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Round saucer with orange and black decoration

This off-white saucer has a small round central indentation. A black dot is painted in the exact center of the saucer. Its wide rim is evenly bisected by three black lines running to the edge of the plate. Each line has three dots along its length, and the dot closest to the edge is surrounded by a black circle. Each of the three sections created by the lines has the same orange-and-black painted shape along the edge. The shape looks a bit like three tall rectangles stuck together, with more black dots along its bottom edge.

Gallery Text

Following the Prophet Muhammad’s example, the Islamic polity, or caliphate, was ruled by a political and religious leader titled the caliph, or “successor” to the Prophet. Muslims eventually developed a monarchic system for controlling the succession of caliphs. The four centuries of the early Islamic era witnessed the establishment—and unraveling—of the universal caliphates of the Umayyad (661–750) and Abbasid (750–1258) dynasties.

The range of the objects in this case illustrates the Islamic empire’s rapid expansion and the assimilation of peoples and artistic practices. A hot-worked glass vessel and a green-glazed pottery cup demonstrate continuity with late Roman traditions, while the figural imagery and inscriptions on tenth-century polychrome pottery vessels from eastern Iran underscore the continued vitality of pre-Islamic cultural traditions there. The creation of coinage bearing only inscriptions at the turn of the seventh century signals the unprecedented stature that Arabic calligraphy acquired, as the script itself became a symbol of the faith. Arabic inscriptions decorating ceramics produced in Central Asia proclaim the owner’s literacy and Muslim identity.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2000.331
Title
Saucer
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
11th century
Places
Creation Place: Middle East, Iran or Uzbekistan, Nishapur or Samarkand
Period
Samanid period
Culture
Persian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/174958

Location

Location
Level 2, Room 2550, Art from Islamic Lands, The Middle East and North Africa
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Slip-painted decoration
Dimensions
4.45 x 20.32 cm (1 3/4 x 8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Ann B. Goodman, Cambridge, MA, (by 2000), gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 1960.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Ann B. Goodman, 1953
Accession Year
2000
Object Number
2000.331
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 2550 Islamic, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

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