Dish

Dish, large, deep; bold foot. Firecrack in rim.
Clay: fairly hard, grayish.
Glaze: cream-white, lightly crackled.
Decoration: in gold lustre, over glaze, and reserve.

Historical period(s)
Il-Khanid dynasty, late 13th century
Medium
Stone-paste; decorated with lustre
Dimensions
H x Diam: 11.9 x 47.5 cm (4 11/16 x 18 11/16 in)
Geography
Iran
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1909.111
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Dish

Keywords
Il-Khanid dynasty (1256 - 1353), Iran, lustreware
Provenance

To 1909
Tabbagh Frères, Paris, to 1909 [1]

From 1909 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Tabbagh Frères in 1909 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See Original Pottery List, L. 1953, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[2] See note 1.

[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Tabbagh Frères (C.L. Freer source)
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Description

Dish, large, deep; bold foot. Firecrack in rim.
Clay: fairly hard, grayish.
Glaze: cream-white, lightly crackled.
Decoration: in gold lustre, over glaze, and reserve.

Inscription(s)

M. Bahrami notes in his "Gurgan Faiences" (Cairo, 1949), p. 122, that "the (left) rim on this plate with a scene of four people, style of Farahan, beginning of the 14th century" carries the quatrain No. 9 of his list. Actually it is his no. 8 (on p. 120), which reads in his transcription and translation:
[Prsn]

"Oh you, the satisfied with the world yearn for your friendship
The world's heroes dread separation from you
As long as your eyes shine, of what have the desert antelopes to boast
The world's lions are snared in your lair." [sic?]
(See Curatorial Remark number 6)

Inscription: [Prsn]
"ay gursuna-i mihr-i tu seran-i jahan
tarsan zi firaq-i tu dileran-i jahan
ba chashm-i tu ahuan chi darand ba dast
az zulf-i tu 'payband sheran-i jahan"
(rest of inscription indecipherable)

"All those who are sated in the world are hungry for you; the brave ones of the world are afraid of being seperated from you. What do the gazelles in the wilderness have [in comparison] to your eyes? The lions of the world are chained by your tresses."

The inscription on the rim is from a Persian poem:
[Prsn]
Oh you, the satisfied with the world yearn for your friendship
The world's heroes dread separation from you
As long as your eyes shine, of what have the desert antelopes to boast
The world's lions are snared in your lair. [sic?]
(See Curatorial Remark number 10)

Published References
  • Dr. Esin Atil. Ceramics from the World of Islam. Exh. cat. Washington, 1973. cat. 69, pp. 152-153.
Collection Area(s)
Arts of the Islamic World
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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