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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2002.50.85
Title
Ten-sided Bowl with High Foot
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
14th century
Places
Creation Place: Middle East, Iran
Period
Ilkhanid period
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/165188

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Fritware painted with blue (cobalt), turquoise (copper), and black (chromium) under clear alkali glaze
Technique
Underglazed, painted
Dimensions
9.7 x 13.6 cm (3 13/16 x 5 3/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Mansour Gallery, London, 1975], sold; to Stanford and Norma Jean Calderwood, Belmont, MA (1975-2002), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2002.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art
Accession Year
2002
Object Number
2002.50.85
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description
On the interior, this bowl is divided into ten radial sections, corresponding with its sides, that feature two alternating designs. One is pseudo-calligraphic, proceeding from the center of the bowl to the rim, with horizontal elements contracting and verticals expanding. The other design is tripartite and abstract. The intricacy and dark coloration of the interior contrast with the cheerful simplicity of the outside, where the white ceramic body remains more visible through a surface embellishment of lines and dots. The shape and decoration of this bowl are common among wares attributed to the Ilkhanid period, although their production place has not been definitively established.

Published Catalogue Text: In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art , written 2013
39

Ten-sided bowl with high foot
Iran, Ilkhanid period, 14th century[1]
Fritware painted with blue (cobalt), turquoise (copper), and black (chromium) under clear alkali glaze
9.7 × 13.6 cm (3 13/16 × 5 3/8 in.)
2002.50.85

On the interior, this bowl is divided into ten radial sections, corresponding with its sides, that feature two alternating designs. One is pseudo-calligraphic, proceeding from the center of the bowl to the rim, with horizontal elements contracting and verticals expanding. The other design is tripartite and abstract. The intricacy and dark coloration of the interior contrast with the cheerful simplicity of the outside, where the white ceramic body remains more visible through a surface embellishment of lines and dots.[2] The shape and decoration of this bowl are common among wares attributed to the Ilkhanid period, although their production place has not been definitively established.

Ayşin Yoltar-Yıldırım

[1] The bowl was last fired between 400 and 700 years ago, according to the results of thermoluminescence analysis carried out by Oxford Authentication Ltd. in 2012.
[2] A bowl with very similar exterior decoration is in the Sackler Gallery, Washington, DC. See Cort et al. 2000, 66.

Publication History

  • Jessica Chloros, "An Investigation of Cobalt Pigment on Islamic Ceramics at the Harvard Art Museums" (thesis (certificate in conservation), Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, 2008), Unpublished, pp. 1-41 passim
  • Mary McWilliams, ed., In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art, exh. cat., Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2013), p. 195, cat. 39, ill.

Exhibition History

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu