Bowl with Two Birds, Iran, Nishapur or Central Asia, Samarkand, Samanid Period, 10th century. Earthenware with underglaze slip-painted decoration, 7.6 x 25 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of George P. Bickford 1969.300.

Two facing birds painted with dark brown slip (clay diluted with water) on a plain white slip ground were a popular decoration in eastern Iran. A stylized Arabic word, baraka (blessing), appears on each bird’s body.