NORTH EAST IRAN, 10TH CENTURY

The impressive size of the bowl, together with the confident calligraphy that decorates it, is reminiscent of the famous bowl in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (acc.no. 65.106.2) or a fragment in the Sarikhani Collection (acc.no. I.CE.2224D, published by Oliver Watson, Ceramics of Iran, London, 2020, p.104, no.43). In his entry on the Sarikhani fragment, Watson notes that this stark style of script is not generally found at Nishapur, where a more calligraphic style is generally preferred, and more commonly seen on wares excavated in Tashkent and Samarkand. The fact that this bowl was excavated in Nishapur, however, suggests that this distinction may not be so pronounced.