Bowl with a Man Holding a Sword and Shield
Unknown Artist
10th century
Medium
Earthenware; white slip with black slip and polychrome pigments under transparent colorless glaze
Dimensions
H. 4 5/8 in. (11.7 cm) Diam. 10 1/2 in. (26.7 cm) Wt. 35.4 oz. (1003.7 g)
Classification
Ceramics
Department
Islamic Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Louis V. Bell Fund, 1966
Accession Number
66.176
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite 10th-century earthenware bowl, measuring 4⅝ inches high and 10½ inches in diameter, showcases a dynamic figure of a man clad in armor, gripping a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. Crafted in the Islamic tradition, its surface is adorned with white slip as a base, accented by black slip outlines and vibrant polychrome pigments—all sealed under a transparent colorless glaze. This technique, pioneered in the Abbasid era (roughly 8th–13th centuries), allowed artisans to achieve luminous, durable colors on everyday objects, transforming functional ceramics into artistic tr...