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This exhibit comes from the culture of Islam. These pieces range from the 9th century to the 10th century. All of these three pieces are similar by all being bowls. Each of these bowls have different meanings but are connected by symbolic meanings. In the (1) image, this small bowl was a center of rock crystal. This bowl follows a long tradition and is made with many metals stones and ceramics. In (2) the Chinese Stoneware bowl the word happiness is repeated twice and the word felicity repeated as well. This bowl brought its own meaning and symbol. It has a message of good fortune and good luck for happiness. Lastly in this exhibition(3), this bowl has meaning as well. This bowl protects from regret and prosperity. It was a calligraphic decoration from words designed into rhythmic intervals.

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Title: Small Lobed Bowl
Artist: unknown
Medium:Rock crystal; carved, relief-cut
Culture: Islamic

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/456303?deptids=14&amp;when=A.D.+500-1000&amp;ao=on&amp;ft=Islamic&amp;offset=0&amp;rpp=40&amp;pos=7

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Small Lobed Bowl | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The famous scientist al-Biruni, writing in the early 11th century, reports that Basra (Bassora) in Iraq was a center of rock crystal manufacture. Also, no other centers of rock carving production have been identified for the early and the middle Islamic periods.

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Title: Bowl Emulating Chinese Stoneware

Artist: Unknown
Medium:Earthenware; painted in blue on opaque white glaze
Culture:Arabic

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/451715?deptids=14&amp;when=A.D.+500-1000&amp;ao=on&amp;ft=Islamic&amp;offset=0&amp;rpp=40&amp;pos=39

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Bowl with Cobalt-Blue Inscriptions

Chinese stonepaste and porcelain ceramics of the Tang period ( 618-907) were exported in quantity to western Asia in the mid-eighth and ninth centuries. Excavated examples found at various sites throughout Iraq serve as evidence of the popularity of these wares at the Abbasid court. In an attempt to imitate the hard body of Chinese high-fired porcelain, ninth-century Iraqi potters rediscovered the earlier technique of coating earthenware vessels with tin oxide mixed with a clear lead glaze, which created a fine opaque white surface onto which a wide array of designs could be painted. Since there were no tin mines in the region, this metal was imported by sea from Southeast Asia.[1] Iraqi potters often decorated their wares with blue (cobalt), green (copper), and manganese purple. They also sought to replicate the shapes of the Chinese ceramics, the majority of which, like this example, are bowls with low feet, flaring sides, and everted rims.

Elegantly proportioned, the bowl is decorated with a kufic inscription in cobalt blue against an opaque white ground. Like others of its type, it is one of the first examples of pottery in the early Islamic period to incorporate Arabic calligraphy as the main element of decoration. Not entirely legible, the inscription appears to be the Arabic word ghibta (felicity), which is repeated twice at the center.[2] Many of these bowls include calligraphic designs with messages of good fortune or the name of the potter, although some also feature vegetal and green splash designs. The tin-opacified wares of Iraq were also the first to incorporate blue designs on a white surface, a striking combination adapted by Chinese potters of the Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644), and Qing periods (1644-1911) and later used extensively in Europe.[3]

Here the calligraphic composition and overall visual effect take priority over legibility. The striking contrast between the cobalt blue of the calligraphy and the white opaque ground creates a visual impression that resembles blotted ink, while the garlandlike motifs decorating the rim combine with the central inscriptions to establish a balanced composition.

Maryam Ekhtiar in [Ekhtiar, Soucek, Canby, and Haidar 2011]

Footnotes:

1. Allan, James. Islamic Ceramics. Ashmolean-Christie's Handbooks. Oxford, 1991, p. 6.

2. There is an almost identical bowl with an identical inscription in the Harvey B. Plotnick collection in Chicago. See Perpetual Glory: Medieval Islamic Ceramics from the Harvey B. Plotnick Collection. Exhibition, The Art Institute of Chicago. Catalogue by Oya Pancaroglu with Maijeh Bayani. Chicago 2007, p. 42.

3. I bid. See also Watson, Oliver. Ceramics from Islamic Lands. Kuwait National Museum, the al-Sabah Collection. New York, 2004, pp. 171-80.

Inscription: Arabic inscription in kufic script repeated in the center:
غبطة / غبطة
Felicity / Felicity

(From: Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ekhtiar, Soucek, Canby, and Haidar, eds., 2011, p. 33)

[ Nasli M. Heeramaneck, New York, until 1963; sold to MMA]

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Calligraphy West of China," March 15-May 7, 1972, no catalogue.

New York. The Hagop Kevorkian Special Exhibitions Gallery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Nature of Islamic Ornament Part I: Calligraphy," February 26-June 28, 1998, no catalogue.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Balcony Calligraphy Exhibition," June 1-October 26, 2009, no catalogue.

