Minneapolis Institute of Art

Bowl with Calligraphic design

Uzbekistan

Date

10th–11th century

Medium

Earthenware with a white slip ground under a clear glaze with reddish and brown slip-painted decor

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

One of the great innovations of Samanid dynasty (819-1005 CE) potters was the use of various slip (diluted clay) pigments on a single vessel, seen in the brown, red, and cream-white hues above. While lacking glass, lead or metallic based glazes and the luster-effect they produced, Samanid potters were especially adept in layering these earth tones in precise and well-balanced patterns. The decorative vocabulary included interlocking geometric and scrolling vegetal motifs, as well as the use of angular script known as Kufic , often abstracted for a pleasing aesthetic effect. Uzbekistan, Asia

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