Harvard Art Museums > 2002.50.55: Albarello with Inscription, Arabesques, and Figures Vessels Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Albarello with Inscription, Arabesques, and Figures , 2002.50.55,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Apr 25, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/165382. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 2002.50.55 Title Albarello with Inscription, Arabesques, and Figures Classification Vessels Work Type vessel Date 20th century Places Creation Place: Middle East, Iran Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/165382 Physical Descriptions Medium Pink fritware covered in plaster and painted with black (chromium) under turquoise (copper) translucent lead alkali glaze Technique Underglazed, painted Dimensions 25.8 cm x 12.6 cm (10 3/16 x 4 15/16 in.) Provenance Recorded Ownership History [Mansour Gallery, London, 1972], sold; to Stanford and Norma Jean Calderwood, Belmont, MA (1972-2002), 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 2002.50.55 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Description The decoration on this tall albarello, or medicine jar, is carefully painted and harmoniously composed in horizontal registers. These bands vary in width, and the backgrounds alternate between black and turquoise. The wide neck bears an inscription in tall Kufic letters, repeating the Arabic word al-mulk (sovereignty). Scrolling, leafy tendrils run along three bands. Two others are occupied by figural motifs: just below the shoulder, seven haloed sphinxes, facing left, appear on a black ground, and, below them, five figures sit cross-legged among scrolling tendrils with kidney-shaped leaves. Some of the figures are bearded and others clean shaven, but all are haloed and wear black robes patterned in reserve. Although Calderwood acquired this albarello as a work of medieval Persian art, it is more likely the product of a revival of traditional styles and media that took place in Iran during the Pahlavi reign (1925–79). In form and decoration, it evokes without exactly replicating ceramics from the Seljuk-Atabeg period. Had the jar been intended as a forgery, the potter would have made it of white rather than plaster-covered pink fritware. The albarello is intact, but in many places the glaze has deteriorated to a matte surface. The ceramic body is fine grained but soft. The plaster and turquoise glaze cover the jar inside and out, stopping short of the foot ring. Published Catalogue Text: In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art , written 201352 Albarello with inscription, arabesques, and figures Probably Iran, 20th century[1] Pink fritware covered in plaster and painted with black (chromium) under turquoise (copper) translucent lead alkali glaze 25.8 × 12.6 cm (10 3/16 × 4 15/16 in.) 2002.50.55 The decoration on this tall albarello, or medicine jar, is carefully painted and harmoniously composed in horizontal registers. These bands vary in width, and the backgrounds alternate between black and turquoise. The wide neck bears an inscription in tall Kufic letters, repeating the Arabic word al-mulk (sovereignty). Scrolling, leafy tendrils run along three bands. Two others are occupied by figural motifs: just below the shoulder, seven haloed sphinxes, facing left, appear on a black ground, and, below them, five figures sit cross-legged among scrolling tendrils with kidney-shaped leaves. Some of the figures are bearded and others clean shaven, but all are haloed and wear black robes patterned in reserve. Although Calderwood acquired this albarello as a work of medieval Persian art, it is more likely the product of a revival of traditional styles and media that took place in Iran during the Pahlavi reign (1925–79).[2] In form and decoration, it evokes without exactly replicating ceramics from the Seljuk-Atabeg period.[3] Had the jar been intended as a forgery, the potter would have made it of white rather than plaster-covered pink fritware. The albarello is intact, but in many places the glaze has deteriorated to a matte surface. The ceramic body is fine grained but soft. The plaster and turquoise glaze cover the jar inside and out, stopping short of the foot ring. Mary McWilliams Publication History Mary McWilliams, ed., In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art, exh. cat., Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2013), pp. 204-202, cat. 52, ill. Exhibition History In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/31/2013 - 06/01/2013 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
