Vase with Horsemen 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.”
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. These colorful compositions created complex narrative scenes which paralleled manuscript painting. The combination of leisurely activities with more warrior-like occupations, such as the hunt, was frequently used in the medieval Persian iconography of kingship. This is referred to as bazm wa razm, or feasting and fighting, two activities illustrated on this vase. Across the central register of this vase are several painted horsemen, framed by stylized vines and separated by seated figures enclosed within circles. Above a pseudo kufic inscription are more seated figures, also separated by stylized vines, and this band of figures runs about the neck of the vase. A naskhi inscription encircles the exterior rim of the vase

Provenance

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

Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1929 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.