This dish is one group of wares from Nishapur which distinguishes itself by the use of a black pigment that during the firing process stains the glaze around it giving the motif a halo of yellow. Evidently the potters were pleased with the effect as it was also used together with non-staining black for distinct parts of the decoration, as evident in the finer elements of scrollwork of this bowl. The fact that the vessels which use this technique of the diffusing yellow stain all appear to have similar shapes and designs implies that they came from one atelier or group of workshops.

This remarkable dish illustrates the high degree of abstraction favored by the slipware potters in their designs; the stylized wings transformed here into half palmettes that threaten to overwhelm the figural representation and that are in effect quite a distance from the bird’s body. The design is in white slip with decoration in the eponymous “yellow-staining black”, which gave its name to this category, as well as plain black and red slip under a transparent glaze.

Oliver Watson describes a Nishapur Slip-Painted bowl in the Al-Sabah Collection. Which also has an ostrich, clearly related to the subject of this bowl. He related the origins of this design to Lustreware of 10th Century Iraq, where such stylized birds are frequently found. (see Al-Sabah, Cat.E.15. Collections catalogued in the Musee d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneva, 1981, no.2,… and others.). The yellow-staining black pigment here also reflects the brilliance of that original lusterware.