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Two ewers
These two bird-headed ewers are both in the collections of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. I found them by searching the museum’s on-line collection database. Both ewers are currently on...
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Isfandiyar struggles with the simurgh
Isfandiyar is one of the heroes of the great Persian epic the Shahnama, or “Book of Kings” by Firdawsi. The image above is from a 1330 edition. The legendary bird the Simurgh figures prominently in...
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Earliest known oil paintings
According to a group of Japanese, European, and U.S. scientists restoring damaged murals in caves in the Afghanistan’s Bamiyan Valley (famous for the stone Buddhas that were destroyed by the Taliban)...
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Lotfollah mosque
This spectacular photo from seier+seier+seier’ s photostream shows the dome of the Lotfollah mosque in Isfahan. I have been working on a book on Persian ceramics lately; just today I was placing...
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Lotfollah mosque, Isfahan, outside view
I showed yesterday the interior view of this mosque’s dome. So maybe it’s worth having a look from the outside. The outside, like the inside of the dome, is original, dating from 1602-1619 (the...
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Conical fritware bowl from thirteenth-century Iran
This is a spread from the book I am working on on Persian ceramics from the collection of the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco (I’m still waiting for final text). The object is a fritware conical...
View ArticleTrailer for Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul
Here’s a trailer for the exhibition Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul, on view at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco from Oct 24, 2008 through Jan 25, 2009. . Trailer...
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