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Dish with Splashes of Green
830–900
- Medium
- Earthenware with overglaze design
- Classification
- Ceramic
- Dimensions
- Diameter: 30.2 cm (11 7/8 in.); Overall: 1.3 cm (1/2 in.)
- Culture
- Iraq, Basra, Abbasid period (750–1258)
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Islamic Art
- Credit line
- The Worcester R. Warner Collection
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
This dish displays two great technological advances of the 800s: the invention of opaque white glaze made with tin (imitating Chinese porcelain) and painting in cobalt blue. The blue paint was sometimes used to decorate the center of the bowl with floral and geometric designs, as seen here, or to write Arabic inscriptions offering blessings and well wishes. The green splashes around the rim reflect a popular color choice at the time. The splash effect was made by placing green glaze at the edge of the rim and then allowing it to run toward the center of the dish.
