The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Blotchy beige with tinges of yellow colored dish depicting a stylized falcon bird standing on the back of a water bird, beak grabbing at the neck. Both birds have green, blue, and brown feathers. The rim of the dish curves up, decorated with four blue blobs, glaze bleeding, evenly spaced around the rim.

Dish with Falcon Attacking a Water Bird

1100s

Syria, possibly Tell Minis, Zangid

(1127–1251) or Ayyubid period (1171–1260)
Fritware with carved decoration and underglaze design, Lakabi ware
Overall: 8.3 x 40 cm (3 1/4 x 15 3/4 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1938.7
Location: 116 Islamic

Did You Know?

Sanctioned by the Qur'an (5:4-6), falconry was for many centuries a favorite sport of Muslim rulers.

Description

The development of fritware in the Islamic world revolutionized ceramic production and was likely influenced by the import of Chinese porcelain. Fritware was largely made of quartz with small amounts of crushed glass and fine clay in order to produce a white body. The carved surface with raised outlines allowed glazes of different colors to be side by side without running together when fired.
  • ?–1938
    (Wells Objects of Art, Inc., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1938–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Hollis, Howard. "Two Iranian Pottery Bowls." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 25, no. 3 (March 1938): 43–49 Mentioned: p. 44; Reproduced: p. 47 www.jstor.org
    "Au Cleveland Museum of Art." Mouseion. (Avril 1938). Mentioned: pp. 13–14
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 698 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 211 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 211 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 267 archive.org
    Neils, Jenifer. The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Museum in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1982. Mentioned: p. 27; Reproduced: p. 27, fig. 29 and color plate 29 (after p. 22)
  • Art of the Islamic World (Islamic art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (May 21, 2021-May 31, 2022).
    Persian Decorative Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 15-March 16, 1952).
    For Modern America from the Ancient Near East. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 24-March 21, 1948).
  • {{cite web|title=Dish with Falcon Attacking a Water Bird|url=false|author=|year=1100s|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1938.7