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Large jar
Persian
Seljuk or Ilkhanid
Second half 13th century
Object Place: Probably Kashan, Iran
Medium/Technique
Fritware with cobalt-blue glaze
Dimensions
Overall: 69 x 45 cm (27 3/16 x 17 11/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Edward Jackson Holmes
Accession Number44.829
CollectionsAsia, Islamic Art
ClassificationsCeramics
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.
DescriptionLarge jar with cobalt glaze and four levels of molded decoration. From top to bottom: musicians serenade with lute, flute, tambourine, and harp; polo players gallop over the wide central frieze; animals romp in a garden spaded by two laborers; dancers wave their arms.
ProvenanceSaid to have been found in a village near Shiraz, Iran [see note 1]. By 1931 until at least 1940, Ayoub Rabenou (dealer; b. 1902 - d. 1984), Paris [see note 2]. 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.
[2] He lent the jar to the International Exhibition of Persian Art (Royal Academy of Arts, London, January 7 – February 28, 1931), cat. no. 102; the Third Exhibition of Iranian Art (Hermitage, Leningrad, 1935); and Persian Art Through Four Millennia (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, January 12-February 10, 1940), cat. no. 78. See Phyllis Ackerman, Guide to the Exhibition of Persian Art (New York, 1940), p. 34.
NOTES:
[1] Pope, Arthur Upham. Survey of Persian Art. London, New York: Oxford University Press (1938), p. 1630.
[2] He lent the jar to the International Exhibition of Persian Art (Royal Academy of Arts, London, January 7 – February 28, 1931), cat. no. 102; the Third Exhibition of Iranian Art (Hermitage, Leningrad, 1935); and Persian Art Through Four Millennia (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, January 12-February 10, 1940), cat. no. 78. See Phyllis Ackerman, Guide to the Exhibition of Persian Art (New York, 1940), p. 34.