Samanid Stucco Decoration from Nishapur

Abstract

OUR KNOWLEDGE of early Islamic art in Iran has been greatly increased through the excavations of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, conducted since 1935 at Nishapur, in the province of Khurasan.1 The importance of Nishapur for the Islamic culture is well known to every historian. The finds of ceramics and stucco, obtained from these excavations and divided between the Museum of Teheran and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, have established also the importance of Nishapur as one of the great artistic centers of the Islamic world before and during the Seljuk rule. The Nishapur potters created several varieties of fine ceramics unknown in Western parts of Iran. With the help of coins, the earliest of the Nishapur pottery may be dated to the Tahirid period, that is to the end of the eighth and the beginning of the ninth century. These finds add a new chapter to the history of ceramic art in the Near East. Of equal importance for students of Islamic art is the stucco decoration of Nishapur, with an elaborately carved ornament originally painted in vivid colors such as white, yellow, blue, and red. Most of the stucco panels come from a building, possibly a palace, in the mound Sabz Pushan which also yielded many splendid pieces of early pottery. The most complete stucco panels of Sabz Pushan formed a dado of an iwan or niche on the southwest side of a courtyard. Adjoining the courtyard was a domed room which also had a dado of stucco. Above it was a painted decoration, remains of which were found both in the iwan and the domed room. This decorative scheme, which seems to have been in favor in Nishapur, was already known in the ninth century, for instance in Samarra2 north of Baghdad, the temporary residence of the Abbasid caliphs. The finest of the stuccos belonged to the iwan of the courtyard (see figure). They are decorated with palmette scrolls and devices