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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.”These colorful compositions created complex narrative scenes which paralleled manuscript painting. Mina’i ware scenes often depict courtly pursuits, such as feasting, fighting, or poetry and music performances, which frequently occur in natural environments such as gardens. The combination of leisurely activities with more warrior-like occupations, such as the hunt, was frequently used in the medieval Persian iconography of kingship. In the center of this footed bowl, a courtly couple sits together, surrounded by geometric flower motifs accented in gold to emphasize a garden setting. A kufic inscription encircles the rim, and diamond patterns picked out in gold adorn the exterior of the bowl.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
4852
label
King and queen and Kufic inscription
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
6
Source metadata
id
4852
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
King and queen and Kufic inscription
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.”These colorful compositions created complex narrative scenes which paralleled manuscript painting. Mina’i ware scenes often depict courtly pursuits, such as feasting, fighting, or poetry and music performances, which frequently occur in natural environments such as gardens. The combination of leisurely activities with more warrior-like occupations, such as the hunt, was frequently used in the medieval Persian iconography of kingship. In the center of this footed bowl, a courtly couple sits together, surrounded by geometric flower motifs accented in gold to emphasize a garden setting. A kufic inscription encircles the rim, and diamond patterns picked out in gold adorn the exterior of the bowl.
provenance
Dikran Kelekian, New York and Paris, [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1927, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
late 12th-early 13th century (Seljuq (?))
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
bowls (vessels)
imageCount
6
pageCount
6
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
8.8
height
20.8
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 3 7/16 x 8 3/16 in. (8.8 x 20.8 cm)
Source extras
med
fritware, white underglaze, black, blue, dark purple, red, and turquoise overglaze enamel, with traces of gilding
creator_ids
6768
collection_ids
none
exhibition_ids
none
Page inventory
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1
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photo
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1f741dcc356411fc
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photo
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photo
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type
photo
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photo
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photo
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no
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no