Early kufic epigraphic bowl. Eastern Iran, Nishapur, Khorasan. Samanid period, 10th century.

Early kufic epigraphic bowl. Eastern Iran, Nishapur, Khorasan. Samanid period, 10th century.
Ceramic with white slip and black decoration under the cover.
Condition: slight general wear, glaze cracking, small abrasions and minor losses consistent with age.
Bibliography: -Oliver Watson, Ceramics from Islamic Lands, Thames & Hudson, London, 2004. -Sheila R. Canby, Islamic Art in Detail, The British Museum Press, London, 2005. -Ernst J. Grube, Cobalt and Lustre: The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery, Nour Foundation, 1994.
Measurements: 10 x 28 x 28 cm.

An example of great presence belonging to the famous epigraphic production of Nishapur, one of the most influential ceramic centers of the Islamic world during the Samanid period. The bowl has an elegant open silhouette and a surface treated with white engobe, on which a wide band of calligraphy in angular kufic is displayed in black.

The freely executed and highly stylized inscription transforms the Arabic script into a powerful visual language. In this type of composition, legibility coexists with the graphic rhythm of the strokes, giving rise to one of the most sophisticated developments in early Islamic ceramics. The chromatic economy -black on white- accentuates the decorative force of the piece and anticipates a sensibility surprisingly close to modern abstraction.

The central field, delimited by concentric rings, balances the energy of the epigraphic band, while the inner border retains a punctuated decoration that underlines the circular structure of the whole. Beyond its utilitarian function, this type of bowl embodies a fundamental transformation in Islamic art: the elevation of writing to an ornamental and symbolic principle.