c. 1600
The placement of fish at the bottom of a vessel associated with water is a long-standing tradition in Islamic metalwork and can be seen in several earlier objects in this gallery. However, the form of these swirling fish, with human heads, is characteristic of the Deccan and can be seen in architecture as well as metalwork. Around the rim of this dish is the Throne Verse from the Qur'an in thuluth script against a scrolling vegetal background. The use of thuluth script during this period is also typical of the Deccan and can be paralleled in architecture; in contemporary northern India and Iran, nastaliq was the script of choice. Notes from the Glory and Prosperity exhibition, Feb - June 2002.
Diam: 27.9 x H: 2.5 cm (11 x 1 in.)
Pale blue glass
1st-2nd century CERomanSilver
18th-19th centuryFrenchLeaded bronze, traces of gilding
6th century BCEGreekEarthenware with traces of slip-painted decoration
5th millennium BCEChineseExport blue-and-white ware: porcelain with mold-impressed designs and decoration painted in underglaze cobalt blue
18th centuryChineseGlass
20th centurySwedishBrown glass
Enameled red-and-white ware, "youli hong" type: porcelain with decoration painted in underglaze copper red and overglaze yellow enamel; with underglaze cobalt blue mark reading "Da Qing Yongzheng nian zhi" within the hollow stem
18th centuryChineseEarthenware with cold painted pigmentEarthenware with cold painted pigment
5th-3rd millennium BCEChineseUnderglazed, painted fritware
17th-18th centuryPersianTerracotta
Greek