Earthenware bowl, covered with a white slip and painted in a brown and red slip under a transparent glaze
Eastern Iran, Nishapur or Samarkand; 10th century
H: 10; Diam: 26.5 cm
Inventory number 22/1974
“He who believes in a reward [from God] is generous with gifts,” reads the Arab saying on this bowl. It is difficult to read the phrase, which begins with the four dots, because the exceedingly elegant Kufi calligraphy is interwoven and knotted and also embellished with a variety of palmettes.
Pottery of this type was made under the Samanids, who were Persians and made much of reviving the use of the Persian language, so we might wonder who these calligraphic masterpieces in Arabic were made for. The inscriptions are different from and more difficult to read than the ones found on bowls painted in blue known from Abbasid Iraq.
Pottery of this type was made under the Samanids, who were Persians and made much of reviving the use of the Persian language, so we might wonder who these calligraphic masterpieces in Arabic were made for. The inscriptions are different from and more difficult to read than the ones found on bowls painted in blue known from Abbasid Iraq.
Published in
Published in
André Leth: Davids Samling. Islamisk kunst = The David Collection. Islamic Art, København 1975, p. 21;
The arts of Islam : Hayward gallery, 8 April - 4 July 1976, London 1976, cat. 282;
Anthony Welch: Calligraphy in the arts of the Muslim world, Folkstone 1979, cat. 10, p. 60 and p. 1;
Kjeld von Folsach: Davids Samling gennem 24 år, 1962-1985 = The David Collection: a 24-year period: 1962-1985, København 1985, pp. 48-49;
Tsugio Mikami: Islamic pottery, Tokyo 1986, cat. 111, p. 149;
Art from the World of Islam. 8th-18th century, Louisiana, Humlebæk 1987, cat. 31;
Kjeld von Folsach: Islamic art. The David Collection, Copenhagen 1990, cat. 69;
Kjeld von Folsach, Torben Lundbæk and Peder Mortensen (eds.): Sultan, Shah and Great Mughal: the history and culture of the Islamic world, The National Museum, Copenhagen 1996, cat. 242;
Kjeld von Folsach: Art from the World of Islam in The David Collection, Copenhagen 2001, cat. 115;
Sheila S. Blair and Jonathan M. Bloom (eds.): Cosmophilia. Islamic Art from the David Collection, Copenhagen, McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, Boston 2006. cat. 29 ;
Sheila S. Blair: “A brief biography of Abu Zayd” in Muqarnas, 25, 2008, fig. 10, p. 167;
Linda Komaroff: Gifts of the Sultan: the arts of giving at the Islamic courts, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles 2011, cat. 1 and fig. 73;
Jonathan Bloom and Sheila Blair (ed.): And diverse are their hues: color in Islamic art and culture, New Haven 2011, p. 286, fig. 192;
Linda Komaroff: The gift tradition in Islamic art, Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Los Angeles 2012, cat. 1;
Kjeld von Folsach: Flora islamica: plantemotiver i islamisk kunst, Davids Samling, København 2013, cat. 34;
Sheila p. Blair: Text and image in Medieval Persian art, Edinburgh 2014, pp. 32-33;
Jonathan M. Bloom: “Art and architecture” in Farhad Daftary, Amyn B. Sajoo and Shainool Jiwa (eds.): The Shi'i world: pathways in tradition and modernity, London 2015, fig. 11.9, pp. 248-249;
Oliver Watson: “Ceramics and circulation” in Finbarr Barry Flood, Gülru Necipoglu (eds.): A companion to Islamic art and architecture, B. 1, From the Prophet to the Mongols, Hoboken 2017, p. 492, fig. 19.4;
Joachim Meyer, Rasmus Bech Olsen and Peter Wandel: Beyond words: calligraphy from the World of Islam, The David Collection, Copenhagen 2024, cat. 53, pp. 192-193;
The arts of Islam : Hayward gallery, 8 April - 4 July 1976, London 1976, cat. 282;
Anthony Welch: Calligraphy in the arts of the Muslim world, Folkstone 1979, cat. 10, p. 60 and p. 1;
Kjeld von Folsach: Davids Samling gennem 24 år, 1962-1985 = The David Collection: a 24-year period: 1962-1985, København 1985, pp. 48-49;
Tsugio Mikami: Islamic pottery, Tokyo 1986, cat. 111, p. 149;
Art from the World of Islam. 8th-18th century, Louisiana, Humlebæk 1987, cat. 31;
Kjeld von Folsach: Islamic art. The David Collection, Copenhagen 1990, cat. 69;
Kjeld von Folsach, Torben Lundbæk and Peder Mortensen (eds.): Sultan, Shah and Great Mughal: the history and culture of the Islamic world, The National Museum, Copenhagen 1996, cat. 242;
Kjeld von Folsach: Art from the World of Islam in The David Collection, Copenhagen 2001, cat. 115;
Sheila S. Blair and Jonathan M. Bloom (eds.): Cosmophilia. Islamic Art from the David Collection, Copenhagen, McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, Boston 2006. cat. 29 ;
Sheila S. Blair: “A brief biography of Abu Zayd” in Muqarnas, 25, 2008, fig. 10, p. 167;
Linda Komaroff: Gifts of the Sultan: the arts of giving at the Islamic courts, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles 2011, cat. 1 and fig. 73;
Jonathan Bloom and Sheila Blair (ed.): And diverse are their hues: color in Islamic art and culture, New Haven 2011, p. 286, fig. 192;
Linda Komaroff: The gift tradition in Islamic art, Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Los Angeles 2012, cat. 1;
Kjeld von Folsach: Flora islamica: plantemotiver i islamisk kunst, Davids Samling, København 2013, cat. 34;
Sheila p. Blair: Text and image in Medieval Persian art, Edinburgh 2014, pp. 32-33;
Jonathan M. Bloom: “Art and architecture” in Farhad Daftary, Amyn B. Sajoo and Shainool Jiwa (eds.): The Shi'i world: pathways in tradition and modernity, London 2015, fig. 11.9, pp. 248-249;
Oliver Watson: “Ceramics and circulation” in Finbarr Barry Flood, Gülru Necipoglu (eds.): A companion to Islamic art and architecture, B. 1, From the Prophet to the Mongols, Hoboken 2017, p. 492, fig. 19.4;
Joachim Meyer, Rasmus Bech Olsen and Peter Wandel: Beyond words: calligraphy from the World of Islam, The David Collection, Copenhagen 2024, cat. 53, pp. 192-193;
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