The Diversity of Kufic Script on Samanid Slipware (From the 9th to the 11th A. D.)

One of the special Islamic Arts, Calligraphy was given a great reputation because of its association with Quranic verses from its earliest appearance on Kufic script. This spiritual support along with the utilization of Kufic on craft decoration cause the advent of different kinds of Kufic, and different cultures and eras flourished its vast variety of unique characteristics. Among all of Islamic dynasties, Samanids have a prominent role in reviving ancient conventional Arts and in representing Persian schema and quality in the Kufic script which remarkably appear on Samanid epigraphic slipware. In this era, potters attained a suitable social and economic position in which they equipped decorators to create a wide spectrum of motifs with their invention named slip painting, a new technique of under- glazed painting. Furthermore, both the application of calligraphy for decorative purpose and inscriptions such as benedictions, proverbs and pious aphorism allowed calligraphers to decorate vessels without the limitation imposed in implementation of architectural epigraphs for registration of historical events and Quranic verses. Thus calligrapher decorators utilized various forms of Kufic from simple to ornamental. They wrote simple Kufic style from classic to eastern on slipware, the quality of which is comparable to the similar contemporary Quranic manuscripts. The ornamental elements such as palmette, Knot, etc were gradually joined to simple Kufic to develop ornamental Kufic script. Although in early inscriptions these adornments were used only on a few letters, they were later elaborated so intricately that they made the writing difficult to decipher. On the one hand, studying this variety seems essential in that it has been mentioned repetitively in many sources without any evidence that there were forty two kinds of Kufic script in Khorasan in eleventh century. So the study of Samanid epigraphic slipware originating in this region can provide testimony to this purport. On the other hand, the variation of Kufic script is valuable for its aesthetic and historic trend and nowadays tempts the attention of many researchers, collectors and designers. In this research all kinds of Kufic script on Samanid slipware are extracted and categorized in the prevalent Kufic classification. It also surveys its formal developments to inform designers about the origin and the principles of calligraphy. In addition, it intends not only to improve designers’ practical skills but also to illustrate the evolution process of Kufic to specify the origin and the source of each one, Meanwhile, Kufic developments are chronologically showed in graph which can be effective to estimate the approximate time of these vessels with the aid of other factors. Ultimately, it can be concluded by scrutinizing these slipwares that classic Kufic was the first simple Kufic and intertwined Kufic the first ornamental one which were inscribed on Samanid slipware with the essence of Persian trait. This special characteristic fortified with the coming of eastern Kufic prospered the other kinds of simple Kufic. Moreover they were progressively combined with adornment elements and varied scripts were emerged as a result.