Bowl with Kufic Inscription and Stripes
9-10th century
Physical Qualities
Earthenware with transparent glaze with green streaks and purple writing, 1 1/2 H x 5 7/8 Diam. in. (3.8 x 14.9 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Richard and Elizabeth S. Ettinghausen in Memory of Adelyn D. Breeskin
Object Number
2013.155
Chinese ceramics were reportedly given by the governor of Khorasan Province in Iran to the Caliph in Baghdad at the beginning of the 9th century. The kilns at Basra in Iraq were the first to closely copy the shapes of the Chinese bowls and less reliably replicate
their white color. Instead of leaving them plain in Chinese fashion, Iraqi potters decorated their bowls in underglaze blue with Arabic script (see BMA 2013.156).
Similarly, provincial Nishapur kilns in Iran copied the Basra bowls, but gave them a flat foot rather than a foot rim. They also used underglaze purple decoration instead of blue.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 2013 (on extended loan from 1957); Elizabeth Ettinghausen, Princeton, NJ; Richard S. Ettinghausen
Frances Klapthor, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Art Across Asia: West Asian Connections," July 19, 2017-October 19, 2019
