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Edinburgh Studies in Islamic Art

Mina’i WareA Reassessment and Comprehensive Study of Iranian Polychrome Overglaze Wares through Sherds

By Richard P. McClary

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£130.00

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About this book

Examines the production, distribution, reception and repair of mina’i ware
  • Addresses an important but still poorly understood type of medieval Iranian ceramic
  • Defines the true scope of the extant corpus, and demonstrates the incredible diversity of styles, with an entirely new taxonomic classification system
  • Utilises the unimpeachable unaltered corpus of unrestored archaeological fragments
  • Highlights the importance of mina’i ware for the understanding of the development of Persian miniature painting
  • Beautifully illustrated with over 160 images

Mina’i, or polychrome overglaze, ware was made in Iran between the late 12th and the early 13th centuries. However, most pieces in museums have in fact been rebuilt, often from pieces of multiple different vessels with extensive plaster fill and modern overpaint. Only by closely examining unrestored archaeological sherds – genuine fragments of pots – can we build an authentic picture of what mina’i ware actually looked like.

In this innovative book, Richard P. McClary studies sherds in collections around the world to help us to understand the production, decoration and distribution of the wares. He then examines the increased popularity of mina’i ware from the late-19th to the mid-20th century, with a focus on the dealers, collectors and curators, as well as the various types of faking, restoration, repair and conservation that has occurred over the last century.

Reviews

This is the first and most welcome monograph on the so-called mina’i wares. Its originality lies on the corpus, based here on sherds instead of on often unreliable complete vessels. Richard McClary’s erudite approach includes an attempt to classify these wares according to different styles. A valiant tour de force.

McClary has authoritatively scoped out the surviving shattered and scattered vessels
and few tiles that were once turned out in the workshops of Kashan in present-day Iran. In
addition to synthesising copious secondary literature on mina’i ranging from archaeological
reports to auction-lot descriptions, it is evident that the author has made wide-ranging
visits to repositories holding mina’i materials. His book offers insights into the production,
decoration, and distribution of these objects in the context of both their original
period of manufacture and, more recently, in the modern art market[.]

Table of contents

List of FiguresList of TablesSeries Editor's ForewordAcknowledgementsNote on Transliteration

INTRODUCTION Overview and Methodological Approaches to Mina’i Ware

CHAPTER 1 Methods and Materials: The Sources of Materials and the Production Processes of Mina’i Ware

CHAPTER 2 A Taxonomic Approach to Mina’i Ware: A System of Classification

CHAPTER 3 Form: The Shapes and Types of Mina’i Ware Vessels and Tiles

CHAPTER 4 Meanings, Motifs and Messages: The Decoration, Iconography and Epigraphy of Mina’i Ware

CHAPTER 5 The Context, Role and Significance of Mina’i Wares in Persian Miniature Painting

CHAPTER 6 Trade and Transportation: The Diffusion of Mina’i Ware in the Medieval Period

CHAPTER 7 Dealers, Collectors and Curators: The Rise in Fascination with Mina’i Ware in the Early Twentieth Century

CHAPTER 8 Reconstruction and Deconstruction: Changes Made to Mina’i Ware Vessels from the Nineteenth to the Twenty-first Centuries

CONCLUSION From Mina'i to Lajvardina

BibliographyIndex

About the author

Richard P. McClary

Dr Richard Piran McClary is a Senior Lecturer in Islamic Art and Architecture at the University of York. He received his doctorate from the University of Edinburgh in 2015. He has lectured extensively on a range of subjects related to medieval Islamic art and architecture, and has conducted fieldwork in India, Iran, Turkey, Central Asia and across the Middle East. He is a specialist in the architecture and ceramics of the medieval Iranian world, and the history of the Islamic art market.
He has published three monographs; Mina’i Ware: A Reassessment and Comprehensive Study of Iranian Polychrome Overglaze Wares through Sherds (EUP, 2024), Medieval Monuments of Central Asia. Qarakhanid Architecture of the 11th and 12th Centuries (EUP, 2020), and Rum Seljuq Architecture 1170-1220. The Patronage of Sultans (EUP, 2017).
He has edited Stucco in the Islamic World: Studies of Architectural Ornament from Spain to India (EUP, 2025), and co-edited a volume with Andrew Peacock, entitled Turkish History and Culture in India. Identity, Art and Transregional Connections (Brill, 2020).
He has also published articles in numerous journals, including: Muqarnas, Iran, Persica, Anatolian Studies, the International Journal of Islamic Architecture, and the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. He has served as a trustee and the Research Director for the British Institute of Persian Studies, and is managing editor of the Journal of Islamic Art and Architecture.

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