Kendi
ca. 1640 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
By the 1620s, Iranian potters were producing convincing copies of the Chinese porcelain imports flooding into Iran since the 1580s. The challenge was to produce well-painted Kraak-style designs on thinly walled vessels. Iranian potters invented a technique later copied by the Dutch of outlining there designs with black manganese to create the crisp detail of the Chinese originals. The cobalt used to create the rich blue was fugitive in the firing process and tended to run, distorting the original designs. The black outlines helped to solve this problem.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Fritware, painted and glazed |
| Brief description | Drinking vessel (Kendi), fritware, painted in underglaze cobalt blue and manganese black, made in Iran, about 1640 |
| Physical description | Kendi (drinking vessel or bottle), imitating a Chinese original, fritware, painted in underglaze cobalt blue and manganese black. A reserved lattice covers the flattened rim and its underside. The four panels of the neck are filled with a lozenge dividing two stemmed flowers. Two floral and lappet bands emphasize the shoulder. The body is painted with a rosette, ribbons and tassel under the spout, and four panels with an elongated deer and fence under a cloud, a diving bird, another bird on its back and the leafy head of a strange animal. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | Imitation Chinese square seal mark (Painted in black on the base under the glaze) |
| Gallery label | Ceramics Galleries 145.5-6 Precious Cargo |
| Summary | By the 1620s, Iranian potters were producing convincing copies of the Chinese porcelain imports flooding into Iran since the 1580s. The challenge was to produce well-painted Kraak-style designs on thinly walled vessels. Iranian potters invented a technique later copied by the Dutch of outlining there designs with black manganese to create the crisp detail of the Chinese originals. The cobalt used to create the rich blue was fugitive in the firing process and tended to run, distorting the original designs. The black outlines helped to solve this problem. |
| Bibliographic reference | Yolande Crowe, Persia and China: Safavid Blue and White Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1501-1738, London (Thames & Hudson), 2002: cat. no.113, p.99. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 998-1876 |
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| Record created | November 28, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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