Saucer With Astrological Decoration - Qajar Period

Saucer.
Period: Qajar Era, Iran.
Date: 1797 to 1834.
Materials and Techniques: Enameling on precious metals.
Size: 12.7 cm in diameter.
Kept in Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, UK.
Source: [1]

نعلبکی و قاشق دوره قاجار - موزه دانشگاه آکسفورد

The art of enameling on precious metals, which had enjoyed increasing importance in Iran under the Safavids (1501-1722), received lavish patronage during the Qajar period. Water pipe bases, swords and daggers, mirrors, and snuff-boxes are some of the types of objects which were painted with enamels. Numerous signed and dated pieces survive, many of which date to the times of Fath Ali Shah, the Qajar ruler of Iran from 1797 to 1834.

This whole set is decorated with cycles of astrological symbols and figures. The twelve signs of the zodiac and the six major constellations are depicted on the body of the bowl, the animals of the Far Eastern zodiacal tradition on its lid, and the seven planets on the saucer. Tiny inscriptions identify the images on the bowl and those along the rim of the saucer, while the animals on the lid are named in the lines of poetry beneath them. Two crowned heads and human-faced suns decorate the front and back of the spoon, and a human-faced sun also appears in green enamel on the back of the saucer. Lines of poetry arranged in cartouches around the rim of the saucer dedicate this set to Fath ‘Ali Shah.

The inscription below the image at the center of the saucer bears the name of the enameler, Baqir, preceded by the title ‘slave born in the household’. According to Basil W. Robinson, who worked extensively on Qajar material and published this set in some detail, this formula should be understood as ‘artist of the royal workshops’ or ‘in royal service’. Baqir was one of the leading enamelers at Fath ‘Ali Shah’s court. Very few enameled pieces signed by him are known to survive to this day, and nearly all of them belong to the collection of the Imperial Crown Jewels of Iran, in Tehran.

A high level of detail and a bright palette characterize the production of this period. The enamelers’ skill is further emphasized by the typically small dimension of these works – the saucer of the Ashmolean set measures only 12.7 cm in diameter.

Iskander (Alexander) is Watching the Sirens

Painting.
Era: Safavid Period, Iran.
Date: 1541.
Materials and Techniques: Miniatures, Gouache.
Size: 17.6 x 14 cm.
Kept in Hermitage Museum, Russia.
Sources: [1],[2].

This is another example of nude art in Safavid Period. It is permanently kept in the State Hermitage Museum.

Qajar Faience Plaque Showing Shirin Surprised by Khosrow

Faience plaque.
Era: Qajar Peiord, Iran.
Date: 19th century.
Kept in private collection, Tehran, Iran.
Source: Iranian.com.

This items was originally posted in Iranian.com years ago. I have a hard time finding the link. 

Erotic Set of Faience Plaques Showing Women Bathing - Qajar Period

Faience plaque.
Era: Qajar Peiord, Iran.
Date: 19th century.
Kept in private collection, Tehran, Iran.
Source: Iranian.com.

This is another sample of erotic art in Qajar era, which shows two nude ladies taking a bath in a Persian garden.

Bowl Inscribed with Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad and 'Ali ibn Abi Talib

Vessel
Era: Samanids Dynasty, Persia.
Date: AH 204-395 / AD 819-1005 - (10th century)
Creation Place: Samarkand, in Modern Uzbekistan
Size: 9.6 x 26.9 cm (3 3/4 x 10 9/16 in.)
Kept in  Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, USA.
Source: [1]

This reddish earthenware is covered in white slip and painted with black (manganese and iron) and red (iron) under clear lead glaze. It is kept in Harvard Art Museum.

A Qajar Footed Bowl, 19th Century

Bowl
Era: Qajar period, Persia.
Date: Possibly 19th Century
Size: 8.7 in. (22 cm) diam.
Sold at Christie's auction.
Sources: [1], [2]

کاسه دوره قاجار با نگاره‌ اروتیک

This bowl is painted in blue, black and brown with an erotic scene of a couple in a garden. You can see cartouches of calligraphy alternating with rosettes on rim. According to the online catalog the size of bowl is 22 centimeters in diameter.

Spouted vessel in the shape of a bull

Near Eastern, Iranian, Iron Age, 
10th–9th century B.C.
Amlash, Iran
Length: 25.5 cm (10 1/16 in.)
Source: Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, USA [1]
Rhyton in shape of bull from Amlash. Red-ware with spots of black paint. Complete, but hump made up of numerous original fragments. Bull-shaped vessels of this type have been found in important tombs. Bulls were usually identified with a powerful god or with strength and male sexual potency.

Jar with beaked spout and stag figures on rim

Near Eastern, Iranian, Iron Age,
early 1st millennium B.C.
Height x max. diameter: 11.4 x 16.5 cm (4 1/2 x 6 1/2 in.)
Source: Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, USA [1]

The Iron Age people of the Caspian coastal region of northwest Iran left no written records, but their richly furnished tombs attest to their power and influence. They also produced distinctive red and gray-ware pottery vessels, usually referred to as Amlash, after the town where they first appeared in the 1950s and 1960s, or Marlik, where the first scientifically excavated examples came to light.

Pottery vessel in form of a bull

Near Eastern, Iranian, Amlash, 
Early Iron Age, 999–900 B.C.
Height x width x length: 12.6 x 7.5 x 19.2 cm (4 15/16 x 2 15/16 x 7 9/16 in.)
Source: Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, USA [1]
Vessel in the form of a bull, incorporating both handmade and wheelmade elements. The hand-modeled body is ovoid, but pinched at the center to give it a slightly hourglass shape. A wheelmade funnel has been set into the top. The neck and horns are are handmade, but the head is wheelmade and serves as the spout.

Colorful Sassanian vase with fresco from Merv

Unveiled woman on a Sassanian painted clay vase. It is not clear if the figure behind is veiled. The vase tells a story of the family that owned it.

Excavated from the Buddhist Stupa, Merv. Probably 5th century AD. 

National Museum of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat.

Sources: [1] [2] [3]

Ancient Elamite clay figure of Astarte 1350 BC

 An Elamite clay figure of the goddess Astarte, depicted nude with her hands cupped beneath her breasts and with elaborate coiffure, wearing bracelets, earrings and a necklace with pendant hanging between her breasts

Dated from, Middle Elamite period, 1350 BC

Ishtar (Akkadian), Astarte (Phoenician), or Inanna (Sumerian) was the most important female deity in Mesopotamia through the second millennium BC. She was identified with the planet Venus, and the sunrise. She was the goddess of both sexual love and warfare. The Greeks identified her with Aphrodite.

Measurements: Height: 14.5 cm – Width: 5 cm – Height on stand: 16.5 cm

Source: Aweidah Gallery [1]

Amlash bull,Marlik Teppe

Possible Amlash or Marlik Bull
Circa 1200 B.C.
Source: Trocadero Antique Store [1]

An Amlash pottery bull rhyton

AN AMLASH POTTERY BULL RHYTON

10TH-8TH CENTURY B.C.
The hollow vessel with cylindrical body and prominent neck hump, the muzzle extending into a long spout, with long horns and small ears below, vertical ridges for the dewlap and tail, punched circular decoration over the rump, shoulders and neck, on four tapering legs, repaired and restored
14 in. (36 cm.) long; 10¼ in. (26 cm.) high

Parthian Vessel in Tepe Sialk

Parthain vessel
Tepe Sialk
Kept in Kashan, Iran