Dashing Ducks

Modern scholarship has largely positioned Persian potters in a secondary, imitative position in relation to their Chinese models, but the lid of the pen case directly contradicts this. There would have been a range of Chinese porcelain available in Persia that could have been used as models for the new lid. Why then, did they choose something so different to the original base?

The subject of waterfowl in a pond was a popular one in the Wanli style of blue-and-white porcelain of the late sixteenth and seventeenth century, when the lid was made. The lid, with its dynamic and engaging duck pond scene, represents an inventive Persian response to this style. Concentric circles of rippling water, and lines extending behind the two swimming ducks in the centre, suggest movement, while the stippling on the plants shows a high level of attention to detail. Unlike the body, the lid has one clear orientation, with plants growing from the bottom and clouds at the top. The thick accumulation of glaze at the ends of the lines behind the swimming ducks makes visible the movement of the artist’s brush. We can see the artist’s creativity clearly.

The restoration of the lid is made intentionally visible. We are meant to notice the contrast between the delicacy of the intricate florals along the body and the humor of the bulging eyes of the two songbirds on the right of the lid; we are meant to be aware that these two parts were brought together, not made together. The object declares its own history, and the restoration presents a creative Persian take on the imported Chinese styles of blue-and-white.