Exchange: Flask with molded decor

54 Items in this Learning Collection

Bowl Fragment with Figural Designs

This fragment of a Mongol Islamic bowl comes from 14th century Iran. The side design features a kneeling person with a bottle, while the side panels have leopards and floral decoration. <br />
Colors included are cobalt, turquoise, green, and dark geen-gray on a cream-tan ground. The fragment is about one-third of the original bowl.<br /><br /><br /><br />

Collection Object

Mina'i ware bowl fragment with confronting equestrian figures

Collection Object

Mina'i ware bowl fragment with figures

This Mina'i ware bowl fragment displays well preserved base decorations. Five figures, two birds, a tree and a rim of Kufic insciptions float on the interior, while the exterior exhibits alternating red and cobalt symbols. The bowl is made with a pink-tan paste and a glossy all-over glaze. Ivory, red, cobalt, turquoise, black, pink and brown paints are used to create vibrant imagery.

Collection Object

Tile fragment with inscription

Collection Object

Tile fragment with inscription, Molded calligraphy in depressed band in the tile, glazed in bluish-turquoise, slight incrustation and iridescence.

Collection Object

Plate fragment with design of a white gazelle against a blue ground

This plate has a central gazelle motif in white against a blue background. The paste is a light tan "Islamic II" while the glaze is glossy with wide crackle. The plate was fired upright. It is composed of a now faded cobalt color on a light green-white ground and is iridescent. The plate is attributed to the Safavid period in Iran.

Collection Object

Floor-table Tile Fragment

Collection Object

Qur’an manuscript leaf in Abbasid Kufic script

Collection Object

Square tile with stylized tulip design

Collection Object

Star-shaped tile with phoenix among clouds

Collection Object

Faceted bottle

Collection Object

Shallow bowl with stylized floral medallion

Collection Object

Qur'an manuscript leaf, illuminated section heading in thuluth script

Collection Object

Incense burner lid with peacock-shaped finial

Collection Object

Casket with inscription in floriated Kufic script

This inlaid bronze casket with Kufic inscription was masterfully produced in the 12th century Seljuk period. Possibly of Syrian origin, the lid is hammered from a flat sheet of brass with the bottom formed by folding and joining a section cut from a flat sheet. The seams are on three sides of the base and in the rear under the right-hand hinge. Brass hinges on the object are attached by copper rivets. Originally, the object would have a handle and front clasp which are now missing. <br /><br />

Collection Object

Digambara Jain manuscript page: Jina and devotees

Multi-colored ink on paper. Reds and golds make up the primary focus colors and are accented by dark blues. Features five figures, two larger figures on the top half of the page and three smaller figures on the bottom. Scene of worship.

Collection Object

The Birth of Rustam, from the Shahnama of Firdausi

This painted miniature Shahnama page was made by the Shiraz and Timurid schools, ca. 1460 in Baghdad, Iraq. The painting is done in ink, opaque watercolor and gold leaf on paper. The scene depicts the <em>Birth of Rustam </em>from the Shahnama, the Persian book of kings.

Collection Object

Faucet with Peacock Spigot and Lion-Headed Spout

This large bronze faucet features a peacock spigot and a lion-headed spout.

Collection Object

Lamp

Collection Object

Mirror with scene of "Alexander's Ascension"

Collection Object

Persian poetry anthology manuscript page

Collection Object

Plate

Collection Object

Star-shaped tile with molded floral design

This star-shaped ceramic tile is decorated with floral patterns and shapes. This kind of tile seems to be very popular in the 15th and 16th centuries of the Iranian Islamic world. The relief decoration is moulded and unglazed while the ground is glazed in blues with black underglaze and covered with a clear overglaze.

Collection Object

Jug, narrow neck, single handle, band of decorative inscriptions at shoulder

<br />
The unglazed jug has a bulbous body with a narrow neck which is half the height of the body. A slight bulging occurs midway up the neck. A handle is joined to the neck below the lip and extends to the shoulder of the body. <br /><br />
A <em>Naskhi</em> Arabic inscription, worked in barbotine technique against a background of unordered small bosses and open circles, runs around the upper part of the body. <br />

Collection Object

Plate

The dish belongs to a large group of sgraffiato wares, examples of which have been found from Afghanistan to northwest Iran. They are characterized by an incised design cut into a slip and enhanced with glazes of different colors, frequently yellow and green. In this particular case, and others like it, the concentric scratched lines are clearly determined by compass while the filler patterns are somewhat less controlled. The pigment is not applied to coincide with the engraved line but rather forms an independant web of color over it.<br />

Collection Object

Bowl with calligraphic inscriptions and floral designs

This Kashan style bowl from the Seljuk period in Iran features eight brown interior bands. The cobalt blue bands have white inscriptions in Naskhi-style calligraphy radiating from the center to the lip of the bowl. The exterior contains delicate floral stalk decorations. The presence of excrescences on the interior may determine that this bowl was used for waste.<br />

Collection Object

Bowl with Bird and Flower Designs

"Object EFS-105 is a 14th century Mongolian-influenced Sultanabad work. The body of the object is a pinkish-tan while the outside is covered with painted blue tinge. The central motif is a spotted lion [leopard]. Stylized birds circle the inside of the object against a naturalistically conceived floral area. The object has been re-pieced extensively. <br /><br />
This object bears the characteristic hemispherical shape of Sultanabad work, and its rendering of the birds and floral motif indicate the Chinese influence of the 14th century. The animal and birds are outlined in black. It follows the general color scheme and motifs of the Sultanabad wares of the 14th century. <br /><br />
The object is 4 inches high and has a diameter of 8 inches. The lion [leopard] is rendered with the Iranian sensitivity and perceptiveness. This object was probably highlighted with white slip."

