Published Catalogue Text: In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art , written 2013
18
Bowl with standing figure
Iran, Nishapur, Samanid period, 10th century,[1] with significant areas of modern overpainting
Buff-colored earthenware covered in pinkish slip and painted with black (manganese and iron), red (iron), yellow (lead-tin), and green (copper) under clear lead glaze
8.1 × 21 cm (3 3/16 × 8 1/4 in.)
2002.50.50
Published: McWilliams 2003, 227, 231, fig. 8; McWilliams 2004, 11.
Examination under ultraviolet light reveals that almost two-thirds of this bowl has been overpainted. Happily, most of the large standing figure, from the top of the flattened head to the tip of the pointed shoes, is original. Details of the garment, such as neckline, lapels, and pattern of the skirt, are original ceramic surface. The figure’s shoulders and upper arms have been repainted, as has the leafy projection from the piece of fruit he or she holds in an upraised hand.[2] The bird on the left is mostly original, but the other is overpainted, as is almost eighty percent of the upper walls and rim. The exterior is also heavily resurfaced.
Mary McWilliams
[1] The bowl was last fired between 700 and 1100 years ago, according to the results of thermoluminescence analysis carried out by Oxford Authentication Ltd. in 2004.
[2] See, in this catalogue, Oya Pancaroğlu’s essay, “Feasts of Nishapur: Cultural Resonances of Tenth-Century Ceramic Production in Khurasan,” 25–35.
