SAFAVID CERAMICS THROUGH THE EYES OF EUROPEAN TRAVELLERS

Abstract

The ceramic industry of Safavid Iran (1501-1732) represents one of the high points of the production of pottery in the world, and especially in the Islamic World. The present study aims to investigate Safavid ceramics from the accounts of European travellers and study their accounts about various aspects of Safavid ceramics. In this regard, dozens of travelogues of the Europeans who travelled to Iran during the Safavid era were studied. Travellers’ accounts on Safavid pottery that reflected in their travelogues, not only describes pottery as one of the distinguished Iranian industries, sometimes they also provide remarkable unique information about the pottery industry, the centers of manufacturing, trade, and export of pottery which are discussed in detail during the paper. This paper shows that travellers’ accounts are significant to the study of Safavid ceramic arts history.