Kashan Shenasi

Kashan Shenasi

Revisiting the Provenance of Fish-Motif Pottery from the Honolulu Museum of Art Based on Comparative Analysis with Kashan Productions

Document Type : Scientific-Promotional

Authors
Zahra Saberiyan Najafabadi 1
Abbas Akbari 2
1 MA in Islamic Art, Pottery, and Ceramic, Faculty of Architecture and Art, University of Kashan, Kashan, Iran. (Corresponding Author)
2 Associate Professor, Department of Advanced Art Studies, Faculty of Architecture and Art, University of Kashan, Kashan, Iran
10.22052/kashan.2026.256320.1136
Abstract
The precise provenance of some Iranian pottery vessels decorated with fish motifs, which have been preserved in various museum collections, remains uncertain. Nevertheless, a comparative examination of the stylistic characteristics of these objects against known examples from different regions can provide a basis for proposing a hypothesis concerning the probable center of the production of these pottery vessels. This study examines four pottery objects decorated with fish motifs in the Honolulu Museum of Art: one underglaze-painted dish and three lusterware tiles. The data were collected through library research and reliable sources, and the objects were analyzed using a comparative approach based on formal characteristics, manufacturing techniques, glaze types, and stylistic indicators, including the fish motif, composition, and the methods of executing the decoration in order to provide a deeper understanding of the probable provenance of these objects. In this process, the selected examples were compared with Kashan pottery productions from the same period so that their similarities and differences could be clearly identified. The results indicated that these objects, in terms of the aforementioned characteristics, showed considerable similarities with Kashan’s ceramic productions. Accordingly, the hypothesis that they originated from Kashan workshops was proposed. This comparative analysis, by reducing the existing uncertainties concerning the provenance of these objects, enables a more precise and scholarly understanding of them.
Keywords
pottery provenance
comparative analysis
Kashan pottery
fish motif
Honolulu Museum of Art
References
Azamzadeh, M., Azad Khankandi, H., & Sabaghpour, E. (2021). The Evolution of Drawing from Nature case study: Fish Image from a bygone era to the Qajar era. Tehran: Marlik Publications. [In Persian].
Bahmani, S., Dadvar, A., & Samanian, S. (2017). Location of production Islamic potteries thesaurus Naranjestan Qavam in Shiraz with the implementation of similar examples, samples (10 Pottery). Negareh, (43), 31–43. [In Persian].
Dehghan, K., & Chitsaziyan, A. H. (2015). The symbolic interpretation of fish motif in earthen ware of Iran in 6AH and 7AH century in light of Molana Mathnavi. Negarineh-ye Honar-e Eslami, (5), 74–86. [In Persian].
Fehervari, G. (1973). Islamic Pottery. London: Faber & Faber.
Grobe, E. J. (2005). Islamic Pottery. Translated by Farnaz Hayeri. Tehran: Karang Publications. [In Persian].
Hasan, Z. M. (1987). History of Iranian Industries. Translated by Mohammad Ali Khalili. Tehran: Iqbal. [In Persian].
Hasan, Z. M. (2009). Iranian Art in the Islamic Period. Translated by Mohammad Ebrahim Aghlidi. 2nd ed. Tehran: Seday-e Moaser. [In Persian].
Hosseini, S. H., & Farrokhfar, F. (2022). Safavid lusterware: Reassessing its forms, designs, and production centers. Negareh, 17(62), 79–95. [In Persian].
Jannesari, F., & Taghavinejad, B. (2024). A study of the structure and composition of the fish motif in Iranian pottery and tiles from the sixth to the fourteenth century AH. Rahpooyeh-ye Honar (Visual Arts), 6(2), 5–55. [In Persian].
Kazempour, M., & Shafaee, B. (2019). Semiotic of the fish with approach mystical in three examples of contemporary pottery (case study: MAND GONABAD). Journal of Islamic Crafts, 3(1), 53–66. doi:10.52547/jic.3.1.94. [In Persian].
Kambakhsh fard, S. O. (2007). Pottery in Iran: From Neolithic Period to the Present. 3rd ed. Tehran: Qoqnoos Publications. [In Persian].
Kuhnel, E. (2007). Islamic Art. Translated by Houshang Taheri. 5th ed. Tehran: Toos Publications. [In Persian].
