Flights of Imagination

Our imagination knows no bounds. It is ingrained into every neuron of our brains, carried across generations through every letter of our DNA, and infused into every bit of our being with each beat of our hearts.

We draw inspiration from everything around us, and we express ourselves in whatever medium we have a passing familiarity and competence with.

Take the Conference of the Birds, for example. A Quranic passage describing Prophet Sulaiman’s understanding of the speech of birds inspired 12th-century Persian poet Farid Al-Din Attar to craft his now famous epic. At its heart is the mythical simurgh — a Persian incarnation of the phoenix, symbolizing divine wisdom and self-realization.

In the 13th and 14th centuries, we see these mythical birds in other mediums, most notably handicraft. The bowl featured here is a striking example. It depicts five phoenixes in graceful flight, alive with motion. 

This is a notable departure from similar designs of the time, which typically depict four birds in more symmetrical and static arrangements.

The phoenix motif, while originally rooted in East Asian traditions, was introduced into Islamic art during the Mongol conquests in the 13th century and the establishment of the Ilkhanid dynasty in Iran and Iraq.

This bowl is more than just a piece of craft, though. It is a story, a memory, and a spark of imagination, suspended in time. It reminds us that art is not only a mirror of culture but also a bridge between myth and material, imagination and form.

This beautiful ceramic bowl, along with other gems, can be viewed at Ithra’s Gallery 3. Click here  for more information.