National Museum of Iran hosts seminar on Minai ware

National Museum of Iran hosts seminar on Mina’i ware

TEHRAN - On Sunday, a specialized seminar on Mina’i ware was held at the National Museum of Iran, where Leila Khamooshi, an Islamic period pottery expert at the museum, presented the findings of her recent research.

Her research, conducted in collaboration with specialists from interdisciplinary fields, as well as the Islamic and pottery departments of the museum, focused on Mina’i ware, which is a significant collection at the National Museum of Iran. These wares primarily date back to the Seljuk and Khwarezmian periods and were produced in cities such as Kashan, Ray, Gorgan, and Saveh.

According to Khamooshi, the most important development in Seljuk-era pottery was the invention and introduction of a white glass-like paste for making ceramic vessels. This innovation meant that potters no longer needed to apply slip or a whitewash coating to the pottery. She continued by explaining that Mina’i ware is decorated with intricate paintings on glazed surfaces, which feature a wide variety of colors. Some pieces also include gold or gilded decorations.

Khamooshi emphasized that decorating these vessels with such a wide array of colors was a complex task, often requiring multiple layers of painting and several firings in the kiln. These vessels were considered luxury items, with their designs frequently depicting opulent royal scenes. There was undoubtedly a close relationship between Mina’i potters and manuscript illustrators. The motifs on Mina’i ware often reflected literary and historical themes, as well as religious and astronomical subjects.

The expert also noted that the motifs on these ceramics could be compared to illustrations in manuscripts like Varaqeh Golshah, and similar designs found on metalwork, textiles, and other contemporary pottery. In conclusion, Khamooshi shared that alongside general studies of the collection, specialized analyses—such as XRF, PIXE, petrography, dilatometry, and thermoluminescence—were conducted with the help of experts from the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism and the University of Tehran. These analyses aimed to obtain more precise information about the production methods, colors, paintings, materials, and dating of the samples.

It is noteworthy that the results of this research were published in a book titled Mina’i ware (The National Museum of Iran Collection) in March 2024. The 168-page book includes two main sections: the text and the catalog. It covers various topics, including the art of pottery and key production centers during the Seljuk period, decoration techniques of Mina’i ware (also known as “seven-color” pottery), the formation periods of Mina’i ceramics, dated and inscribed Mina’i ware, as well as the specific characteristics of Mina’i ware  from Ray, Kashan, Saveh, and Gorgan. The book also compares the motifs on Mina’i ware with miniatures from contemporary manuscripts, and examines connections with motifs on metal, textile, and stucco works, as well as Seljuk clothing patterns in relation to the decorations on Mina’i ceramics. The analyses included in the book focus on XRF and PIXE methods for identifying glazes and pigments, petrography for examining the composition of clays, dilatometry for determining firing temperatures, and thermoluminescence for validating relative dating based on material properties.

AM

source: tehrantimes.com