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Bowl with a Bird

Arts of the Islamic World

On View: Arts of the Islamic World, 2nd floor
Contour panels filled with V-shaped motifs enhance the bold shape of the peacock on this bowl. This style of decoration is typical of tenth-century monochrome lusterware production under the cAbbasid rulers of Iraq. The tail of the peacock contains an inscription that, though damaged, still contains the last two letters of the Arabic word baraka, which means “blessing.” Inscriptions wishing good fortune for the owner commonly appear on Islamic ceramics from this time.
MEDIUM Ceramic; earthenware, painted in luster on an opaque white glaze
DATES 10th century
DYNASTY Abbasid
PERIOD Abbasid
DIMENSIONS Diameter: 10 1/4 in. (26 cm)  (show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER 86.227.80
CREDIT LINE Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc.
PROVENANCE Prior to 1963, provenance not yet documented; by 1963, acquired by Ernest Erickson of New York; December 16, 1986, gift of Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc. to the Brooklyn Museum.
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MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Arts of the Islamic World, 2nd floor
CAPTION Bowl with a Bird, 10th century. Ceramic; earthenware, painted in luster on an opaque white glaze, Diameter: 10 1/4 in. (26 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc., 86.227.80. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 86.227.80_top_PS2.jpg)
IMAGE top, 86.227.80_top_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2009
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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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