Charger

Object Details

• Description

  Centered on a wheel, a stylized octafoil, recalling a Chinese cloud-collar, the plate is filled with alternating scale and wave motifs. The same patterns appear in a scalloped band encircling the interior edge of the plate, while the white cavetto is incised with vertical lines, lending it a "ribbed" effect. This large plate or charger is a fine and rather unusual example of Timurid blue-and-white ware.

• Label

  Timurid production of blue-and-white ceramics flourished in fifteenth-century Iran. The decoration of this large molded plate centers on a wheel-like motif. Its stylized octafoil design of alternating scale and wave patterns was adapted from Chinese models. The plate illustrates the Timurid interest in Chinese decorative motifs, which were adapted to Persian taste and translated into different media.

• Provenance

  To 1999

  Axia Art Islamique et Byzantin, Liechtenstein, acquired via a public auction in London, to 1999 [1]

  From 1999

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Axia Art Islamique et Byzantin in 1999 [2]

  Notes:

  [1] According to Curatorial Note 3, Massumeh Farhad, February 4, 1999, in the object record.

  [2] The object was presented at the Friends of the Freer and Sackler Galleries Annual Dinner on April 17, 1999, as an Arthur M. Sackler Gallery acquisition consideration, but was not acquired for purchase at that time. The object was later transferred to the Freer Gallery of Art for purchase consideration.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  In the Realm of Princes: The Arts of the Book in Fifteenth Century Iran and Central Asia (March 19 to August 7, 2005)

  Honoring Friends: Recent Gifts by Members of the Freer and Sackler Galleries (June 10 to November 25, 2001)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Axia Art Islamique et Byzantin

• Origin

  Iran

• Credit Line

  Purchase — funds provided by the Friends of the National Museum of Asian Art in honor of their 1999 Iran trip

• 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

  1400s

• Name

  Axia Art Islamique et Byzantin

• Topic

  Art, Timurid period (1378 - 1506), Arts of the Islamic World, Stone-paste, Ceramics

• Culture

  Muslims, Iranians

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)