Bowl Inscribed with a Saying of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib', Nishapur, Iran, Samanid period,  819-1005.  2002.50.83. Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art

Reddish earthenware covered in white slip and painted with black (manganese and iron) under clear lead glaze, 6.1 x 21.5 cm (2 3/8 x 8 7/16 in.). 

Written around the rim of this bowl in a “new style” Kufic, with ascenders deflected abruptly to the left, is an epigram in Arabic attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib, the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, praising knowledge and manly virtue: “Knowledge is the noblest of personal qualities, and love is the highest of pedigrees”. Pear-shaped ornament rising out of the last letter of the last word marks the end of the inscription. Written across the center is a single Arabic word, ahmad, which appears frequently on Samanid epigraphic bowls. In this context it is usually construed not as the signature of a potter but as a blessing: “most praiseworthy.” Proverbs praising knowledge and exhorting the owner to various forms of virtuous conduct appear frequently on these elegantly inscribed epigraphic wares, suggesting that they were appreciated by a class of users who placed high value on learning and ethical behavior. On the interior and exterior of this well-potted bowl, the entire pinkish-buff ceramic body, including the beveled, slightly concave base, has been covered in white slip and clear glaze. The vessel is fragmentary; the last word of the inscription has been partially reconstructed on a plaster fill.