Collection Highlights: Eastern Art

The Mongol invasions of Iran in the early thirteenth century caused severe devastation and loss of life. From the middle of the century the new Mongol rulers re-established the economy, and trade and commerce flourished once again. This is especially evident in pottery production: new styles of painting are seen, with new motifs, new colouring and new vessel shapes. This bowl typifies the new style, with its somber colouring of white and black against a grey background. The phoenixes are a new motif copied from China – probably taken from imported silk textiles, which were much in demand in this period. The bowl is in remarkable condition for a medieval object that has undoubtedly spent most of the last centuries buried in some archaeological site. [Sir Alan Barlow Gift. EA1956.57]