Fragment of a Mina'i Bowl

This fragment is overglaze-painted with a seated figure surrounded by dotted branches enclosed in a medallion. The painting technique, now called mina’i but historically referred to as haft rang (seven color), was a distinctive Iranian tradition employed on stonepaste, possibly transposed from glass enameling. Mina’i painted wares share some stylistic features with coeval Syrian stonepaste, including the moon-like faces of figures or the dotted branches seen on this piece, that exemplify how a common visual language was adapted to and modified by local techniques, traditions, and tastes.

The fragment came to the Museum in 1920, together with a large group of objects bequeathed from the collection of the antique dealer William Milne Grinnell.