Molded vessel: seated man holding a water skin,

second half of the 13th century

These objects belong to a large body of sophisticated ceramics produced in present-day Iran between the late twelfth and mid-fourteenth centuries. They are lusterware, produced using a complicated firing technique in which a metallic sheen was achieved through pigments that contain metal oxides. Such wares are associated with the city of Kashan, where several families producing ceramic vessels and tiles are documented over generations. An early fourteenth-century treatise by Jamal al-Din Abu’l-Qasim 'Abdallah al-Kashani describes how to make a form of ceramics, known as fritware, that was produced in Kashan. The document gives indications as to how glazes were made and provides documentary evidence from a descendent of a family of ceramic masters who were active in the city. The ewer carries a poetic inscription in Persian as well as seated figures who epitomize the beauty ideals of the period as reflected in poetry. The tile was part of a larger inscription frieze, perhaps from a palace, and is adorned with simurghs—mythical Persian birds—as well as phoenixes and dragons that demonstrate the transfer of Chinese motifs into Islamic art during the Mongol Empire (1206–1368).

Patricia Blessing, Associate Professor, Department of Art & Art History, Stanford University