Collection
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Arts of the Islamic World

Blue and White Bowl with Radial Design

13th century

1 of 8

Caption

Blue and White Bowl with Radial Design, 13th century. Ceramic; fritware, painted in cobalt blue under a transparent glaze, 3 11/16 in. (9.3 cm) diameter at mouth: 6 15/16 in. (17.6 cm) rim: 9/16 in. (1.4 cm) base: 3 5/16 in. (8.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas S. Brush, 75.2. Creative Commons-BY

Gallery

Not on view

Title

Blue and White Bowl with Radial Design

Date

13th century

Geography

Place made: Iran, Possible place made: Kashan, Iran

Medium

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

Classification

Ceramic

Dimensions

3 11/16 in. (9.3 cm) diameter at mouth: 6 15/16 in. (17.6 cm) rim: 9/16 in. (1.4 cm) base: 3 5/16 in. (8.4 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas S. Brush

Accession Number

75.2

Rights

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.

Frequent Art Questions

  • 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.

  • Do we know how it was discovered that cobalt could be used in ceramics?

    Not precisely, but it was likely through experimentation, possibly even an error that resulted in an unexpected result!
    Using cobalt as an ingredient in glaze and underglaze decoration developed in the Middle East. Though beautiful, you can see how difficult the pigment was to control at first by looking at the uneven lines on this bowl.
    Definitely. We noticed that!

  • Why was cobalt the color that was used?

    It was basically a matter of taste. Cobalt was special because it actually remains blue through the high-temperature firing process which many pigments did not. Cobalt glazing technology was first developed in Persia and transmitted to China via the Silk Road across Asia.
    Oh okay thank you!

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