Celadon-glazed porcelain dish with Persian poetry
China; 15th century (Calligraphy: Iran; 16th-17th century)
Diam: 48.5 cm
Chinese porcelain with a celadon glaze was greatly admired in the Islamic world under the early Abbasid caliphs (8th-9th century), and after the advent of the Mongols in the 13th century it attained a very special status. Written sources show that in certain places in the Middle East, it was believed that celadon would shatter if it were used to hold poisoned food.
The type and content of the inscription lead us to surmise that this dish, which was originally made in China, was later incised in Iran after the 16th-17th century. The inscription is a Sufi-inspired Persian poem:
“O king, look at me generously as a dervish / Look at my condition, my sick and wounded heart / Although I do not deserve your forgiveness, do not look at me; look to your generosity.”
Inv. no. 6/1978
Published in:
Kjeld von Folsach: Davids Samling gennem 24 år, 1962-1985 = The David Collection: a 24-year period: 1962-1985, København 1985, pp. 42-43;
Kjeld von Folsach: Art from the World of Islam in The David Collection, Copenhagen 2001, cat.no. 244;
Yuka Kadoi: “How Islamic ornament was reworked in China” in Lorenz Korn og Anja Heidenreich (eds.): Beiträge zur islamischen Kunst und Archäologie, vol. 3, Wiesbaden 2012, fig. 7;
Joachim Meyer, Rasmus Bech Olsen and Peter Wandel: Beyond words: calligraphy from the World of Islam, The David Collection, Copenhagen 2024, cat. 30, pp. 162-163;
