Bowl with Star and Hexagonal Design

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.” This footed bowl incorporates a number of colors frequently found on mina’i, such as blue, red, and gidling. The hexagonal and star design incorporates gilded outlines of seated figures and birds with their wings outstretched. This scene is encircled by a raised naskhi inscription on the inner rim set against a gold background. The kufic inscription on the outer rim seems to be a repetition of the same word.

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, Constantinople and Paris, [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase [said to have been found at Rhadjes]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1914, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.