Spouted vessel in the form of a bull,10th-8th century B.C.E.
Northern Iran
Ceramic with red paint
Collection of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation

Wit and Wine: A New Look at Ancient Iranian Ceramics from the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation
June 12ÐAugust 12, 2001

Wit and Wine: A New Look at Ancient Iranian Ceramics from the Arthur M. Sackler Foundationis the first major exhibition of ancient Iranian ceramics in over a decade. Curated by Trudy S. Kawami, director of research for the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, the exhibition presents forty-five spectacular pieces that illustrate the 5,000-year ceramic tradition that flourished in ancient Iran until 100 B.C.E. The beautiful, technically sophisticated, and often-amusing ceramics of ancient Iran mark a rich yet little known tradition that equals the pre-Columbian, Chinese, and Greek achievements, establishing ancient Iranian pottery as the fourth great ceramic tradition of the ancient world.

The jugs, jars, beakers, and spouted and shaped vessels in the exhibition were used for holding, pouring, and drinking liquids, especially wine. Wit and Wineexplores how ancient Iranian potters made and decorated these vessels with a high level of craftsmanship and design and often with a unique sense of humor. Many pieces are shaped like animals or painted with animal motifs, including elegant deer, powerful rams, and cranky goats. Other pieces had specific functions as cosmetic containers, some vessels were made to look like metal, and others are purely sculptural forms.

Wit and Winewas organized by the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, New York. Arthur M. Sackler, M.D. (1913-1987), a research psychiatrist, medical publisher, and connoisseur and collector of art, established the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation in 1965 to make his extensive art collections available for viewing by the general public. He once said, "Great art, like science and the humanities, can never remain as the possession of one individual, creator or collectorÉgreat art and all culture belongs to all humankind."

The Foundation collection was formed through purchases of art and gifts from Dr. Sackler and his family. An avid student of art history, Dr. Sackler began to purchase European and American art in the 1930s. "One wonderful day in 1950," he said, "I came upon some Chinese ceramics and Ming furniture. My life has not been the same since." Asian art, especially Chinese bronzes and jades, came to form the core of the collection of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, which today consists of more than 700 works of art.

Since 1973 the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation has organized numerous exhibitions of the Foundation's collection and the Arthur M. Sackler Collections that have traveled extensively throughout the United States and abroad. After closing at the Palmer Museum of Art on August 12, 2001, Wit and Winewill travel to the Brooklyn Museum of Art and The Detroit Institute of Arts.

"Art and science are two sides of the same coin. Science is a discipline pursued with passion; art is a passion pursued with discipline. At pursuing both, I've had a lot of fun." -Arthur M. Sackler, M.D.

A children's guide to this exhibition is available at the security desk in the museum lobby.

Head and neck of a bull,first millennium B.C.E.
Southwestern Iran
Ceramic
Collection of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation

Globular jug,first millennium B.C.E.
Northern and northwestern Iran
Ceramic
Collection of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation

Vessel with two feet,early first millennium B.C.E.
Northern Iran
Ceramic
Collection of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation

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