Abstract:
Clay and terracotta female figurines are considered among the earliest works of art of mankind in pre-historic eras, the construction of which continued with specific changes until the Islamic period. The aforementioned terracotta figurines, which include various types of techniques of construction and decoration of Islamic pottery art, were often made in cities and important pottery centers of Iran. Among the most important periods of construction of these figurines, one can mention the Seljuk and Ilkhanid periods concurrent with the 5th to 9th centuries AH, and considering the prohibition of making figurines and statues in the Islamic period, the reasons, motivations, and also the sources of inspiration for making these figurines in the aforementioned periods are worthy of contemplation. The subject of the current research is the study and analysis of a number of these figurines in all technical and conceptual dimensions. The main goal of the article is to investigate and identify the most important characteristics of the aforementioned terracotta figurines along with their classification. The selected research method, considering the type of subject and goal, is a combination of descriptive, historical, and comparative methods. In this regard, ten prominent examples of terracotta female figurines in the Seljuk and Ilkhanid periods, regardless of belonging to a specific style or type, were selected from existing works in various domestic and foreign museums and examined, classified, and analyzed from the perspective of construction method, decoration, application, form, construction goals, sources of inspiration, and so on. According to the research findings, terracotta female figurines in the aforementioned periods, especially the Seljuk period, were made under the influence of various factors, including the influence of pre-Islamic artistic traditions, the influence of the tribal system, the influence of some female characters in Iranian literature, in addition to the influence of constellations with female symbols. Also, paying attention to the roles and functions of women instead of focusing on their gender characteristics is one of the most important differences between the aforementioned figurines and samples related to pre-historic eras.
Machine summary:
In this regard, ten prominent samples of ceramic female figurines from the Seljuk and Ilkhanid periods, regardless of belonging to a particular style or type, were selected from existing works in various domestic and foreign museums and examined, classified, and analyzed from the perspective of construction method, decoration, application, form, objectives of construction, sources of inspiration, and so on.
With the beginning of the historical period, although numerous examples of human statues made of various materials were created in Greek, Egyptian, and other civilizations, at this point in time, the construction of clay and ceramic female figurines lost its glorious position from previous eras.
We will now examine the situation of ceramic female figurines in Islamic Iran and then study, classify, and analyze the selected samples in terms of construction method, decoration, application, form, construction objectives, sources of inspiration, and so on.
Sample 1: A figurine of a woman with her child, place of construction: probably the city of Kashan, belonging to the Seljuk period during the 6th to 7th century AH, from the category of unglazed pottery, located in the Islamic and Native American art section of Christie's London collection (Fig. 3).
Sample 5: Pottery figurine with vase function, in the form of a harpy, from the category of golden-colored pottery, belonging to the Seljuk period, located in the National Museum of Iran (Fig. 7).
But unlike historical periods, numerous examples of composite animals with human heads and bird bodies have remained in various Islamic arts of Iran, including pottery.
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