Jug with Floral Motifs and Seated Persons

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.”
The stylized floral motifs and vines cover the entirety of the jug, almost masking the four seated figures placed around the jug’s diameter. The two spouts are decorated with a bright turquoise blue pattern that is visible at the base of the jug, and the two handles are adorned with the floral motifs and vines.

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, 1931, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.