

Iran, Kashan
Stonepaste; molded, luster-painted on opaque white glaze
1 7/8 x 16 1/8 in. (4.7 x 41 cm)
Gift of Beatrice Kelekian, in memory of her husband, Charles D. Kelekian, 1983 (1983.247)
This large fluted dish, presently fragmentary and restored, is an excellent example of the so-called Kashan style of luster painting, which reveals the distinctive features of figures drawn in reserve on a luster ground while the background is filled entirely with small spirals and "commas" scratched through the luster. The forty-four visible figures are so densely clustered around the central veiled womanseated in a litter supported by two assesthat their bodies occupy virtually the entire painted area. The dish once stood on three small feet, one of which is now missing.







