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Source Description
Mina’i is a modern collectors’ term for ceramics made in Iran during the late 12th to early 13th centuries. The term mina’i, translates as “enamelled” in Persian, designating the colored glass pigments used to paint detailed figural decoration on vessels or tiles, which were then fixed on the ceramic base by multiple firings. The use of a wide range of colors, including turquoise, red, green, purple, and black, also led these types of ceramics to be called by the Persian term “haft rang,” or “seven colors.”Mina’i ware scenes often depict courtly pursuits, such as feasting, fighting, or poetry and music performances. These colorful compositions created complex narrative scenes which paralleled manuscript painting. The combination of leisurely activities with more warrior-like occupations, such as hunting, was frequently used in the medieval Persian iconography of kingship. This is referred to as bazm wa razm, or feasting and fighting.This jug’s repeated geometric motif acts as the bottom frame for the figures in their feast. Several figures serve others, with plates of fruit placed in the background in a subtle example of perspective. A kufic inscription on a blue band forms the upper frame, and the interior rim of the jug also features a kufic inscription. A naskhi inscription encircles the body of the jug, below the geometric motifs.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
19827
label
Jug with Seated Figures and Food
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
11
Source metadata
id
19827
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Jug with Seated Figures and Food
description
Mina’i is a modern collectors’ term for ceramics made in Iran during the late 12th to early 13th centuries. The term mina’i, translates as “enamelled” in Persian, designating the colored glass pigments used to paint detailed figural decoration on vessels or tiles, which were then fixed on the ceramic base by multiple firings. The use of a wide range of colors, including turquoise, red, green, purple, and black, also led these types of ceramics to be called by the Persian term “haft rang,” or “seven colors.”Mina’i ware scenes often depict courtly pursuits, such as feasting, fighting, or poetry and music performances. These colorful compositions created complex narrative scenes which paralleled manuscript painting. The combination of leisurely activities with more warrior-like occupations, such as hunting, was frequently used in the medieval Persian iconography of kingship. This is referred to as bazm wa razm, or feasting and fighting.This jug’s repeated geometric motif acts as the bottom frame for the figures in their feast. Several figures serve others, with plates of fruit placed in the background in a subtle example of perspective. A kufic inscription on a blue band forms the upper frame, and the interior rim of the jug also features a kufic inscription. A naskhi inscription encircles the body of the jug, below the geometric motifs.
provenance
Dikran Kelekian, New York and Paris, [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1913, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
late 12th-early 13th century (Seljuq (?))
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
jugs
imageCount
11
pageCount
11
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
13.5
height
13.7
depth
13.3
dimensionsRaw
H: 5 5/16 × W with handle: 5 3/8 × D: 5 1/4 in. (13.5 × 13.7 × 13.3 cm)
Source extras
med
white underglaze, black, blue, and turquoise overglaze enamel
creator_ids
6768
collection_ids
none
exhibition_ids
none
Page inventory
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