WESTERN IRAN, LATE 16TH/EARLY 17TH CENTURY

As described by Melikian-Chirvani (1982, p.330), the decoration of this bowl follows a common Shah 'Abbas I pattern. The upper part carries an epigraphic border with eight cartouches, alternated with figural pictograms. The inscriptions are in a fine nasta’liq hand and are either an extract or a complete poem whose author has not been identified. One cartouche bears the beginning of an ownership inscription, but it is not complete. Three other known examples bear close resemblance to our bowl. These include one in the Victoria and Albert Museum (inv.no.404-1884), one in Leningrad (see Maslenitsyna, 1975, pl.63) and a third example in the Musée des Arts Decoratifs (Melikian-Chirvani, 1972, pp.120-121). The epigraphic inscriptions on all these bowls contain parts of the inscriptions that features on our example. The similar size and almost identical designs on all these examples suggest that they were made in the same workshop. For a full discussion on the inscription see Melikian-Chirvani, 1982, pp.330-332, pl.151.