Bowl

800s

Iraqi

On View

Islamic, Level 1, North Wing

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About the Artwork

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Markings

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This section contains information about signatures, inscriptions and/or markings an object may have.
Provenance

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Exhibition History

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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Audio Transcript

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About the Artwork

The Arabic inscription inside this bowl reads, “Made by Salih” — a rare instance of a premodern potter’s signature. While most makers of ceramic objects remain anonymous, several artists’ names are known from Basra, Iraq, where Salih was based, suggesting they took pride in their work.
In the 800s–900s, Basra potters innovated new styles of dishware. Inspired in part by plain white bowls imported from China, they developed an opaque glaze to create a smooth, creamy surface over the rough earthenware made with locally available clay. Adding cobalt-painted designs like the ones on this bowl, they produced some of the world’s first blue-and-white ceramics.

Title Bowl

Artwork Date 800s

Artist Iraqi

Life Dates ----------

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. ----------

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Tin-glazed earthenware with cobalt

Dimensions Overall (h x diam): 2 3/4 × 8 inches (7 × 20.3 cm)

Classification Ceramics

Department Islamic Art

Credit Founders Society Purchase, General Membership Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 54.498

Markings

Inscriptions Inscribed, Kufic script: 'Umila Salih [translated: Made by Salih]

Provenance

(Maurice Eustache de Lorey);
1954-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance, please visit:

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Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1931, cat. 140.

Persian Art. London, 1931, cat. 48Q [Survey Persian Art, pl. 572D].

Wiet, Garton. L'Esposition Persane de 1931. p. 9, p. 16 [calls it an adaptation of blue-silhouetted Tjang ware; Survey, p. 1486].

DeYoung Memorial Museum. San Francisco, 1937, cat. 101.

Pope, Arthur Upham. Survey of Persian Art. 1939, p. 1482; [cobalt painted ware] p. 1484; [there may be a brief phrase in the bottom, the rims...carry small segments of solid circles...in a continuous chain suggesting a garland] pl. 572D].

Bulletin of the DIA 34, no. 3 (1954-55): p. 63.

Lane, Arthur. Early Islamic Pottery. New York, 1948, p. 13, [discussed], pl. 9A (ill.).

Tamari, Vera. Islamic Art in the Ashmolean Museum. (fig. 15).

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