century
Description
The interior of this bowl is divided into eight equal sections by lines, embellished with dots and twining tendrils, that spring from triangular arabesques and terminate with pairs of small, silhouetted birds toward the rim. Each section contains a palmette-filled pendant. Around the rim runs an angular pseudo-inscription. Paired lines divide the exterior of the bowl into sections, which are filled with loosely painted scrolls. The twining tendrils and the palmette-enclosing pendants on the interior of this bowl are very common in Persian lusterwares. The bowl is intact, and the quality of its luster is remarkable. The white glaze does not cover the foot, which the potter would have held when dipping the vessel into the glazing compound before firing.
Dimensions
9 x 21.7 cm (3 9/16 x 8 9/16 in.)
Provenance
[Hadji Baba Rabbi House of Antiquities, Teheran,1972], sold; to Stanford and Norma Jean Calderwood, Belmont, Massachusetts, (1972-2002), gift; to the Harvard Art Museums, 2002.
Related Artworks
View MoreTerracotta
4th century BCEGreekCeramic
20th centurySwedishWhite ware: glazed porcelain with incised mark reading "Qianlong nian zhi" in seal-script characters on the base
18th centuryChineseCast bronze; with inscription cast on the vessel floor
13th-11th century BCEChinesePurple glass with gilt bronze mounts
19th centuryEuropean?Silver
19th centuryAmericanTerracotta, black glaze
4th century BCEGreekBronze
8th-6th century BCEGreekBronze
13th centuryGermanTerracotta
6th century BCEGreekCizhou-type ware: light gray stoneware with medium brown glaze over white slip, the decoration incised into the glaze before firing to reveal the white slip. Place of manufacture uncertain--probably from northern China.
16th centuryChineseTerracotta, black to gray ware
3rd millennium BCEAnatolian