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Bowl with Four Human Figures around a
Horse and Cheetah, 10th Century, Nishapur, Iran.
Cleveland Museum of Art

A larger image of this Bowl with Four Human Figures around a Horse and Cheetah.

Nishapur Figural Bowl
900s

Iran, Nishapur, Samanid period
(819–1005)
Earthenware with underglaze decoration
Overall: 8 x 35.6 cm (3 1/8 x 14 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1959.249

DESCRIPTION
Nishapur was founded as a Sasanian imperial city and ceramics produced here regularly incorporate elements from Sasanian metalware. The lively decoration on this bowl features four bearded figures surrounded by animals, birds, and angular script (possibly extending baraka, blessing). The central horse with a cheetah on his back suggests an imperial hunt, a common theme in Sasanian and Islamic art. The decorative motifs and figures employed on Nishapur polychrome ware reflect the rich cultural traditions in this part of northeastern Iran. Some vessels, like this one, depict the pastime of hunting, others reflect festivals celebrated by Muslims and Zoroastrians, and a few display Christian symbols.
Source: Cleveland Museum of Art

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This splendid bowl features four figures surrounded by animals, birds, and angular script (possibly extending baraka, blessing). The central horse with a cheetah on his back suggests an imperial hunt.
Cleveland Museum of Art on archive.org

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6 (above). Ceramic bowl from Nishapur, Khurassan. 10th century. Slip-painted polychrome decoration. diam. 14 in. (35.6 cm.). Museum of Art, Cleveland. This is one of the best examples of the peculiar figure style developed in Nishapur pottery painting of the 10th century. The origin of the style, which has no parallel anywhere in the Muslim world, is still unexplained. Often purely decorative in intent, many of these bowls are painted with what would appear to be meaningful symbolic subjects which in most cases have not so far been satisfactorily interpreted. The scene on this bowl has been identified as a bacchanalia which harks back to classical iconographical tradition; it has immediate forerunners in Iran in the Sassanian period. The world of Islam by Ernst J. Grube.