VesselsPersian10th century

Bowl Inscribed with Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad and 'Ali ibn Abi Talib

10th century

Description

With its pure white slip, precise calligraphy, and perfectly clear glaze, this deep-walled bowl embodies the finest qualities of Samanid epigraphic wares. Most surviving examples of this class of ceramics reproduce benedictory phrases or popular proverbs. More rarely, as here they record sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad and his Companions. Beginning in his own lifetime, Muhammad’s example was considered an important guide for how people should conduct their lives. In the early centuries of the Islamic era, sayings attributed to and anecdotes about him were collected and analyzed by numerous authors. The large andcomplex body of literature that resulted from this immense effort is known as hadith. The outer inscription on this bowl is written in black slip and records a saying attributed to the Prophet: “Modesty is a branch of faith, and faith is in paradise”. The inner inscription, in red slip, contains a similar dictum credited to 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, Muhammad’s son-in-law and the fourth orthodox Caliph of Islam: “Greed is a sign of poverty”. Because each inscription is written in a ring, the calligrapher inserted a single-word invocation to mark the beginning: in the outer circle, “felicity”, and in the inner one, “health”. This bowl has been reassembled from about fifteen fragments, with only minimal losses. The white slip and clear glaze completely cover the vessel, including its flat, slightly concave base.

Classification

Vessels

Technique

Underglazed, painted

Medium

Reddish earthenware covered in white slip and painted with black (manganese and iron) and red (iron) under clear lead glaze

Culture

Persian

Period

Samanid period

Century

10th century

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Islamic & Later Indian Art

Dimensions

9.6 x 26.9 cm (3 3/4 x 10 9/16 in.)

Provenance

[Mansour Gallery, London, before 1973], sold; to Stanford and Norma Jean Calderwood, Belmont, MA (by 1973-2002), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2002.

Related Artworks

Vessels

Smaller Pot from a Funerary Model in the Form of a Stove with Two Cooking Pots (2002.268.A-C)

Unknown Artist, 1st-2nd century CE

Lead-glazed funerary ware: molded brick red earthenware with emerald green, lead-fluexed glaze

1st-2nd century CEChinese

Vessels

Amphora Handle with Punic Stamp

Unknown Artist, 300-146 BCE

Terracotta

3rd-2nd century BCEPunic

Glass

Circular Dish with Decoration of Phoenixes in Flight on the Interior and Eight Roundels, Each with an Auspicious Emblem, on the Exterior (one from a set)

Unknown Artist, Jiajing period, 1522-1566

Enameled ware: porcelain with decoration reserved against an overglaze red enamel ground, the reserved elements embellished with green and black enamels; with underglaze cobalt-blue mark reading "Da Ming Jiajing nian zhi" on the base

16th centuryChinese