Minai dish

Persian scenes

When we think of ceramics from the East, we usually think of China, but the Middle East also has a rich ceramic tradition. This twelfth-century bowl, for example, was made in the region that was referred to by the West as Persia until 1935, a name that conjures up fairytale images of the Arabian Nights, sultans, flying carpets and oriental princesses. The origins of the Persian Empire lie in the Middle East, with present-day Iran as its core. The region has a rich culture that has produced beautiful art. The collection of Islamic ceramics, donated to the Princessehof by Mrs. Hillegonda-Janssen, is a good example of this. This collection includes bowls, jars and jugs from the regions of Iran and Iraq. Some objects are beautifully glazed with a turquoise or gold-coloured decoration. There are even a few pieces from the pre-Islamic period, so from before 600.

The bowl depicted here dates from the heyday of Iranian ceramics, from 1100 to 1400. The piece is decorated in a technique called minai: it is covered with a white clay layer and decorated in the colours red, lavender, gold and turquoise. Minai ceramics were produced in Kashan, in what is now Iran. It was a costly process, because the object had to be fired twice. In addition, the glazes were applied in different ways, which made the process even more laborious. This may explain why the production of minai ceramics was short-lived. The first minai pieces date from the end of the twelfth century, but they were no longer made from the middle of the thirteenth century.

Bowl with minai decoration, Iran, approx. 1175 – 1225, quartz fritware, h. 10 cm, Ø 22 cm.

In the middle of the bowl we see a decoration of two seated figures. Above the figures birds fly and we see stylized branches. Many images on minai ceramics are based on wall paintings and text illustrations from the same period. The images often refer to friendship or love. This probably also applies to the decoration on this bowl. We do not know exactly which story is referred to here, but because few of those paintings and illustrations have been preserved, this type of ceramic is an important source of information.

On the inner rim of the bowl is a band with Kufic script, the oldest form of writing in Arabic. The earliest versions of the Quran were written in Kufic. It was developed around the seventh century in present-day Iraq. The city of Kufa takes its name from it. Within Islam, great value is attached to the written word. Arabic was the language in which God revealed himself to the prophet Mohammed. That is why we see Arabic script applied as decoration in much Islamic art.

From fourteenth-century sources we know that minai ceramics were kept in sanctuaries and palaces at that time. Even then, minai were highly valued. As a result, relatively many pieces have been preserved, including this special bowl.

The Ardabil sanctuary

Few people know that Iran is home to one of the largest collections of Chinese blue and white porcelain. This collection was once part of the Ardabil sanctuary, built in honor of Sheikh Safi al-Din, the founder of the Safavid dynasty (1502 – 1736). Like China, this region has a rich tradition of successive dynasties. The first Islamic dynasty, the Umayyads, was founded in the seventh century. The Safavid rulers were lovers of the very refined Chinese porcelain and they collected a large collection over the years. Much of it ended up in Iran through maritime trade. In addition, it was customary for the Chinese emperors to give diplomatic gifts to rulers of other large empires, in order to build a good relationship. This is probably how some pieces also ended up with the powerful Safavid rulers. In Iran, the potters tried to copy this porcelain, but the right clay was not locally available to produce it. In 1611, Shah Abbas (1571 – 1629) decided to enrich the Ardabil sanctuary with a large part of the collection of Chinese porcelain. More than a thousand vases, bowls and bowls were placed in the various niches of the sanctuary. It must have been an enormously impressive collection. Today, the largest part of this collection is in the National Museum in Tehran.

Eline van den Berg, curator Asian ceramics at Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics.