Definition
Earthenware decorated with coloured slips under a clear or tinted glaze, including early Islamic Nishapur-type wares and later village production such as Lalejin.
History
Slip-painted wares with inscriptions and birds are associated with 9th–10th-century Khorasan; modern Lalejin continues slip-and-glaze pottery on a village scale.
Dates and attributions here summarise common scholarly positions and are under editorial review; they are not definitive.
Technique
Liquid clay slips in contrasting colours are brushed, trailed or carved through before glazing and firing.
Collecting and identification
Body colour, glaze crazing and restoration are key; many early wares are heavily reconstructed from fragments.
This guidance is educational only and is not an authentication or valuation service.
Reference samples
The reference samples on this page are documented objects in public collections, shown with their holding institution's attribution and licence. They illustrate the craft and are not for sale.
Gallery
Images are representative examples, not evidence for the sample marketplace records. Their sources and permission status are listed in the photography credits.
Marketplace
No objects of this craft are currently listed.
Reference samples in collections
Documented objects from museums, archives and auction records, shown for study. Not for sale; attributions are the holding institution's, not CraftPersia's.
Bowl
early 1200s
earthenware with underglaze-painted and incised design
Cleveland Museum of Art · 1915.587 · CC0 (museum open access)
Bowl
1100s–1200s
earthenware with underglaze slip-painted decoration
Cleveland Museum of Art · 1944.483 · CC0 (museum open access)
Bowl
1100s–1200s
earthenware with underglaze slip-painted decoration
Cleveland Museum of Art · 1938.8 · CC0 (museum open access)
Sources & references
- Book: Wulff, H. E. The Traditional Crafts of Persia. MIT Press, 1966.
- Museum catalogue: Cleveland Museum of Art, Open Access collection records for Iranian objects (accessed 2026-09-24).
Where origins, dates or symbolism are contested, this entry states the competing readings rather than choosing between them. Editorial analysis is not presented as documented fact.