Bowl with Peonies
Bowl with Floral Medallions, 1600s. Safavid dynasty (1501–1736), Iran.
Fritware with underglaze blue; 4 x 8 3/4 in. Denver Art Museum: Gift of Bj Averitt, 1994.12
Bowl with Floral Medallions
1600s, Safavid dynasty (1501–1736)
Iran
Ceramic with blue pigment under a transparent glaze
Gift of Bj Averitt
1994.12
This blue-and-white bowl is a refined example of Safavid dynasty adaptations of Ming dynasty ceramic designs. Although made in seventeenth-century Iran, its shape and decoration are derived from sixteenth-century China. The base of the bowl has a simulated reign mark, showing how driven Iranian potters were to emulate Chinese originals. The demand for Chinese-style ceramics was not confined to Iran. These motifs inspired designs elsewhere in Asia, and by the eighteenth century this had become a truly international style.
