Evening star., 1925-11-22


number of pieces of early Per-
Il sian pottery which are eN-
ceedingly fne--so fine. indeed.
that nowhere else in this country is
such "A group to be found. And here
again is material which VIII induce
students of this branch of art to come
to this city from afar to study and to
see. All of the new pieces take the
form of bowls and We're undoubtedly
produced for use. Even those who
decorated them probably had no idea
that they We're making works of art.
IA certainly the thought that they
We're producing museum exhibits
must have been far from their minds.
The under sides of these bowls have
the appearance of earihenWare, IA sur
face not altogether unlike that of 4
flower pot made Oi fine clay. The color
varies and on the inside of the bowl
there is a decoration and a glaze. In
one instance the decoration has been
painted in black and consists Of "A hg-
ure and a conventional design derived
from chlrOgraphy i'll all probability.
the pattern appearing, as il We're in
silhouette. the original color OF the
earthenware serving as background.
The glaze in this case is greenish
white. The date of this bowl is the
twelfth or thirteenth century.
Another bowl of the same period
shows two figures. The details are in
relief and gilded. The decora ton con-
sists of painting in blue, violet. red
and black in overglaZe. The glaze
itself is white.
There are three very interesting
small size bowls of the ninth century
one, deep and conical, showing four
goats or gazelles as the chief unit of
Xt-:-l |, -I,aSt
full backward turning horns, have
their four feet together and are thus
brought into a quarter segment of the
bowl. The color is LrowniSh yellow
brown in the depreSsiOnS. The deco
ration is engraved in white slip coat
ing underglaZe. The other two bowls
are decorated respectively. by figures
of lion and bull. The lion is
fascinating creature with most in
teresting curved body. head turned
abruptly to the right over the back.
tongue extended This shows a thin
transparent glaze. reddish with green
glaze, and the decoration is engraved
in white slip and painted olive brown
underglaze. The bowl with the bull
is a greensh yellow engraved and
painted in aubergine underGlaZe,
which gives "a blue-purple and yellow
green effect-very handsome. These
decorations are Clear-cut and definite
and show designs perfectly adapted TO
space and requirements. There is
slight blending of color through the
medium of the glaze, in some in
stances having run as the bowl was
fired upside down. There is no indie
cision in the treatment of the pattern.
One of the finest of the pieces is a
large bowl. ovoidal in shape. Persian
of the eighth century. probably
RhageS. glazed with cream-white tin
enamel. decorated with brown in out
line and dots This is perhaps one OF
the earliest instances OF the use of
gold luster. 1t shows a figure, very
much conventionaliZed. of man
seated, holding a musical instrument
somewhat similar to Lutte though
held like a banjo or guitar. an instru-
ment with two strings and two keys.
This piece is decorated both inside
and out. and though found in pieces.
is complete and shows little or no
trace of restoration; an eXtraordinari-
ly fine example.
There is also in the collection an
Arab plate of the tenth or twelfth
century-glassy sreeniSh white, with
mother of pearl irdesCenCe and blue
green aubergine underglaZe.
These pieces were all found in
Il
state of preservation. The following
note from the handbook of the Mime
apolis Institute of Arts lends interest
to these remarkable specimens:
The art of the nearer Orient is the
product of many races. The phrase
covers in general the art of India,
Persia, Syria, Mohammedan, Egypt,
Turkey and even, in certain aspects,
the art of Spain, Portugal and south
ern Italy. Although the development
of this art was by no means uniform
or along the same lines; the products
are all related in style. which is I'M
mistakable and distinct from other
types of design. The most typical
manifestation of this style would APP
pear to have originated in Egypt
about the time of the Mohammedan
conquest. in 638 AID, and almost 81
simultaneously in Syria and northern
Persia. Since the Koran forbade the
representation of any living creature,
Mohammedan artists developed the So
called arabesque style. based on ge-
ometric and floral motives. This linn
ftation, however, was not observed by
the Persians, who introduced human
and animal life into their designs
with beautiful results The earliest
1uStered ware of Persia is that found
in the ruins of the ancient city of
images. This prosperous city was de-
stroyed in 1921 during the Mongol in
Tasion. 1t may be assumed that most
of the fragments found in the tumuli
at Rhages date from the early years
of the thirteenth century. Non-Ius-
tered pottery with polychrome decora-
tlon was also produced at RhageS
during this period"
X 4 X
TWO of the four rooms in the Freer
Gallery which for some time were
given over to paintings by Thayer,
Dewing. Tryon and others, tempo
rarily, now are occupied by display of
etchings and Autographs by Whistler.
IT would he well if the visitor would
note the charming and skillful man.