Low Table or Stand

As potters explored the properties of the recently introduced stonepaste, they learned that the pliable unfired material could be fashioned into increasingly ambitious forms. Because of its strength when fired, stonepaste was even adopted to create pieces of furniture. This piece, designed in the form of a two story pavilion with arched balconies and pierced balustrades, served as a low table or stand, which would support a tray of food and drink. Reportedly, it was excavated at Bujnurd in northern Khurasan.

Credit: Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1969