Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Expert of Farahabad Sari historical city research base, Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism of Iran

2 Expert Archaeological Department Durham University, UK

3 Department of Chinese , Language Literature Peking University

4 Expert of the Palace Museum Archaeological Institute

Abstract

As an important type of ancient artwork, the Chinese blue and white porcelain entered Iran through the artists and merchants during the Safavid era (1501–1736 AD), and it strongly influenced the Islamic ceramic industry at that time. Chinese blue and white porcelain wares can be considered as the most decorative ceramic art. Bowls and plates with a floral rim and teacups were exported from China to the overseas markets. The influence of this art and its motifs can be seen in the examples obtained from the excavations at Jahan Nama Palace in the old city of Farahabad. Not only the Chinese ceramic finds from this excavation show the long-distance trade from China, the artistic imitation in the porcelain manufacturing and porcelain also can be seen in different areas of Iran. According to the historical sources and accounts, the Farahabad historical complex is a part of the city with the same name, which was built on Tahan village by the order of Shah Abbas I, and the early history of this city dates to 1612 AD in an area of ​​about 40 hectares along the Tajan River and close to the littoral area of the Caspian Sea. The purpose of this research is to study and discuss the blue and white porcelain of Jahan Nama Palace and the extensive trade and port status of the important city of Farahabad in the Safavid era.

