Brooklyn Museum

Bottle Depicting a Hunting Scene

first half 17th century

1 of 2

Caption

Bottle Depicting a Hunting Scene, first half 17th century. Ceramic; fritware, painted in cobalt blue and black on an opaque white glaze, 11 1/2 × 8 1/4 × 5 1/4 in. (29.2 × 21 × 13.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum Collection, 34.6024. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 34.6024_side1_SL1.jpg)

Title

Bottle Depicting a Hunting Scene

Date

first half 17th century

Dynasty

Safavid

Period

Safavid

Geography

Place made: Iran, Possible place made: Mashad, Iran

Medium

Ceramic; fritware, painted in cobalt blue and black on an opaque white glaze

Classification

Ceramic

Dimensions

11 1/2 × 8 1/4 × 5 1/4 in. (29.2 × 21 × 13.3 cm)

Credit Line

Brooklyn Museum Collection

Accession Number

34.6024

Rights

Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

Frequent Art Questions

  • What is fritware?

    Fritware is a type of ceramic material similar to the ancient Egyptian faience. "Frit" is a finely ground, glassy substance often made from quartz. Potters add an oxide to the frit which functions as a "flux" and lowers the melting point of the frit. This mixture can then be melted into a more fluid state and formed into tiles or vessels like you see in our gallery.
    Fritware is stronger than traditional clay meaning that it can produce a greater variety of forms with thinner and more decorative walls. Fritware is also naturally white which, of course, takes color much more easily than a brown, earthenware body.

  • Tell me more.

    I love the design on this bottle and the way the hunter seems hidden amidst thick foliage. In contrast to the Chinese-inspired designs nearby, the figures on this bottle wear European-inspired clothing in a style popular in Safavid period Persia.
    Something especially unique about this one is the way that the blue glaze fills the negative space while the naturally white color of the fritware makes up the foreground.

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