Bowl with fish, Iran, Kashan region, late 13th - 14th century

Kashan is famous for producing these kinds of bowls. A great number of blue and black painted bowls employing radiating panels filled with willow tendril designs like this one have been archaeologically dated to between 1204 and 1215.

This type of ware has been shown to originate from Kashan, an important ceramic center in western Iran that, between 1175 and 1225, produced a remarkable variety of luster, underglaze, and overglaze painted wares.

Similar Kashan bowls occasionally show inscriptions drawn from Persian literature in the bands radiating from the center like the black and white example shown to the left.