The Genealogy of Inscriptive Motif of the "Bismillah Bird" on the Visual Space of the Painted Pottery in Iran's Nishabur During the Fourth to Fifth AH Centuries

The field of inscriptive motifs that known as "Bismillah Bird" is one of the artistic branches of Islamic calligraphy, also called "Shaped Scripts". The artistic branch of Bismillah Bird has been studied and researched repeatedly, both as it relates to studying new trends in calligraphy and as it relates to mystical symbolism. For this reason, when researching the genealogy of this written motif and its origin, a lot of attention is paid to the Sufism view and discourse in the history of Islamic arts. It is also important to note that mystical literature and the random mystical creativity of artists, particularly during the Safavid and Qajar eras, played a major role in the development of this field. As well, it is important and necessary to pay attention to the contextual and historical background of the development of artistic motifs in different periods in connection with the continuation of artistic traditions within a specific culture. Because culture is always focused on the past. Culture also has a history and the history of culture can be written. cultural phenomena aren't natural and are historical and the conditions for their emergence can be determined, and thus individuals can be freed from its domination. Understanding the culture and accurate perception of artistic phenomena is not possible except by relying on their historical essence. In this historical-analytical research, which has been done using simultaneous methods of genealogy and Gestalt theory, the written motif of Bismillah Bird has been measured not only as a product of the mystical ideas of Islamic art, but also in relation to its historical origins. As part of the historical and identity search, the continuation of traditions of visual expression has been studied in relation to artistic currents of Eastern Iran, such as painted pottery from Iran during the fourth and fifth centuries AH. In order to identify the origin of the written motif of the Bismillah Bird in Iranian art throughout the Islamic period, this study is devoted to researching its genealogy. Also, in this study, the analysis of the historical relationship between the correlation of the bird pattern and the inscriptions in the painted pottery of Nishabur in the fourth century to the later specimens in the Safavid and Qajar eras has been studied by referring to 16 samples of artworks. Therefore, the results of this research by using Gestalt theory show that the correlation of the bird motif and inscription in Iranian art, especially in the visual atmosphere of Nishabur painted pottery of the Samanid period has aesthetic and stylistic features that have gone beyond mere decorations or random creativity. Thus, the interaction of these two motifs in the pottery of Nishabur in the fourth century AH can be seen as the origin of the inscriptive motif of the Bismillah bird. As a result, paying attention to the historical and genealogical aspects of artistic motifs rather than overemphasizing their mystical and spiritual features is important not only to recognize the identity and art history, but can also be a barrier against cultural forgery.