Bowl

Object Details

• Artist

  Ali ibn Yusuf (early 13th century)

• Description

  Bowl (broken and repaired).

  Clay: soft, sandy, white.

  Glaze: white tin enamel, crazed and crackled; transparent wash under the foot. Decoration: painted in polychrome enamels and leaf gold (surface of gold ground worn). Kufic inscription inside; saskhi inscription outside; both with signature.

• Inscriptions

  Inscription in cursive Arabic around outside of bowl is copied below, ---the words written brackets being those written upon the outer side of modern repairs, and therefore not authoritative and not included in the translation which follows:

  [Arbc]

  [ ] and prosperity....[ ] and dignity [ ] and happiness .... [ ] and peace...and dominion and majesty and [ ] and perpetuity to the possessor.

  [ ] work of 'Ali bin Yusuf.

  Inscription in Kufic around inside of bowl:

  [Arbc]

  Power eternal, prosperity superabundant and victory triumphant and favor and wisdom and good fortune, and happiness and health, nobility and [ ] and perpetuity to the possessor.

  The work of [ ] bin Yusuf.

  Inscription:

  Interior:

  [Arbc]

  al-'izz al-dayim wa'-igbal al-zayid wa'l-nasr al-ghalib wa'l-farr al-gayim wa'l-dawla wa'l-sa'ada wa'l-salama wa'l-karama wa'l-'azama wa'l-baga li-sahibih 'amilahu ['Ali] bn Yusuf

  "Eternal glory, ever-increasing good fortune, overwhelming victory, self-subsisting aura of glory, prosperity, happiness, good health, nobility, greatness, and long life to the owner. Made by Ali b. Yusuf."

  Exterior:

  Exterior:

• Provenance

  To 1937

  Dikran G. Kelekian (1868-1951), Cairo, Egypt, Paris, France, and New York, to 1937 [1]

  From 1937

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Dikran G. Kelekian, New York in 1937 [2]

  Notes:

  [1] Undated folder sheet note. See Freer Gallery or Art Purchase List after 1920, Collections Management Office.

  [2] See note 1.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Near Eastern Ceramics (May 10, 1985 to September 3, 1985)

  Near Eastern Ceramics (June 24, 1982 to September 23, 1982)

  Near Eastern Ceramics (May 14, 1981 to May 10, 1985)

  Art of the Near East (August 21, 1977 to December 14, 1979)

  Ceramics from the World of Islam (January 16, 1974 to July 1, 1974)

  Near Eastern Art—Paintings, Pottery (August 18, 1967 to February 10, 1972)

  Near Eastern Art (June 5, 1964 to August 18, 1967)

  Near Eastern Art (January 1, 1963 to August 18, 1967)

  Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 6 and 7 (February 25, 1956 to April 10, 1962)

  Untitled Exhibition, Islamic Manuscripts, Pottery, Metalwork, and Glass (April 12, 1955 to November 21, 1955)

  Untitled Exhibition, Islamic Arts, 1947 (October 6, 1947 to February 25, 1956)

  Untitled Exhibition, Islamic Ceramics and Glass (January 9, 1945 to May 1, 1945)

  Untitled Exhibition, Islamic Paintings (May 1, 1945 to September 25, 1947)

  Untitled Exhibition, Persian Paintings and Ceramics (May 5, 1933 to January 9, 1945)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Dikran Garabed Kelekian (1868-1951)

• Origin

  Iran

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1200s

• Name

  Kelekian, Dikran Garabed

• Topic

  Kufic script, Art, Arts of the Islamic World, Stone-paste, Saljuq period (1037 - 1300), Ceramics

• Culture

  Muslims, Iranians

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)