Keywords

BJDXKGWBXY. JXSWWKGYJS. & JDZSTCKGYJS. 2009. Brief Report of the Excavation of the Guanyinge Kiln at Jingdezhen of Jiangxi [江西景德镇观音阁明代窑址发掘简报]. Wenwu [文物], 12, 39-58.
Blair. S. S. & Bloom. J. M. 1995. The art and architecture of Islam 1250-1800: Yale University Press.
Bystron. A. M. 2015. Qatar Islamic Archaeology and Heritage Project: University of Copenhagen and Qatar Museums.
Chen. Q. 1973. Jiangxi Leping Mingdai QInghua Yaozhi Diaocha [江西乐平明代青花窑址调查]. Wenwu [文物], 3, 46-48.
Chien. N. D. 2002. Tau Co Ca Mau. The Ca Mau Shipwreck 1723–1735. Ha Noi: The National Museum of Vietnamese History.
Crown. Y. 2003. Persia and China: Safavid Blue and White Ceramics in the V&A Museum 1501-1738:Thames & Hudson.
Fahruri. G. 2009. Pottery of the Islamic World in the Tariq Rajab Museum in Kuwait, translated by Mahnaz Shayestehfar, Tehran : Institute of Islamic Art Studies, First Edition.
Frieh. R.W. 1995. Iranian Arts. Translated by Parviz Marzban. Tehran: Bright Day Research Publishing House.
Fehérvári. G. 1973. Islamic pottery: A comprehensive study based on the Barlow collection: Faber and Faber.
GGBWY. JXSWWKGYJS. & JDZSTCKGYJS. 2007. 江西景德镇丽阳碓臼山元代窑址发掘简报 A Brief Excavation Report on the Kiln of the Yuan Dynasty Located in Duijiushan,Jingdezhen City,Jiangxi Province. Wenwu, 3, 9-16.
Goddio. F. de Saint Michel. E. J. G. & Juncqua-Naveau, D. 1999. Griffin: on the route of an Indiaman: Periplus Publ.
Harrison-Hall. J. & Krahl. R. 2009. Chinese Ceramics: Highlights of the Sir Percival David Collection: London: British Museum Press.
Jiang. J. 1991. Brief Report of the Survey of Ceramic Industries at Jingdezhen [景德镇窑业遗存考察要述]. Relics from Jiangxi [江西文物], 3, 44-79.
Jörg. C. J. 1986. The Geldermalsen: history and porcelain: Kemper Pub.
Jörg, C. J. A. 2001. Porcelain from the Vung Tau Wreck: The Hallstrom Excavation: Sun Tree Pub.
Karimi. F. & Mohammad. Y. K. 1986. Islamic pottery at the Islamic period. Tehran: Archaeological Center of Iran.
Klose. J. 2000. Oriental ceramics retrieved from three Dutch East India Company ships wrecked off the coast of southern Africa; the Oosterland (1697), Bennebroek (1713) and Brederode (1785). Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society (1999-2000), 64, 63-81.
Lane, A. (1957). later Islamic pottery: Faber and Faber, London.
Li. B. 2012. Batavia’ Style Chinese Export Porcelain: Origins, Recent Finds, and Historic Significance. In S. A. Buslig, N. D. Chién, & B. Li (Eds.), The Cà Mau Shipwreck Porcelain (1723–1735) (Vol. 2, pp. 23-30). Budapest: Magyar Indokína Társaság Kft.
Lin. M. & Zhang. R. 2018. The Silk Road: Intercontinental Trade and the Tang Empire. In L. C. Niziolek (Ed.), China: Visions through the Ages. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
McElney. B. S. 1979. The Blue and White Wares (post 15th century). South East Asian and Chinese Trade Pottery.
Mohammadifar. Y. & Belmaki. B. 2008. The Art of Pottery in the Safavid Period, A Study of Art Techniques and Patterns. Fine Arts, Architecture and Urban Planning, 35, 93-102.
Nafisi. N. D. 2005. The Presence of Nature in the Blue and White Porcelain Collection of Sheikh Safiuddin Astana in Ardabil. Tehran: Academy of Arts, First Edition.
Northedge. A. & Kennet. D. 1994. The Samarra Horizon. Cobalt and Lustre: The first centuries of Islamic pottery. The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, 9, 21-35.
Power. T. 2015. A Ceramic Chronology for Late Islamic al-Ain, UAE. Journal of Islamic Material Culture, 2(1): 1-33.
Priestman. S. 2005. Settlement & ceramics in Southern Iran: An analysis of the Sasanian & Islamic periods in the Williamson collection. Durham University,
Priestman. S. & Zhang. R. 2021. East Asian Ceramic Imports from the Site of Jazirat al-Hamra, Internal Report of Jazirat al-Hamra Project, Ras al-Khaimah, UAE, 2018-2020. Retrieved from forthcoming.
Qin. D. 2013. China's First Ceramic Export Trade Peak-Focus on the Volume and Charactics of Ancient Chinese Ceramics Foreign Trade in the 9th and 10th Century [中国古代陶瓷外销的第一个高峰—9~ 10 世纪陶瓷外销的规模和特点]. Journal of the Palace Museum [故宫博物院院刊](5), 32-49.
Qin. D. Gao. X. & Weng. Y. 2020. Research Outcomes and Relative Questions of the Remains of Luoma Qiao Kiln Site of Ming and Qing Dynasty [落马桥窑址明清遗存发掘的收获及相关问题]. Wenwu [文物], 11: 48, 79-96.
Rezeghi. M. H. & Solhjoo. B. 2020. The Effect of Isfahan School Painting on Human Designs of Tiles of Jahand Nama Farahabad Palace. Quarterly Journal of Mazandaran History and Archaeology, First Year No. 1, 36-45.
Salehi. K. Hossein. S. & Majid. M. Z. 2013. Study of the production process of blue and white pottery in Iran during Islamic period. Semiyearly Art Research. Isfahan Art University. Third year. No. 5. 1-14.
Sardnis. R. 1960. Stodart Travelogue, translated by Ahmad Tavakoli. Farhang-e Iran Zamin, 8, 161-220.
Sarmadi. N. & Masoumeh. T. B. 2010. Reflections on blue and white pottery of China and Iran in the Ming and Safavid eras. Quarterly Motif. third year. Vol.6. 111-120.
Sotoudeh. M. 1985. From Astara to Astarabad (Vol. 4, Part 1). Tehran: Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.
Van Der Pijl-Ketel. C. 1982. The Ceramic Load of the Witte Leeuw 1613. Amsterdam: Rijks Museum.
Visconti. C. 2018. A Cargo of Chinese Porcelain from a Shipwreck in the Red Sea.
Wästfelt, B., Gyllensvärd, B., & Weibull, J. (1991). Porcelain from the East Indiaman Götheborg: Wiken.
Wen. W. 2018. Chinese Ceramics in the Islamic World from the 8th to 10th Centuries CE. PhD thesis, University of Oxford, Unpublished Thesis.
Woolf. H. A. 1993. Ancient Iranian Handicrafts, Translated by Sirus Ebrahimzadeh. In: Tehran.
Xiong. L. & Xiong. H. 2003. Canon of Porcelain Decoration Through the Ages of China [中国历代瓷器装饰大典]. Shanghai: Shanghai Wenhua Chubanshe.
Zhang. B. 2008. Complete Collection of Ceramic art Unearthed in China-Vol. of Fujian [中国出土瓷器全集-福建卷]. Beijing: Kexue Chubanshe.
Zhang. R. (2013). 唐末印度洋大规模陶瓷贸易的兴盛——兼论邢窑与越窑在陶瓷贸易中的地位 A Sudden Rise of Chinese Ceramic Trade in the Late Tang Period. In ZGGTCYJH (Ed.), 中国古陶瓷研究 Zhongguo Gutaoci Yanjiu (pp. 409-422). Beijing: Gugong Chubanshe.
Zhang. R. 2016. An Exploratory Quantitative Archaeological Analysis and the Classification of Chinese Ceramics Trade in the Western Indian Ocean, AD c. 800- 1500. PhD Thesis, Durham University.