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Nishapur was founded as a Sasanian imperial city and ceramics produced here regularly incorporate elements from Sasanian metalware. The lively decoration on this bowl features four bearded figures surrounded by animals, birds, and angular script (possibly extending <em>baraka</em>, blessing). The central horse with a cheetah on his back suggests an imperial hunt, a common theme in Sasanian and Islamic art. The decorative motifs and figures employed on Nishapur polychrome ware reflect the rich cultural traditions in this part of northeastern Iran. Some vessels, like this one, depict the pastime of hunting, others reflect festivals celebrated by Muslims and Zoroastrians, and a few display Christian symbols.
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- Page
- 1
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- 0
- Type
- photo
- Media ID
- 22f03a0fa0b0d3ef
- Size
- unknown
Document data
- ID
- 135708
- Core
- obj
- Type
- object
DTO data
{
"id": "135708",
"contentType": "object",
"title": "Nishapur Figural Bowl",
"description": "Nishapur was founded as a Sasanian imperial city and ceramics produced here regularly incorporate elements from Sasanian metalware. The lively decoration on this bowl features four bearded figures surrounded by animals, birds, and angular script (possibly extending <em>baraka</em>, blessing). The central horse with a cheetah on his back suggests an imperial hunt, a common theme in Sasanian and Islamic art. The decorative motifs and figures employed on Nishapur polychrome ware reflect the rich cultural traditions in this part of northeastern Iran. Some vessels, like this one, depict the pastime of hunting, others reflect festivals celebrated by Muslims and Zoroastrians, and a few display Christian symbols.",
"date": "900s",
"citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1959.249",
"rights": "CC0",
"rightsUri": "CC0",
"language": "en",
"wikidata": [
"Q60759963"
],
"genreSpecific": [
"Ceramic"
],
"iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1959.249/1959.249_web.jpg",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1959.249/1959.249_web.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1959.249/1959.249_web.jpg",
"imageCount": 1,
"source": "import",
"dimensionsRaw": "Overall: 8 x 35.6 cm (3 1/8 x 14 in.)",
"cul": [
"Iran, Nishapur, Samanid period (819–1005)"
],
"accession": "1959.249"
}
Context sent to Scholar
Document identity
{
"localId": "135708",
"label": "Nishapur Figural Bowl",
"core": "obj",
"dtoType": "object"
}
Document source metadata
{
"id": "135708",
"contentType": "object",
"title": "Nishapur Figural Bowl",
"description": "Nishapur was founded as a Sasanian imperial city and ceramics produced here regularly incorporate elements from Sasanian metalware. The lively decoration on this bowl features four bearded figures surrounded by animals, birds, and angular script (possibly extending <em>baraka</em>, blessing). The central horse with a cheetah on his back suggests an imperial hunt, a common theme in Sasanian and Islamic art. The decorative motifs and figures employed on Nishapur polychrome ware reflect the rich cultural traditions in this part of northeastern Iran. Some vessels, like this one, depict the pastime of hunting, others reflect festivals celebrated by Muslims and Zoroastrians, and a few display Christian symbols.",
"date": "900s",
"citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1959.249",
"rights": "CC0",
"rightsUri": "CC0",
"language": "en",
"wikidata": [
"Q60759963"
],
"genreSpecific": [
"Ceramic"
],
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"thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1959.249/1959.249_web.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1959.249/1959.249_web.jpg",
"imageCount": 1,
"source": "import",
"dimensionsRaw": "Overall: 8 x 35.6 cm (3 1/8 x 14 in.)",
"cul": [
"Iran, Nishapur, Samanid period (819–1005)"
],
"accession": "1959.249"
}
Document source extras
{
"tec": "Earthenware with underglaze decoration",
"tombstone": "Nishapur Figural Bowl, 900s. Iran, Nishapur, Samanid period (819–1005). Earthenware with underglaze decoration; overall: 8 x 35.6 cm (3 1/8 x 14 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1959.249",
"collection": "Islamic Art",
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Lee, Sherman E. “Year in Review.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 46, no. 10 (December 1959): 210–231.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 214; Mentioned: p. 230",
"url": "http://www.jstor.org/stable/25142366"
},
{
"citation": "Shepherd, Dorothy G. “Bacchantes in Islam.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 47, no. 3 (March 1960): 42–49.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: cover, pp. 42–49",
"url": "http://www.jstor.org/stable/25142384"
},
{
"citation": "“Annual Report for the Year 1959.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 47, no. 6 (June 1960): 111–158.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: p. 134",
"url": "http://www.jstor.org/stable/25142399"
},
{
"citation": "Wilkinson, Charles Kyrle. <em>Iranian Ceramics: [Catalogue of an Exhibition]</em>. New York: Distributed by H.N. Abrams, 1963.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: no. 22, p. 123"
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 211",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n235"
},
{
"citation": "Grube, Ernst J. <em>The World of Islam</em>. London: Paul Hamlyn, 1966.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 21, fig. 6"
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 211",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n235"
},
{
"citation": "Atil, Esin. <em>Ceramics from the World of Islam</em>. Freer Gallery of Art Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition, vol. III. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1973.",
"page_number": "Comparative Material Reproduced: no. 6"
},
{
"citation": "Zick-nessen. Johanna. \"Figuren Mittelalterlich-Orientalischen Keramikschalen un die 'Sphaera Barbarica.'\" <em>Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran </em>N.F. Bd. 8 (1975), pp. 217–240.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: pl. 50, no. 3"
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 267",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n287"
},
{
"citation": "Neils, Jenifer. <em>The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Museum in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1982.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and reproduced: p. 21, fig. 23"
},
{
"citation": "Soustiel, Jean, Charles Kiefer, and Henry Pierre Fourest. <em>La céramique islamique: le guide du connaisseur</em>. Paris: Office du Livre, Éditions Vilo, 1985.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 62, no. 44"
},
{
"citation": "Grabar, Oleg. <em>The Formation of Islamic Art.</em> New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: fig. 111"
},
{
"citation": "Baer, Eva. <em>The Human Figure in Islamic Art: Inheritances and Islamic Transformations</em>. <em>Bibliotheca Iranica </em>11. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 2004.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: fig. 8"
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1959.249",
"creditline": "Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund",
"updatedAt": "2026-05-29 06:56:02.431000",
"imageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1959.249/1959.249_print.jpg",
"sourceId": 135708,
"dept": "Islamic Art",
"coll": "Islamic Art",
"med": "Earthenware with underglaze decoration",
"thumbnail_url": null,
"image_url": null
}
Page context
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