Bowl with Horseman and Seated Figures

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. These colorful compositions created complex narrative scenes which paralleled manuscript painting. The juxtaposition of leisurely activities with more warrior-like occupations, such as the hunt, was frequently used in the medieval Persian iconography of kingship. It is referred to as bazm wa razm, or feasting and fighting. The combination is seen in the decoration in this bowl, with the central figure, perhaps a ruler, on horseback, surrounded by four pairs of figures who may be courtiers. They are seated amongst vegetal motifs reminiscent of a garden. The kufic inscription along the inner rim is pseudo-Arabic, while the exterior inscription is written in naskhi.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Dikran Kelekian, New York and Paris, [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1927, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.