<em>Platter (Tabaq) with Chinese Landscape</em>, first half 17th century. Ceramic; fritware, molded and painted in cobalt blue under a transparent glaze, Gr. diam.: 19 in. (48.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Carll H. de Silver Fund, 73.166. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 73.166_top_PS2.jpg)

Platter (Tabaq) with Chinese Landscape, first half 17th century. Ceramic; fritware, molded and painted in cobalt blue under a transparent glaze, Gr. diam.: 19 in. (48.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Carll H. de Silver Fund, 73.166. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 73.166_top_PS2.jpg)

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Tell me more.

Chinese ceramics, which arrived via the Silk Road, had a big impact on the designs of ceramics produced in Iran, like this one.

This platter comes from Mashhad, which is in northeastern Iran, in the early 17th century. The ceramic industry had just restarted at that time. The Chinese scene and the three dimensional pattern on the walls are characteristic of this early period of production.

Wonderful!

What is fritware?

Fritware is a type of ceramic material similar to the ancient Egyptian faience. "Frit" is a finely ground, glassy substance often made from quartz. Potters add an oxide to the frit which functions as a "flux" and lowers the melting point of the frit. This mixture can then be melted into a more fluid state and formed into tiles or vessels like you see in our gallery.

Fritware is stronger than traditional clay meaning that it can produce a greater variety of forms with thinner and more decorative walls. Fritware is also naturally white which, of course, takes color much more easily than a brown, earthenware body.

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Interestingly, though the techniques of blue-and-white pottery were first developed in the Near East and transmitted to China, it was Chinese designs that became the standard on both sides of the Silk Road. While Chinese makers on porcelain, Persian potters in the Near East used fritware.

This plate was made in Mashhad in modern Iran. There was a major ceramic industry there during the Safavid period. The incised designs in white band are characteristic of this industry.

Why was this plate designed?

The plate itself was made for much the same reason they are made today! People in Iran at the time used them for serving and eating food.

As for the design, it was heavily inspired by Chinese ceramics which arrived via the Silk Road.

In what year was this plate made?

This plate was made in the first half of the 17th century (1600-1650).

Much like in other areas of the world at the time, Chinese blue and white porcelain became the gold standard. Iranian potters began producing near-exact copies of the imported Chinese wares in fritware, a material that was much easier to produce (than porcelain) with the raw materials available in the region.

Platter (Tabaq) with Chinese Landscape

Arts of the Islamic World

MEDIUM Ceramic; fritware, molded and painted in cobalt blue under a transparent glaze

DATES first half 17th century

DYNASTY Safavid

PERIOD Safavid

DIMENSIONS Gr. diam.: 19 in. (48.3 cm) Diam. at foot: 10 in. (25.4 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Arts of the Islamic World

ACCESSION NUMBER 73.166

CREDIT LINE Carll H. de Silver Fund

EXHIBITIONS

Infinite Blue

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Platter (Tabaq) with Chinese Landscape, first half 17th century. Ceramic; fritware, molded and painted in cobalt blue under a transparent glaze, Gr. diam.: 19 in. (48.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Carll H. de Silver Fund, 73.166. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 73.166_top_PS2.jpg)

IMAGE top, 73.166_top_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2009

"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

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Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.

Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Tell me more.

Chinese ceramics, which arrived via the Silk Road, had a big impact on the designs of ceramics produced in Iran, like this one.

Wonderful!

What is fritware?

Tell me more.

This plate was made in Mashhad in modern Iran. There was a major ceramic industry there during the Safavid period. The incised designs in white band are characteristic of this industry.

Why was this plate designed?

The plate itself was made for much the same reason they are made today! People in Iran at the time used them for serving and eating food.

As for the design, it was heavily inspired by Chinese ceramics which arrived via the Silk Road.

In what year was this plate made?

This plate was made in the first half of the 17th century (1600-1650).