Bowl with Flying Birds
Unknown Artist
1280–1400
Medium
Fritware with underglaze-painted design, Sultanabad ware
Dimensions
{"overall":{"height":0.112,"width":0.22}}
Classification
Ceramic
Department
Islamic Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust
Accession Number
1915.589
About this artwork
During the Ilkhanid period, decorative motifs from China were adopted into Persian art, including dragons, phoenixes, and lotus blossoms, which are seen on this bowl. Lotus blossoms were easily integrated into the existing tradition of floral and vegetal elements in Islamic art, while the phoenix was equated with the simurgh, a mythical bird known from the epic Persian poem the Shahnameh, or Book of Kings. The white slip designs on a gray background are typical of these wares, while the flat rim...