Typology of Sultanabad Pottery Bowls of the Ilkhanid Era through the Analysis and Comparison of Shapes of the Bodies and Decorations

In the year of the Hegira 617, Mongols, continuing their conquests, reached Iran and brought massive destructions. Many main pottery centers of Iran were destroyed and never regained their past glory. At the end of this century, the production of under glazed pottery, known as the general title of Sultanabad (a region in Arak) pottery, increased in Iran. Examples of these products can be found in Kashan, Kerman, Bojnourd and other centers, which archaeological findings cannot give an exact answer as to the exact location of their production. It seems that proposing an approach to the study of these types is possible based on the formal elements. In this study, we tried to extract and classify the characteristics of the under glazed bowls in cases such as: shape of the body, composition structure of motifs and decorations through the comparison of various samples. This article attempts to answer these questions: what are the special indicators of Sultanabad under glazed bowls? And what formal indicative aspects stand out in the observation of these types? This research is based on library sources and uses descriptive- analytical method. Results indicate that bodies are generally shaped either conical or trumpet shaped, imitating the Chinese Celadon; and motifs including various ranges of plants, animals, humans, compounds, geometries and inscriptions, are placed in three general positions of scattered, circular and radial on the bowls. Also, the origin of some of the motifs was the continuity of Iran’s visual tradition, which is a remnant of a distant past; and others are under the influence of the Chinese visual culture which was widespread in this period.