Harvard Art Museums / Fogg Museum | Bush-Reisinger Museum | Arthur M. Sackler Museum

Object Number

2002.50.83

Title

Bowl Inscribed with a Saying of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib

Classification

Vessels

Work Type

vessel

Date

10th century

Places

Creation Place: Middle East, Iran, Nishapur

Period

Samanid period

Medium

Reddish earthenware covered in white slip and painted with black (manganese and iron) under clear lead glaze

Technique

Underglazed, painted

Dimensions

6.1 x 21.5 cm (2 3/8 x 8 7/16 in.)

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art

Accession Year

2002

Object Number

2002.50.83

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Description

Written around the rim of this bowl in a “new style” Kufic, with ascenders deflected abruptly to the left, is an epigram in Arabic attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib, the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, praising knowledge and manly virtue: “Knowledge is the noblest of personal qualities, and love is the highest of pedigrees”. Pear-shaped ornament rising out of the last letter of the last word marks the end of the inscription. Written across the center is a single Arabic word, ahmad, which appears frequently on Samanid epigraphic bowls. In this context it is usually construed not as the signature of a potter but as a blessing: “most praiseworthy.” Proverbs praising knowledge and exhorting the owner to various forms of virtuous conduct appear frequently on these elegantly inscribed epigraphic wares, suggesting that they were appreciated by a class of users who placed high value on learning and ethical behavior. On the interior and exterior of this well-potted bowl, the entire pinkish-buff ceramic body, including the beveled, slightly concave base, has been covered in white slip and clear glaze. The vessel is fragmentary; the last word of the inscription has been partially reconstructed on a plaster fill.

Published Catalogue Text: In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art , written 2013
10

Bowl inscribed with a saying of ʿAli ibn Abi Talib
Iran, Nishapur, Samanid period, 10th century
Reddish earthenware covered in white slip and painted with black (manganese and iron) under clear lead glaze
6.1 × 21.5 cm (2 3/8 × 8 7/16 in.)
2002.50.83

Written around the rim of this bowl in a “new style” Kufic, with ascenders deflected abruptly to the left, is an epigram in Arabic attributed to ʿAli ibn Abi Talib, the son-in- law of the Prophet Muhammad, praising knowledge and manly virtue: “Knowledge is the noblest of personal qualities, and love is the highest of pedigrees” (al-ʿilm ashraf al-aḥsāb wʾal-mawadda ashbak al-ansāb).[1] A pear-shaped ornament rising out of the last letter of the last word (al-ansāb) marks the end of the inscription. Written across the center is a single Arabic word, aḥmad, which appears frequently on Samanid epigraphic bowls. In this context it is usually construed not as the signature of a potter but as a blessing: “most praiseworthy.” Proverbs praising knowledge and exhorting the owner to various forms of virtuous conduct appear frequently on these elegantly inscribed epigraphic wares, suggesting that they were appreciated by a class of users who placed high value on learning and ethical behavior. On the interior and exterior of this well-potted bowl, the entire pinkish-buff ceramic body, including the beveled, slightly concave base, has been covered in white slip and clear glaze. The vessel is fragmentary; the last word of the inscription has been partially reconstructed on a plaster fill.

Mary McWilliams

[1] Other Samanid epigraphic wares with the same saying are listed in Ghouchani 1986, 9.

Mary McWilliams, ed., In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art, exh. cat., Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2013), pp. 175-176, cat. 10, ill.

In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/31/2013 - 06/01/2013

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