Samanid slip-painted pottery bowl, 9th century AD, Anavian Gallery
In the long and vibrant history of Islamic art, the Samanid Dynasty (AD 819-999) though short-lived was one of the most significant. The first native Persian empire to arise after the Muslim Arab conquest, the Samanid Dynasty represented a renaissance of early Iranian culture, not the least of which is its contribution to pottery making. The most important advance made by Samanid artists was the introduction of slip painting to pottery decoration. By using ground slip and slip pigments, Samanid potters could prevent the designs from running in the kiln when heated as they used to with the fluid glazes used then. This allowed potters to produce a magnificent variety of surface decorations such as the olive green spotted lion or leopard against the creamy white background of the pottery bowl above. Anavian Gallery can be contacted here for more information on this bowl.