Koechlin, R., and Gaston Migeon. "Ceramics, Fabrics, Carpets One Hundred Plates in Color." In Oriental Art. Paris, 1928. pl. IV (related).

Lane, Arthur. "Mesopotamia, Egypt and Persia." In Early Islamic Pottery. Faber Monographs on Pottery and Porcelain. London: Faber and Faber, 1947. pl. 9A (related).

Grube, Ernst J. "The Art of Islamic Pottery." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 23, no. 6 (February 1965). pp. 210-11, ill. fig. 2 (b/w).

Jenkins-Madina, Marilyn, Suzanne G. Valenstein, and Julia Meech-Pekarik. "The Metropolitan Museum of Art." In Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections. vol. 12. Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd., 1977. no. 79, pp. 270, 312, ill. pl. 79 (color), profile in b/w.

Welch, Stuart Cary. The Islamic World. vol. 11. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987. p. 20, ill. fig. 8 (color).

Allan, James. Islamic Ceramics. Ashmolean-Christie's Handbooks. Oxford, 1991. p. 6.

Watson, Oliver. "Kuweit National Museum - The Al-Sabah Collection." In Ceramics from Islamic Lands. New York: Thames and Hudson, 2004. pp. 171-80.

Perpetual Glory: Medieval Islamic Ceramics from the Harvey B. Plotnick Collection. Chicago, 2007. p. 42.

Ekhtiar, Maryam, Priscilla P. Soucek, Sheila R. Canby, and Navina Haidar, ed. Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1st ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011. no. 10, pp. 33-34, ill. p. 34 (color).

Ekhtiar, Maryam, and Claire Moore, ed. "A Resource for Educators." In Art of the Islamic World. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012. pp. 210-11, ill. pl. 41 (color).

The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can now connect to the most up-to-date data and images for more than 470,000 artworks in The Met collection. As part of The Met's Open Access program, the data is available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

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Bowl Emulating Chinese Stoneware | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Bowl with Cobalt-Blue Inscriptions Chinese stonepaste and porcelain ceramics of the Tang period ( 618-907) were exported in quantity to western Asia in the mid-eighth and ninth centuries. Excavated examples found at various sites throughout Iraq serve as evidence of the popularity of these wares at the Abbasid court.

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Title: Bowl with Arabic Inscription
Artist: unknown artist
Medium: Earthenware; white slip with black-slip decoration under transparent glaze
Culture: Arabic

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/451802?deptids=14&amp;when=A.D.+500-1000&amp;ao=on&amp;ft=Islamic&amp;offset=0&amp;rpp=40&amp;pos=35

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Produced in northeastern Iran, in the province of Khurasan during the Samanid period, this large bowl with its high, flaring sides and bold, rhythmically spaced inscription in "new-style" script exemplifies the elegance and perfect harmony of the "black-on-white wares" unearthed in the cities of Nishapur and Samarqand. The most important contribution of Samanid potters was the invention and perfection of slip-painted ware. Clarity of design is achieved through the use of a white engobe (a thin wash of slip, or fluid clay, and pigment used as a ground) to cover the red earthenware, on which the inscription is painted in brownish pigment mixed with slip. By adding slip to the pigments, the potters prevented inscriptions and designs from running into one another.

Since this bowl was not among the objects unearthed in Nishapur at the time of the Metropolitan Museum excavations, its attribution is based entirely on visual analysis. It is a superb example of the most common type of black-on-white ware associated with that center. The style of the calligraphy, which is characterized by tall, slender vertical shafts and angular letters, is probably among the earliest versions of "new-style" script. Later adaptations of this script include floriated and plaited variations. The elegance and sophistication of the calligraphy demonstrate a particularly close kinship between calligrapher and potter.

By 875 the Samanids had established an autonomous state, controlling a vast and important area of the eastern Islamic world. In 900 they were granted the governorship of Khurasan by the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad. Although the Samanids often looked to their imperial past for inspiration, it is unlikely that this bowl was produced for a royal patron. In fact, the inscription suggests that it was probably made for a humbler individual. Inscriptions such as this one and others on similar vessels constitute the first extant examples of Arabic proverbs and adages to appear in the Islamic world.[1] Many make reference to the social codes and high standards of moral etiquette held by the denizens of Samanid Nishapur at a time when hospitality and generosity were deeply valued.[2] This particular saying belongs to the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad transmitted by 'Ali.[3] Aphoristic in nature, it advises the owner against harmful or impetuous actions and decisions.

Maryam Ekhtiar in [Ekhtiar, Soucek, Canby, and Haidar 2011]

Footnotes:

1. Ettinghausen, Richard and Oleg Grabar. The Art and Architecture of Islam, 650-1250. The Pelican History of Art. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, 1987, p. 230.

2. Perpetual Glory: Medieval Islamic Ceramics from the Harvey B. Plotnick Collection. Exhibition, The Art Institute of Chicago. Catalogue by Oya Pancaroğlu with Manijeh Bayani. Chicago, 2007.

