Small Bowl with Quadruped and Inscription
10th century
Description
The Arabic word for “blessing” (baraka) is written twice below the curious four-legged beast that fills this small bowl. The slender legs of the animal and its hooves with dewclaws probably indicate that it was intended to be a deer, a creature admired for its beauty and prized by hunters as game. Its neck, head, and upper back are an early restoration, poorly painted on plaster fill.
Dimensions
5.6 x 16.2 cm (2 3/16 x 6 3/8 in.)
Provenance
[Hadji Baba Rabbi House of Antiquties, Teheran, before 1973], sold; to Stanford and Norma Jean Calderwood, Belmont, MA (by 1973-2002), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2002.
Related Artworks
View MoreTerracotta
GreekSilver
17th-19th centuryFrenchPale greenish white nephrite
19th centuryChinesePale yellow-brown glass
3rd-7th centuryRomanTerracotta; buff slip, black and red paint
6th century BCEGreekPale blue glazed faience
1st-2nd century CERomanSilver
17th-19th centuryFrenchFritware under turquoise glaze
12th-13th centuryPersianCeramic
20th centuryGermanCeramic
18th centuryGermanTerracotta with red slip
CypriotBiscuit porcelain with decoration painted in green, aubergine, and black enamels against a yellow enamel ground; with spurious underglaze cobalt-blue mark reading "Da Ming Xuande nian zhi" within a double circle on the base
17th centuryChinese