Plate with Phoenixes

Art Historical Context

shallow ceramic plate draws the eye with its scalloped rim and lively interior scene. Two stylized phoenixes, wings outstretched and bodies rendered in white with dark linear details, soar amid swirling cloud bands and delicate floral motifs. The design is painted in a restrained palette of soft grays and creamy whites beneath a clear glaze that gives the surface a gentle sheen, while the scalloped edge is accented by small dotted borders. Created in the first half of the fourteenth century, the work is made of stonepaste, a fine ceramic body favored in the Islamic world, and decorated with underglaze painting. Its unknown maker achieved a graceful balance between the curving forms of the birds and the rhythmic patterns that fill the remaining space, inviting the viewer to turn the plate slowly to follow the movement. Now part of the Metropolitan Museum’s Islamic Art collection, this piece was acquired in 1974 through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman. It offers visitors a quiet window into the refined ceramic traditions of the period, where mythical creatures like the phoenix symbolized renewal and beauty in everyday objects.