Sweetmeat Dish

35 Sweetmeat dish Iran, Seljuk-Atabeg period, c. 1200 [1] Fritware painted with luster (copper and silver) over blue (cobalt) transparent alkali glaze and white lead alkali glaze opacified with tin 7.2 × 30.7 cm (2 13/16 × 12 1/16 in.) 2002.50.59 Published: McWilliams 2003, 241, fig. 21. This sweetmeat dish was made from two joined components: a tray with small indentations for holding food, and, beneath that, a shallow bowl. The center well of the tray is decorated with a human figure; the six wells around it have vegetal designs. The size and depth of the indentations vary, as does the color of the luster, which is now mostly greenish but has some redder areas. The exterior of the bowl is covered with dark blue glaze and has illegible writing in luster close to the rim. The foot is very short, perhaps the result of a mishap in the kiln. The hollow cavity between tray and bowl would presumably have been filled with hot water through a small opening, but no such opening has been found on this vessel.[2] Ayşin Yoltar-Yıldırım [1] The dish was last fired between 600 and 900 years ago, according to the results of thermoluminescence analysis carried out by Oxford Authentication Ltd. in 2003. [2] See, in this volume, the essay by Anthony B. Sigel, “History in Pieces: Conservation Issues in Islamic Ceramics,” 37–49, discussing the condition and manufacturing method of this bowl.