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Flask

Title Flask
Author Unknown
Publication Date: 1523
Publication Place Iran (made) Nishapur (made) -
Subject Flowers Birds Poetry
Type Other
Language Undetermined
Digital Yes
Manuscript No
Physical Dimensions Height: 24.6cm, Width: 23.8 x 16.5cm
Library: Victoria and Albert Museum
Library Asset ID C.1973-1910
Record ID C.1973-1910
Library Location Middle East Section
Date 1523
Notes There is a long tradition of pottery production in Nishapur. During the Safavid period, the artistic and merchant community must have supported the local industry, as Nishapur was not directly associated with the court, who were the usual patrons. Although destroyed by earthquakes and Mongols, a pottery industry was re-established by 1430, following the Diaspora of potters from Samarqand in 1411. This flask, dated 930 AH / 1523-4 AD, was produced in the decades before Iran was flooded with mass-produced Chinese export porcelain in the Jiajing and later Wanli periods, around 1550-1625. The shape is ultimately based on metal pilgrim flasks, such as the large Syrian brass canteen, dating to the mid-13th century, in the collection of the Freer Gallery, Washington. The form was designed to be carried by travellers or slung from horse trappings by straps attached to handles, now missing, along with the neck. In ceramics, pilgrim flasks, presumably ornamental, appear in early 15th century Chinese porcelain in the Yongle and Xuande periods, possibly made as diplomatic gifts. The decoration is also inspired by Chinese porcelain of the Xuande period (1426-35), which suggests that in the finest examples the potters had access to a courtly collection of "antique" porcelain. However, this flask, part of a group, which includes a pilgrim flask painted with ducks, in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, which is a more loose interpretation of a Chinese prototype, and a large dish in the Middle Eastern Culture Center in Mitaka, Tokyo, with a very similar design. The Tokyo dish has two birds and an inscription with the date 929 AH / 1522-3 AD as well as the name of the place of manufacture "Nishapur".
Sample Text Side A تا گردنی سراحی می خم نمیشود غم از دل رمیده کم نمی شود سراحی دار خون شد بی لب لعلت درونی من دهن چون باز کردم تشنه شد خلقی بخونی من عاقبت جمله رندان خیر باد اتم [...] ۹۳۰ With corrected spelling: تا گردن صراحی می خم نمیشود غم از دل رمیده کم نمی شود صراحی دار خون شد بی لب لعلت درون من دهن چون باز کردم تشنه شد خلقی بخون من عاقبت جمله رندان خیر باد اتم [...] ۹۳۰TranslationWhile the neck of the wine-bottle is not bent [towards us] The suffering of our grieving hearts will not grow less! Without your ruby lips, the bottle has become the container of the blood within me: When I opened its mouth, some people were thirsty for my blood. May it end well for all the company of drinkers! It was completed [...] 930, Side B یارب که مرا صحبت جان به تو مباد انجام زمانه یک زمان به تو مباد وز هستی من نام و نشان به تو مباد کوتاه کنم سخن جهان به تو مباد گفت یکی رند درین کهنه دیر عاقبت جمله رندان خیر اتم فی شهور سنه ۹۳۰ With spelling corrected: یارب که مرا صحبت جان بی تو مباد انجام زمانه یک زمان بی تو مباد وز هستی من نام و نشان بی تو مباد کوتاه کنم سخن جهان بی تو مباد کفت یکی رند درین کهنه دیر عاقبت جمله رندان خیر اتم فی شهور سنه ۹۳۰TranslationOh Lord! Without you there would be no discourse with the world for me , And without you there would be no trace of my existence – no name, no mark! Without you there would be no end of time, nor yet a single moment! I will be brief: without you there would be no world at all! A dissolute man once said in this old monastery, “May it end well for all the company of drinkers!” It was completed during the months of the year 930.NoteThe first two couplets are found in theMu’nis al-ahbab(see, for example, ms. 1504/2s in the Majlis Library, Tehran, available on ketabpedia.com) of Shihab al-Din ‘Abdallah ibn Muhammad Murvarid Kirmani, whose pen-name was Bayani (see, for example,Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. ‘Abdallah Morvarid). * A monastery was conventionally seen as a place where monks made wine, and therefore as a wine-shop.
Malzemeler ve teknikler Fritware, underglaze painted Fritware
Fiziksel açıklama Flask, fritware, of flattened circular form, raised on a tall round footring, the neck is missing, as are the handles indicated by the base of one lug and an unglazed patch on the upper shoulder,underglaze-painted in blue, the circular panels depicting a single bird perched on a flower spray, one of three each with blossoms resembling stylized lotus flowers, within a border of nasta'liq script with poetic inscription incorporating a dated 930 AH/1523-4 AD. The panel on each side is decorated with three ogee-shaped medallions with cloud collar bands below a circle of petals at the handle base. There is a wax seal inside the base and no mark.
Üslup Safavid
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Victoria and Albert Museum - Ottoman library catalog search Victoria and Albert Museum

