Bowl, fritware, painted in colours with depictions of seated and mounted men and two peacocks (mina'i ware); Iran (probably Kashan), 1180-1220.

Bowl, fritware, painted in colours, both inglaze and overglaze enamels with gold. Bowl is decorated with two horsemen in the centre on either side of a tree, and around the inside of the rim with four groups of seated figures alternating with medallions.

Given by Col. Stephenson Clarke C.B.

Morgan (1994) has divided mina'i wares into three basic categories; with relief decoration (non-figural), without relief decoration (non-figural), and without relief decoration (figural). This bowl represents type 3. Mina'i wares share three main charactertistics; they are made with a white composite fabric; they are covered with an opaque white, or occasionally, an opaque turquoise glaze which reaches the edge of the foot outside and is applied separately in the vertical footring; thirdly, the polychrome colours are applied over the glaze. The use of gold on this bowl and the skilled painting of the figures links it to the finest example of mina'i known, fragments of a bowl decorated with scenes from Firdausi's Shahnamah in the Khalili Collection POT875. The figurative decoration on Iranian pottery of the 12th and 13th centuries, and mina'i in particular, is thought to reflect a contemporary tradition of mural and manuscript painting.

The general repertory of mina'i ware seems to reflect the iconography of the princely life; the entertainments of the court, hunting, polo and warfare. Many are also inscribed with poetry but so far little is known about the patrons of such wares nor the context in which they were used. Minai tilework also exists mosly from the Seljuk palace complex at Konya but some pieces have been recovered from Iran (Grube, 1976).

Minai

This beautiful decorative bowl features two mounted figures on either side of a golden tree. Below them are peacocks. Around the inside of the bowl are four pairs of seated figures, separated by arabesque motifs, in poses that suggest they are having a conversation.

The bowl has been decorated with enamel colours and gold painted over the glaze. The technique emerged in Iran in the 12th century. It was a revolutionary development in ceramic decoration that enabled potters to paint with more detail than ever before. The result was a whole genre of wares decorated with depictions of various human activities. There were scenes of people seated at court, hunting, playing polo, and even fighting in battles.

C.85-1918