Plate

Object Details

• Description

  Plate with a bowl-like concavity and wide marly; bold foot rim. Broken, repaired and restored with plaster.

  Clay: soft, grayish.

  Glaze: opaque, cream-white, stanniferous.

  Decoration: painted in gold lustre with iridescent reflections. Kufic inscription and potter's mark.

• Marks

  Potter's Mark

• Inscriptions

  1. (From original folder sheet note 3) (G.T.W., 1941) The Kufic inscription on the rim is as follows: [ ] and magnificence abundance complete perpetuity health and happiness and prosperity and...wealth (repair) (repair), (.........), (.............), (..............).........grandeur and ..............and................and to the possessor.

  In the inscription there are the following errors: [Arbc] instead of [Arbc] the final letter of [Arbc] appears not to be a [Arbc] more like a final [Arbc] or [Arbc]; [Arbc] instead of [Arbc] instead of [Kufic] the meaning of the next combination of letters [Arbc] is obscure, and [Arbc] instead of [Arbc].

  2. (From original folder sheet note 5) (R.E. 1945) Using a photograph in which all modern restorations are blotted out, the framing inscription on the rim should be read in the following manner:

  [Arbc]

  "Perfect blessing complete favor and good luck, and prosperity and security, and (repair) and health and complete happiness to its owner, may He free him from evil."

  Comments on various words: 1. The [ ] is missing in [ ]. 2. Of this word only the initial sin or shin is preserved. As the rest of the final letter does not seem to be a ra the missing word does not seem to be [ ] or [ ] as one might expect. Other possibilities are [ ] with preference for the first two words on account of the limitation of the given space. 3. Of this word only the second, third and remains of the first letter are preserved, but the reading is clear. 4. The fourth and fifth letters are, by mistake, reversed so that the word reads [ ] instead of [ ]. Here the word [ ] would have to be added to make a grammatically more correct text.

  The letters after the inscription [ ] on the foot, is apparently not a monogram standing for the potter's signature (otherwise a very likely suggestion) but it is [ ], the same inscription found also on other bowls (see G. Wiet, Deux pieces de ceramique egyptienne, Ars Islamica, III (1936), Fig. 2 opposite page 174). Aly Bey Bahgat and F. Massoul read it as "J'ai reussi" while Wiet proposes "bon a tirer" or "bon a cuire (ibid., p. 178).

  3. (From original folder sheet note 7) (Wheeler Thackston, Harvard University, Summer 1990)

  41.12

  Inscription:

  [Arbc]

  baraka kamila wa-ni'ma shamila wa-iqbal wa-sa'ad(a) wa-salama wa-s...wa-'afiya wa-ghibta shamila li-sahibih khallasahu [min] sharr

  "Perfect blessing, and all-encompassing good things, and good fortune and happiness and good health, and...and well-being and all-encompassing felicity for the owner, may [God[ deliver him [from] any evil."

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Engaging the Senses (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)

  Facing East: Portraits from Asia (July 1 to September 4, 2006)

  Iraq and China: Ceramics, Trade, and Innovation (December 4, 2004 to July 17, 2005)

  Arts of the Islamic World (May 3, 1998 to January 3, 2016)

  Islamic Art (May 9, 1993 to June 3, 1997)

  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 Arab World (August 15, 1980 to May 13, 1981)

  Art of the Arab World (May 8, 1975 to August 20, 1977)

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

  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 Manuscripts (May 1, 1945 to September 25, 1947)

  Untitled Exhibition, Persian Manuscripts (May 5, 1933 to September 22, 1947)

• Origin

  Egypt

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Vessel

• On View

  Freer Gallery 03: Engaging the Senses

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1100s, 1200s

• Place

  Egypt

• Topic

  Kufic script, Art, Animals, Horses, Pottery, Arts of the Islamic World, Portraits, Iridescence, Ceramics, Fatimid period (909 - 1171), Falcon

• Culture

  Muslims

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)

• On View

  Yes