A NISHAPUR CALLIGRAPHIC SLIP-PAINTED POTTERY BOWL, PERSIA, 10TH CENTURY

of truncated conical form with steep flaring walls stepped down to a low slightly everted foot, decorated in dark brown on a slip ground with a single band of kufic below the rim, the well with a trailed dot

Slip-painted bowls with calligraphed decoration, such as this, are thought to have been inspired by silverware. With their conical form, straight sides, wide flat foot and black on white colour scheme recalling niello on burnished silver, the ceramic dishes echo the few extant examples of Central Asian silverwork produced for the ruling elite.