Samanid bowl with inscription

Slip-painted wares of eastern Iran and Central Asia from the Samanid period (3rd, 4th and 5th centuries AH/10th and 11th centuries CE) were often elegantly decorated with calligraphy or geometrical and vegetal patterns. The centres of the finest manufactures of slip-painted wares appear to be in Nishapur and Afrasiyab (old Samarqand) and spread further to other ceramic manufacturing centres, such as Marv and Utrar.
This bowl is of a rounded form with an everted rim on a short foot. Covered with a white slip, the interior is decorated with a bold manganese black kufic inscription in Arabic around its rim and a small black dot in its centre. The inscription reads: "بركة ونعمة لصاحبة (Blessing and Grace (of God) to its owner)". Many inscriptions on slip-painted wares show a wide variety of scripts referring to benedictory phrases and literary or philosophical quotations, often in the context of food or eating, which indicates that these bowls were intended for a practical use and not just for decoration.