Flask

Author Unknown
Publication Date 1523
Publication Place Iran (made) Nishapur (made) -
Subject Flowers Birds Poetry
Type Other
Language Undetermined
Digital Yes
Manuscript No
Physical Dimensions Height: 24.6cm, Width: 23.8 x 16.5cm
Library Victoria and Albert Museum
Library Asset ID C.1973-1910
Record ID C.1973-1910
Library Location Middle East Section
Date 1523
Notes There is a long tradition of pottery production in Nishapur. During the Safavid period, the artistic and merchant community must have supported the local industry, as Nishapur was not directly associated with the court, who were the usual patrons. Although destroyed by earthquakes and Mongols, a pottery industry was re-established by 1430, following the Diaspora of potters from Samarqand in 1411. This flask, dated 930 AH / 1523-4 AD, was produced in the decades before Iran was flooded with mass-produced Chinese export porcelain in the Jiajing and later Wanli periods, around 1550-1625. The shape is ultimately based on metal pilgrim flasks, such as the large Syrian brass canteen, dating to the mid-13th century, in the collection of the Freer Gallery, Washington. The form was designed to be carried by travellers or slung from horse trappings by straps attached to handles, now missing, along with the neck. In ceramics, pilgrim flasks, presumably ornamental, appear in early 15th century Chinese porcelain in the Yongle and Xuande periods, possibly made as diplomatic gifts. The decoration is also inspired by Chinese porcelain of the Xuande period (1426-35), which suggests that in the finest examples the potters had access to a courtly collection of "antique" porcelain. However, this flask, part of a group, which includes a pilgrim flask painted with ducks, in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, which is a more loose interpretation of a Chinese prototype, and a large dish in the Middle Eastern Culture Center in Mitaka, Tokyo, with a very similar design. The Tokyo dish has two birds and an inscription with the date 929 AH / 1522-3 AD as well as the name of the place of manufacture "Nishapur".
Sample Text Side A تا گردنی سراحی می خم نمیشود غم از دل رمیده کم نمی شود سراحی دار خون شد بی لب لعلت درونی من دهن چون باز کردم تشنه شد خلقی بخونی من عاقبت جمله رندان خیر باد اتم [...] ۹۳۰ With corrected spelling: تا گردن صراحی می خم نمیشود غم از دل رمیده کم نمی شود صراحی دار خون شد بی لب لعلت درون من دهن چون باز کردم تشنه شد خلقی بخون من عاقبت جمله رندان خیر باد اتم [...] ۹۳۰TranslationWhile the neck of the wine-bottle is not bent [towards us] The suffering of our grieving hearts will not grow less! Without your ruby lips, the bottle has become the container of the blood within me: When I opened its mouth, some people were thirsty for my blood. May it end well for all the company of drinkers! It was completed [...] 930, Side B یارب که مرا صحبت جان به تو مباد انجام زمانه یک زمان به تو مباد وز هستی من نام و نشان به تو مباد کوتاه کنم سخن جهان به تو مباد گفت یکی رند درین کهنه دیر عاقبت جمله رندان خیر اتم فی شهور سنه ۹۳۰ With spelling corrected: یارب که مرا صحبت جان بی تو مباد انجام زمانه یک زمان بی تو مباد وز هستی من نام و نشان بی تو مباد کوتاه کنم سخن جهان بی تو مباد کفت یکی رند درین کهنه دیر عاقبت جمله رندان خیر اتم فی شهور سنه ۹۳۰TranslationOh Lord! Without you there would be no discourse with the world for me , And without you there would be no trace of my existence – no name, no mark! Without you there would be no end of time, nor yet a single moment! I will be brief: without you there would be no world at all! A dissolute man once said in this old monastery, “May it end well for all the company of drinkers!” It was completed during the months of the year 930.NoteThe first two couplets are found in theMu’nis al-ahbab(see, for example, ms. 1504/2s in the Majlis Library, Tehran, available on ketabpedia.com) of Shihab al-Din ‘Abdallah ibn Muhammad Murvarid Kirmani, whose pen-name was Bayani (see, for example,Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. ‘Abdallah Morvarid). * A monastery was conventionally seen as a place where monks made wine, and therefore as a wine-shop.
Malzemeler ve teknikler Fritware, underglaze painted Fritware
Fiziksel açıklama Flask, fritware, of flattened circular form, raised on a tall round footring, the neck is missing, as are the handles indicated by the base of one lug and an unglazed patch on the upper shoulder,underglaze-painted in blue, the circular panels depicting a single bird perched on a flower spray, one of three each with blossoms resembling stylized lotus flowers, within a border of nasta'liq script with poetic inscription incorporating a dated 930 AH/1523-4 AD. The panel on each side is decorated with three ogee-shaped medallions with cloud collar bands below a circle of petals at the handle base. There is a wax seal inside the base and no mark.
Üslup Safavid
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