Fritware dish Kashan, Iran.  1268 “The devastation wreaked by the Mongols was not ab

Fritware dish

Kashan, Iran.  1268

“The devastation wreaked by the Mongols was not able to stifle the creation of art in the Middle East for very long, and this dish, dated 1268, shows that the highly specialized potteries in Kashan quickly resumed production.

The Far Eastern influence that the Mongols brought with them is found in the shape of the dish, which copies Chinese celadon porcelain, and in some of the flowers. The complicated geometric decoration, in contrast, is purely Islamic. Using a six-petaled flower as a starting point, the dish was filled out with an intricate interlacing based on an octagon. It consists of eight white bands that change direction eight times and alternately run over and under one another.”

UH, OKAY, but like, this dish exists BECAUSE of the Mongol invasions and the value they placed on human capital and the exchange of ideas, and those flowers are prunus blossoms lifted directly from Chinese art, so maybe step off a little with your “they couldn’t stifle it!!!!” narrative, David Collection.