Large jar
Second half 13th century
Object PlaceProbably Kashan, Iran
Medium/TechniqueFritware with cobalt-blue glaze
DimensionsOverall: 69 x 45 cm (27 3/16 x 17 11/16 in.)
Credit LineGift of Edward Jackson Holmes
Accession number44.829
On View
On viewClassificationsCeramics
Collections
This large blue jar was created during the Ilkhanid period (1256 to 1353), a khanate that encompassed parts of modern-day Iran, Azerbaijan and Turkey. Despite not being of Persian descent, the Ilkhanid rulers used art and architecture to connect themselves to Iranian cultural traditions. For example, this jar has four distinct bands carved into the fritware adorned with images that had been used in Iranian art for centuries: serenading musicians, polo players, animals in a garden, and dancers. The large size of this jar and the copious amounts of cobalt blue glaze needed to produce it suggest that the jar belonged to a wealthy family.
ProvenanceSaid to have been found in a village near Shiraz, Iran [see note 1]. By 1938, Ayoub Rabenou, New York. By 1944, Edward Jackson Holmes (b. 1873 – d. 1950), Topsfield, MA; 1944, gift of Edward Jackson Holmes to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 14, 1944)
NOTES:
[1] Pope, Arthur Upham. Survey of Persian Art. London, New York: Oxford University Press (1938), p. 1630.
NOTES:
[1] Pope, Arthur Upham. Survey of Persian Art. London, New York: Oxford University Press (1938), p. 1630.
13th century
17th century
late 17th century
first half of the 17th century
17th–18th century
1725–1775