Collection Object

Medicinal plants; Leaf from an Arabic translation of the "De Materia Medica," by Dioscorides

Collection Object

Khusrau brought before his father Hurmuzd; from the Khamza of Nizami

Collection Object

Plaque with Kufic Inscription, from the Tower of Toghril, from Rayy

Collection Object

Qur’an manuscript leaf in Maghribi script

Arabic calligraphic script on paper; script is in Maghribi style, written in black ink with touches of green and rec ochre. Shadows of script (from reverse or opposite page, transferred while closed?) show through. Beige paper is browned with age at edges; upper left has repaired tear.

Collection Object

Star-shaped Tile with flying crane among flowers

<br />
This Ilkhanid eight-pointed star tile employs the Kashan style that originates in Iran. A crane/phoenix-type bird flies amongst floral decorations. The outer perimeter is decorated with a cursive script. The script may either be Qur'anic verse (Arabic) or a Shahnama verse (Persian book of Kings). (updated)

Collection Object

Tray

Collection Object

Peacock

Collection Object

Ewer with animal head, with band of decorative inscriptions at shoulder in thuluth script on an arabesque ground

Collection Object

Candlestick with decoration of the Labors of the Months

Collection Object

Textile fragment

Collection Object

Footed Bowl with painted design of birds

This footed bowl with painted designs is of 11th-13th century Iranian origin. The object stands upon a broad pierced foot, with a stem extending upwards supporting a shallow dish. It is done in brown, green and gold. The decoration consists of a number of birds compartmentalized by a gold background that serves to set off their shapes and creates a free-form design. Sgraffito cuts through the slip on glaze to a layer of brown that creates part of the form of the bird or its decoration. All of this is set against green cross-hatched areas. <br /><br />

Collection Object

Shallow bowl with schematized animal motif

This large Iranian plate sits on a small base. The decoration consists of a bird and crude space fillers. The units are outlined in green and incised, in addition to green glazed parts that are not incised. The design is cut through the slip and appears light brown while the exterior is left unglazed and plain red-brown.The plate is mended and appears to have commercial mosaic in parts. The colors are green, light green, yellow, and red-brown. Painted green and brown spots and stripes are combined with scribbled engraving to form often asymmetrical designs.

Collection Object

Tile with molded lion

Collection Object

Albarello (Pharmacy Jar)

A 14th century Mongol period pharmacy jar from the Sultanabad region. The albarello is a contracted cylinder with a converging neck and has a conventionalized inscription with a stag and gazelle design. Floral designs fill the space while the lower body is fluted. All the decorative patterns were done in low relief. Paste is a light tan "Islamic II", while the glaze is glossy with fine crackle. The object was fired upright. Colors include heavy iridescent patina, gray-green, light grayish-white ground and light purplish gray. The object has been restored.

Collection Object

Circular mortar with inscription

Collection Object

Lid with Handle

Collection Object

Seated figure with tripartite crown

The moulded head of the terracotta figurine represents a royal personnage. He wears a three-lobed crown, spherical earrings, and a necklace. He is seated with his legs bent from the hips at right angles to the upper part of the body. The legs are crossed and thus form a circular base which allows the essentially two-dimensional figure to remain erect. The assembling of the limbs was apparently done after the figurine had been cast.

Collection Object

Tile

Collection Object

Star-shaped tile with vegetal arabesque pattern

Collection Object

Qur'an manuscript leaf in early or Abbasid Kufic script, ch. 38, verses 21-23

Collection Object

Qur'an manuscript leaf in thuluth and naskh script, chapter 4, verses 480–90

Collection Object

Flask with molded decor

Collection Object

Star-shaped tile with floral and calligraphic patterns

Collection Object

Bowl with concentric bands of epigraphic decoration

Collection Object

Leaf from a manuscript of the Qur’an in Maghribi script

Collection Object

Illuminated Leaf

Illuminated manuscript page with Arabic calligraphy that is framed by floriated,<br />
cloud-band borders, stylized cartouches, and marginal vignettes.

Collection Object

Qur'an manuscript leaf in thuluth and naskh script, chapters 83–85 (recto and verso)

Collection Object

Copyright

Flask with molded decor

Accession Number
1959/1.89

Title
Flask with molded decor

Artist(s)
Iranian

Artist Nationality
Iranian

Object Creation Date
10th century - 12th century

Medium & Support
molded desig(n) on earthenware (?)

Dimensions
8 1/2 in. x 3 3/4 in. x 3 9/16 in. ( 21.6 cm x 9.53 cm x 9 cm )

Credit Line
Museum Purchase

Label copy
The Chinese fascination with imported luxury goods inspired potters to adopt new shapes and decorative motifs, especially those from Iran, like this so-called pilgrim flask, a flattened bottle used to carry water or wine. Perhaps originally made of stitched leather, the pilgrim flask shape was popular throughout Asia from at least the seventh century onward and can be found in a wide variety of sizes and materials. Compare this miniature pilgrim's flask with UMMA 1987/1.287.

Primary Object Classification
Ceramic

Primary Object Type
jar

Collection Area
Western

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
Islamic (culture or style)
canteens (containers)