Moukhah, A., & Youzbashi, A. (2017). A study of the fish motif and its symbolic meaning in Islamic Iranian pottery. Proceedings of the First National Conference on Symbolism in Iranian Art with Emphasis on Indigenous Art, 1–17. [In Persian].
Naraghi, H. (1969). Historical Monuments of Kashan and Natanz Counties. Tehran: National Heritage Society. [In Persian].
Nasri, E. (2021). An investigation of luster pottery samples preserved in Glassaware and Ceramic Museum in Kashan." Kashan Studies, 14(2), 101–118. doi:10.22052/kashan.2021.243098.1020. [In Persian].
Nasri, E., & Salehi Kakhaki, A. (2020). Recognition of the period and place of production of the Cockerel-headed ewer lustre pottery attributed to Kashan in the Niavaran Palace Museum based on Oliver Watson’s stylistic theory of the luster pottery. Kashan Studies, 13(2), 31–44. doi:10.22052/kashan.2021.240712.0. [In Persian].
Pope, A. U. (1939). A Survey of Persian Art: From Prehistoric Times to the Present. Vol. 6: Pottery and Glass. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pope, A. U., & Ackerman, P. (2008). A Survey of Persian Art: From Prehistoric Times to the Present. Vols. 4 & 9. Translated by Najaf Daryabandari et al. Tehran: Scientific and Cultural Publishing Company. [In Persian].
Sedighian, H., & Hajnaseri, P. (2020). Lusterware in the Medieval Period of Islam and the manufacturing centers in Iran. Journal of Islamic Archaeology Studies, 1(1), 46–61. doi:10.22080/jiar.2020.3088. [In Persian].
Talebi, Y. (2016). Ilkhanid pottery as a platform for the emergence and manifestation of Mongol elements and culture. Iranian Archaeology, 40–55. [In Persian].
Watson, O. (2003). Iranian Lusterware. Translated by Shokouh Zakeri. Tehran: Soroush Publications. [In Persian].
Yazdani, M. (2015). Mina'i Ceramic (Illustrationns and Inscriptions). Birjand: Chahar Derakht Publications. [In Persian].
URLs:
Wikimedia Commons. (n.d.). File:Bowl with flowers from Iran, 13th century, glazed stone-paste, underglaze-painted, HAA.JPG. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bowl_with_flowers_from_Iran,_13th_century,_glazed_stone-paste,_underglaze-painted,_HAA.JPG
Honolulu Museum of Art. (n.d.). File:Star tile from Iran, Ilkhanid period, Honolulu Museum of Art V.JPG. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Star_tile_from_Iran,_Ilkhanid_period,_Honolulu_Museum_of_Art_V.JPG
Honolulu Museum of Art. (n.d.). File:Star tile from Iran, Ilkhanid period, Honolulu Museum of Art IV.JPG. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Star_tile_from_Iran,_Ilkhanid_period,_Honolulu_Museum_of_Art_IV.JPG
Honolulu Museum of Art. (n.d.). File:Star tile from Iran, Ilkhanid period, Honolulu Museum of Art IV.JPG. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Star_tile_from_Iran,_Ilkhanid_period,_Honolulu_Museum_of_Art_VI.JPG
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (n.d.). Bowl. Retrieved from https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/450434
Musée du Louvre. (n.d.). Plat à décor floral. Retrieved from https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010320069
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (n.d.). The Great Sphinx of Tanis. Retrieved from https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/447154
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (n.d.). Kneeling figure of a farao. Retrieved from https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/447147
The British Museum. (n.d.). Amulet (Phallus amulet). Retrieved from https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_G-232-1-2
Musée du Louvre. (n.d.). Statue de lion. Retrieved from https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010329354
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (n.d.). Kylix (drinking cup). Retrieved from https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/452298
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (n.d.). Hydria (water jar). Retrieved from https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/450427
Kashan Shenasi
Volume 18, Issue 1 - Serial Number 34
34
August 2025
Pages 159-178