Bowl with stylized inscription

Though made in about the same area and period as the chastely decorated white bowl with dark calligraphy nearby, this bowl takes an entirely different approach. Its overall design is complex and worked out with great care. In the center is a four-winged pinwheel shape bordered in tan and filled with large and small dots. Beyond the pinwheel and seeming to oppose its counterclockwise spin are four sets of heavy parallel bands. Between these rigid sets of bands are four looser areas of dark and light swirling forms.

Everything described so far fits into a carefully constructed pattern of four-times repeated shapes. Within the central "pinwheel," however, is an Arabic word (perhaps the word for "blessings") whose asymmetrical form contrasts strongly with its tightly interwoven surroundings. Artists in Islamic cultures often take special pleasure in creating highly complicated abstract patterns to challenge the mind.