Harvard Art Museums > 2002.50.73: Bowl with Seated Couple Vessels Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Bowl with Seated Couple , 2002.50.73,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Apr 23, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/165185. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 2002.50.73 Title Bowl with Seated Couple Classification Vessels Work Type vessel Date 12th-13th century Places Creation Place: Middle East, Iran, Kashan Period Seljuk-Atabeg period Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/165185 Physical Descriptions Medium Fritware painted with luster (copper and silver) over white lead alkali glaze opacified with tin Technique Lusterware Dimensions 9.5 x 21.1 cm (3 3/4 x 8 5/16 in.) Provenance Recorded Ownership History [Hadji Baba Rabbi House of Antiquities, Teheran, 1972], sold; to Stanford and Norma Jean Calderwood, Belmont, MA (1972-2002), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2002. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art Accession Year 2002 Object Number 2002.50.73 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Description On the interior of this bowl, a seated couple flanks a central, checkered tree, which— together with the fish swimming below and a busy network of thin, curving vines—conveys the idea of a garden setting. Along the walls of the bowl are six roundels decorated alternately with harpies and human figures. Like birds, harpies are commonly found in Persian Islamic ceramics and usually carry auspicious connotations. The area just below the rim is decorated with a pseudo-inscription with plaited verticals. The exterior features double vertical lines bracketing loosely painted scrolls. Recent museum conservation of the bowl has showed it to be made up of fifteen major fragments, but all join fairly smoothly, indicating that nothing has been lost from the original object. The luster is brilliant and reddish in tone. Published Catalogue Text: In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art , written 201331 Bowl with seated couple Iran, Seljuk-Atabeg period, 12th–13th century[1] Fritware painted with luster (copper and silver) over white lead alkali glaze opacified with tin 9.5 × 21.1 cm (3 3/4 × 8 5/16 in.) 2002.50.73 On the interior of this bowl, a seated couple flanks a central, checkered tree, which— together with the fish swimming below and a busy network of thin, curving vines— conveys the idea of a garden setting. Along the walls of the bowl are six roundels decorated alternately with harpies and human figures. Like birds, harpies are commonly found in Persian Islamic ceramics and usually carry auspicious connotations. The area just below the rim is decorated with a pseudo-inscription with plaited verticals. The exterior features double vertical lines bracketing loosely painted scrolls. Recent museum conservation of the bowl has showed it to be made up of fifteen major fragments, but all join fairly smoothly, indicating that nothing has been lost from the original object. The luster is brilliant and reddish in tone. Ayşin Yoltar-Yıldırım [1] This bowl is of “ancient origin,” according to the results of thermoluminescence analysis carried out by the Research Laboratory of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 1973. Publication History Holly Salmon, "A Comparative Analysis of Lusterware from the Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art" (thesis (certificate in conservation), Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, June 2003), Unpublished, pp. 1-54 passim Mary McWilliams, ed., In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art, exh. cat., Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2013), p. 190, cat. 31, ill. Exhibition History In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/31/2013 - 06/01/2013 Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
