Collections
Collecting ceramics was well-established in Persia. One anecdote from the fifteenth century tells of a cat entering the chini-khānā (porcelain house) of the Timurid official Mir Ali Shi Niva’i and causing havoc. This practice continued into the Safavid period, when the lid to our pen box was made. Even objects in the most prestigious collections remained in use: Adam Olearius, secretary of the ambassadors sent to Persia by Frederik, Duke of Holstein in 1637, describes how vessels in the waqf (charitable endowment) of the Ardabil shrine were used for entertaining guests at feasts.