Harvard Art Museums > 2002.50.52: Bowl with Harpies 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 Harpies , 2002.50.52,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Apr 20, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/165473. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 2002.50.52 Title Bowl with Harpies Classification Vessels Work Type vessel Date late 12th-early 13th century Places Creation Place: Middle East, Iran, Kashan Period Seljuk-Atabeg period Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/165473 Physical Descriptions Medium Fritware painted with black (chromium), turquoise (copper), blue (cobalt), brownish-red (iron), and pink (iron and tin) over white lead alkali glaze opacified with tin, and gilded. Dimensions 7 x 16 cm (2 3/4 x 6 5/16 in.) Provenance Recorded Ownership History [Sotheby's London, April 1975], sold; through [Mansour Gallery, London, 1975]; to Stanford and Norma Jean Calderwood, Belmont, MA (1975-2002), 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 2002.50.52 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 In the center of this bowl two harpies (composite bird-women) are turned toward each other, their tail feathers joining overhead in an ogival arch. In Islamic lands these mythical creatures were associated astrologically with the planet Mercury and were considered generally auspicious. Foliate arabesques sprout from the harpies’ joined tails and fill the space below their feet. Encircling the bowl on the exterior is a single band of cursive script; it contains four hemistichs of medieval Persian poetry, which read, Beware, O friend, things have gotten out of hand. In knowing you [my] days have been lost. I had silver and gold, patience and sobriety. In the grief inflicted by you all four have been lost. The bowl has been reassembled from fragments with only minor losses and overpainting. Published Catalogue Text: In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art , written 201326 Bowl with harpies Iran, Seljuk-Atabeg period, late 12th–early 13th century[1] Fritware painted with black (chromium), turquoise (copper), blue (cobalt), brownish-red (iron), and pink (iron and tin) over white lead alkali glaze opacified with tin 7 × 16 cm (2 3/4 × 6 5/16 in.) 2002.50.52 Mīnāʾī, meaning “enameled,” is a Persian word commonly used to designate wares decorated in a polychrome overglaze technique. Like luster painting, mīnāʾī is a costly process that requires a second firing. Seljuk- Atabeg period mīnāʾī wares are tentatively attributed to the city of Kashan, in central Iran.[2] In the center of this bowl two harpies (composite bird-women) are turned toward each other, their tail feathers joining overhead in an ogival arch. In Islamic lands these mythical creatures were associated astrologically with the planet Mercury and were considered generally auspicious. Foliate arabesques sprout from the harpies’ joined tails and fill the space below their feet. Encircling the bowl on the exterior is a single band of cursive script; it contains four hemistichs of medieval Persian poetry, which read, Beware, O friend, things have gotten out of hand. In knowing you [my] days have been lost. I had silver and gold, patience and sobriety. In the grief inflicted by you all four have been lost. (Zēnhār ay yār kār az dast shudh dar ʿilm-i tu rōzgār az dast shudh. Sēm zar būdhī marā u ṣabr u hōsh dar ghamm-i tu har chahār az dast shudh.)[3] The bowl has been reassembled from fragments with only minor losses and overpainting. Ayşin Yoltar-Yıldırım [1] The bowl was last fired between 600 and 1000 years ago, according to the results of thermoluminescence analysis carried out by Oxford Authentication Ltd. in 2002. [2] See Watson 1985, 84; Mason 2004, 131. [3] We are grateful to Wheeler M. Thackston for this reading and transliteration. Publication History Jessica Chloros, "An Investigation of Cobalt Pigment on Islamic Ceramics at the Harvard Art Museums" (thesis (certificate in conservation), Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, 2008), Unpublished, pp. 1-41 passim Mary McWilliams, ed., In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art, exh. cat., Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2013), p. 186-187, cat. 26, 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
