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https://www.wsj.com/articles/tenth-century-iranian-bowl-masterpiece-samanid-epigraphic-slipware-nishapur-iran-new-style-script-11659733519

Installed at eye level on a pedestal at the bustling entrance to a gallery of elaborately decorated arts of the Islamic world at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, an exquisite 10th-century Iranian ceramic bowl, without gold or embellishments, effortlessly asserts its presence. Out of the visual noise of its surroundings, it stands quietly powerful in its simplicity and clarity. The decoration, in black-brown slip against a bare white ground, consists of thin rim-hugging lines from which perpendiculars descend at regular intervals down its high, flaring, thin sides.

More than a thousand years old, the design feels fresh, minimalist, as if just painted. The shapes appear to tremble with energy. The shortened, bent and elongated forms move around the inside, their perfect balance of dots, edges and curves punctuated at rhythmic intervals with horizontal strokes, forming abstract motifs of great purity.

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This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.