3. Ghouchani, A[bdullah]. Katibaha-yi sufal-i Nishabur/Inscriptions on Nishabur Pottery. Tehran, 1986, p. 80.

Inscription: Around the inner rim in Arabic in "new-style" script :
التدبیر قبل العمل یؤمنك من الندم الیمن والسلامه
Planning before work protects you from regret; good luck and well-being

(From: Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ekhtiar, Soucek, Canby, and Haidar, eds., 2011, p. 108)

[ E. Safani, New York, until 1965; sold to MMA]

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries," November 14, 1970-June 1, 1971, no. 126.

New York. The Hagop Kevorkian Special Exhibitions Gallery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Celestial Pen: Islamic Calligraphy," September 28, 1982-February 7, 1983, no catalogue.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Balcony Calligraphy Exhibition," June 1-October 26, 2009, no catalogue.

Miles, George C., ed. Archaeologica Orientalia in Memoriam Ernst Herzfeld. Locust Valley, New York: J.J. Augustin Publisher, 1952.

Ghouchani, Abdollah. Inscriptions on Nishapur Pottery. Tehran, Iran, 1986. p. 23, ill. pl. 30 (b/w).

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries: the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1970. no. 126, p. 157, ill. (b/w).

Swietochowski, Marie, and Marilyn Jenkins-Madina. Notable Acquisitions 1965-1975 (1975). p. 143, ill. (b/w).

James, David, and Richard Ettinghausen. Arab Painting. 3, vol. 29. New Delhi: Marg Publications, 1977. p. 4, ill. p. 4 (b/w).

Jenkins-Madina, Marilyn, Suzanne G. Valenstein, and Julia Meech-Pekarik. "The Metropolitan Museum of Art." In Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections. vol. 12. Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd., 1977. no. 232, ill. interior and profile.

Jenkins-Madina, Marilyn. "Islamic Pottery: A Brief History." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series, vol. 40, no. 4 (Spring 1983). no. 9, pp. 10-11, ill. pl. 9 (color).

Welch, Stuart Cary. The Islamic World. vol. 11. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987. pp. 22-23, ill. fig. 11 (color).

Grabar, Oleg. "1989 Andrew W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts." In Intermediary Demons Toward a Theory of Ornament. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., 1989. pp. 14-15, ill. fig. 7 (b/w).

de Montebello, Philippe, and Kathleen Howard, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. 6th ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992. p. 313, ill. fig. 5 (color).

Schimmel, Annemarie. "Islamic Calligraphy." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., vol. 50, no. 1 (Summer 1992). pp. 11-12, ill. fig. 14 (color).

Burn, Barbara, ed. Masterpieces of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York; Boston: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993. p. 83, ill. (color).

Ekhtiar, Maryam, Priscilla P. Soucek, Sheila R. Canby, and Navina Haidar, ed. Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1st ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011. no. 67, pp. 108-10, ill. p. 109 (color).

Canby, Sheila R. "The Islamic Galleries at The Met." Arts of Asia, Arts of Asia, vol. 42 (September/October 2012). pp. 81-82, ill. fig. 2 (color).

Ekhtiar, Maryam, and Claire Moore, ed. "A Resource for Educators." In Art of the Islamic World. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012. pp. 6-7, ill.

Canby, Sheila R. "Educating the Public About Islamic Art and Architecture through Museums." In Islamic Architecture Today and Tomorrow : (Re)defining the Field, edited by Mohammad Gharipour, and Daniel Coslett. Bristol: Intellect Books, 2022. p. 238, ill. fig. 16.1.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012. p. 127, ill. (color).

Scheiner, Jens, and Isabel Toral, ed. Baghdad : From its Beginnings to the 14th Century. Leiden: Brill, 2022. p. 204, ill. fig. 6.1.

Khemir, Sabiha Al. Nur = Light: Light in Art and Science from the Islamic World. Seville, Spain: Fundación Focus-Abengoa, 2014. pp. 38-39, ill. fig. 18 (color).

Flood, Finbarr Barry, and Gulru Necipoglu. "Volume 1. From the Prophets to the Mongols." In A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture. vol. I. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2017. pp. 564-65, ill. fig. 22.2 (b/w).

Ekhtiar, Maryam. How to Read Islamic Calligraphy. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018. pp. 15-16, ill. fig. 1.

The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can now connect to the most up-to-date data and images for more than 470,000 artworks in The Met collection. As part of The Met's Open Access program, the data is available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

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Bowl with Arabic Inscription | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Bowl Produced in northeastern Iran, in the province of Khurasan during the Samanid period, this large bowl with its high, flaring sides and bold, rhythmically spaced inscription in "new-style" script exemplifies the elegance and perfect harmony of the "black-on-white wares" unearthed in the cities of Nishapur and Samarqand