Bowl with Inscribed Poem

Small bowl with flaring sides, straight rim, low foot.
Clay: hard white, porcelain.
Glaze: transparent greenish.
Decoration: overglaze painted in white, blue, red and gold. For details, see Comments 2 and 3.

Historical period(s)
Qajar period, late 19th or 20th century
Medium
Stone-pate painted under clear glaze
Dimensions
H x Diam: 5.7 x 10.8 cm (2 1/4 x 4 1/4 in)
Geography
Iran
Credit Line
Anonymous gift
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1978.47
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Bowl

Keywords
Iran, Qajar period (1779 - 1925)
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Description

Small bowl with flaring sides, straight rim, low foot.
Clay: hard white, porcelain.
Glaze: transparent greenish.
Decoration: overglaze painted in white, blue, red and gold. For details, see Comments 2 and 3.

Inscription(s)

(Wheeler Thackston, Harvard University, Summer 1980) Inscription, in so-called "Olga-Bolga Turkish," (Note that the nasta'liq script is definitely not Iranian; most likely Central Asian):

Ketur, saqi, qadah kim bag u sahra lalazar oldi/'Ajab fasl-i xujasta mawsim u xus ruzgar oldi/Acildi qunca tumari u ma'lum oldi mazmuni/Budur kim fawt qilmang mawsim-i-gul jam-i-gulguni.

"Bring, saqi, the goblet, for the garden and meadow are full of tulips. What an amazingly happy season and pleasant time has it become! The scroll of the rosebud has opened, and its contents are known, which is that you should not let escape the rosey cup of the season of the rose."

Collection Area(s)
Arts of the Islamic World
Web Resources
Whistler's Neighborhood
Google Cultural Institute
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