Beehive cover

Round, almost flat earthenware beehive cover, with a molded relief of a mosque on the top under a thick blue-green glaze. Glazed mainly on the top, but splashes of glaze are found on the sides and underneath. Large, oval finger hole on one side.

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Historical period(s)
Qajar period, late 19th-early 20th century
Medium
Stone-paste with turquoise (copper-tinted) glaze
Dimensions
H x W x D: 2.7 x 21.5 x 21.5 cm (1 1/16 x 8 7/16 x 8 7/16 in)
Geography
Iran
Credit Line
Gift of Osborne and Gratia Hauge
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Collection
Accession Number
S1997.123
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Tool and Equipment
Type

Beehive cover

Keywords
bee, Hauge collection, Iran, mosque, Qajar period (1779 - 1925)
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Description

Round, almost flat earthenware beehive cover, with a molded relief of a mosque on the top under a thick blue-green glaze. Glazed mainly on the top, but splashes of glaze are found on the sides and underneath. Large, oval finger hole on one side.

Label

Among some of the more unusual ceramic objects from Islamic Iran are beehive covers, some of which date back to at least the seventeenth century. Beekeeping was widely practiced throughout the Islamic world and because bees are singled out in the Qur'an, Islam's holy text, they enjoy particular status among other animals and insects. The designs on the two covers on view are intended as protective and auspicious symbols and are characteristic of the more vernacular ceramic tradition that has existed in the Islamic Near East for centuries.

Published References
  • Thomas Lawton, Thomas W. Lentz. Beyond the Legacy: Anniversary Acquisitions for the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. vol. 1 Washington, 1998. pp. 134-137.
Collection Area(s)
Arts of the Islamic World
Web Resources
Whistler's Neighborhood
Google Cultural Institute
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