Nishapur Plate Museo Nazionale d'Arte Orientale 'Giuseppe Tucci'

Grande coppa	Large bowl
Categoria: Contenitori e recipienti	Category: Boxes & Enclosures
Inventario: 2629/3258	Inventory: 2629/3258
Materia e tecnica: terracotta; invetriatura	Material and technique: terracotta; glazing
Datazione: X sec. - prima metà XI sec.; periodo samanide	Dating: 10th century - First half of the 11th century; Samanid period
Provenienza: Prodotto in Iran nord-orientale (Nishapur)	Origin: Made in northeastern Iran (Nishapur)
Dimensioni: Altezza 10 cm; diametro superiore 36.5 cm	Dimensions: Height 10 cm; diameter greater than 36.5 cm

Descrizione breve
Sulla parete della coppa, attorno a un disco centrale con un volatile, si dispone un corteo di cavalieri e ghepardi alternati a personaggi con scudi. Questa ceramica, nota come “camoscio figurata”, sembra fosse prodotta solamente a Nishapur; sulla superficie color camoscio i motivi decorativi sono dipinti con argille liquide sotto invetriatura piombifera. Gli ornati richiamano in genere la vita di corte: suonatori, bevitori, cacciatori su un fondo fittamente decorato con rosette, pseudo iscrizioni e elementi di riempitivo. L’origine di questi temi può essere ricercata nella tradizione antico iranica o nel folklore centro-asiatico.

Short Description
On the wall of the bowl around a central disc with a bird, you have a procession of horsemen and cheetahs alternating with characters with shields. This pottery, known as "figured buff," seems to have been produced only at Nishapur; on the buff coloured surface decorative motifs are painted with liquid clay under plumbiferous glaze. The ornamentation recalls in general the life of the court: players, drinkers, hunters on a base thickly decorated with rosettes, pseudo inscriptions and elements of filler. The origin of these themes can be found in the ancient Iranian tradition or folklore in Central Asia.

A larger image of a Nishapur Plate, Museo Nazionale d'Arte Orientale 'Giuseppe Tucci'.

Photo by Sailko

Referenced on p.18 MAA - 125 - The Armies of Islam 7th-11th Centuries by David Nicolle & Angus McBride
10th century pottery excavated at Nishapur, Khurasan often portrays armoured warriors, probably from the Samanid army. Most, though not all, are mounted. Here a footsoldier with two javelins and a large shield follows a horseman wearing a short lamellar cuirass over a mail hauberk. (Museum of Oriental Art, no. 2629/3258, Rome)

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The cavalryman is referenced as figure 346 in The military technology of classical Islam by D Nicolle
346. Ceramic plate, 10th century AD, Kurāsānī, Museum of Oriental Art no. 2629/3258, Rome.
The infantryman is referenced as figure 353 in The military technology of classical Islam by D Nicolle
353. Ceramic plate, 10th century AD, Kurāsānī, Museum of Oriental Art, Rome.