Bird-headed pitcher

In addition to the wide variety of traditional ceramic shapes, Persian potters created a range of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic vessels. The upper section of this pitcher is in the form of a rooster or cock's head. It has a prominent comb, a slit beak for pouring, and a slight wattle under the beak. The large round eye is characteristic of such pitchers. The rest of the pitcher body takes a more traditional ceramic and metalwork shape with molded, incised, or painted surfaces. The pronounced honeycomb molding on this pitcher recalls the turquoise-glazed jug B60P1927. Both vessels were inspired by metalwork prototypes with hammered surfaces and knobbed handles.

Bird-headed pitchers appear in Persian poetry, and they enjoyed a well-traveled history. Early Persian examples in silver from the Sasanian era (224-651) arrived in China where they were emulated in pottery and porcelain during the Tang (618-906) and Song (960-1279) periods. Chinese versions, known as phoenix-headed pitchers due to the alteration of their shape and symbolism, reached West Asia in the tenth century. Islamic potters mimicked the Chinese pitchers with an opaque white glazed ware. Later, a variety of decorative techniques were used, demonstrating the versatility of the medieval Persian potter working with fritware. There are bird-headed pitchers in luster and even pitchers with black-painted designs under a turquoise transparent glaze. Molded monochrome turquoise-glazed examples like this one are rarer and perhaps more striking in their simplicity.