Welcome to the Bellerive Room
Our homage to Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan (1933-2003) and his widow, Princess Catherine Aga Khan, whose collection of Islamic art forms the core of the Aga Khan Museum’s holdings. This room is a recreation of the “Salon Persan” in their home, Château de Bellerive in Switzerland, and features ceramics representing the breadth and depth of production from the Islamic world.
The Bellerive Room is the Museum’s version of a classy but comfortable living space. It holds a selection of ceramics from the collection of the late Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan and Princess Catherine Aga Khan. The 60 pieces on display date from the early Islamic periods right up to the 17th century and showcase the craftsmanship of Muslim potters from China to Europe.
The room’s design is a loving recreation of a salon in the couple’s Château de Bellerive in Switzerland, where part of the collection was originally on view. The objects on view are grouped by time period and by technique.
These images are arranged in viewing order starting with Case 1 on the left side of the room, and moving from top to bottom, left to right within each case. Find out more by clicking on the image of the artifact you are viewing.
If you are joining us remotely, please feel encouraged to take our 3D tour of the Bellerive Room.
Bowl with a bird holding a leaf in its beak
This bowl was likely produced between about 925 and 975, when the Iraqi production of lustre-glazed ceramics was nearing its end.
Bowl with a hare
By the 10th century, the Fatimid capital of Cairo had become the centre of production for ceramics decorated in a metallic paint with a golden lustrous sheen (known as lustre ceramics).
Bowl with a hare
Earthenware, polychrome decoration under a transparent glaze (buff ware).
Multicoloured Bowl with a Bird
Earthenware, white slip with polychrome slip decoration under a transparent glaze (Sari ware)
Ewer, possibly a pilgrim flask
Earthenware, moulded and with applied decoration under a transparent green glaze.
Bowl with a peacock
Earthenware, polychrome decoration under a transparent glaze (buff ware).
Bowl with Horse, Rider and Bird
The oldest ceramics here, dating from the 8th to the 10th centuries, were made of locally available clay, ranging in colour from grey to a reddish brown.
Monochrome Bowl with Incised Bird
Earthenware, white slip with incised decoration under a transparent glaze (Amul ware).
Bowl with an Antelope
Earthenware, white slip with incised decoration under a transparent glaze (Amul ware).
Green Bowl with a Design of Incised Birds
Earthenware, white slip with incised decoration under a transparent glaze (Amul ware).
Bowl with Decoration under a Yellowish Glaze
Earthenware, white slip with black decoration under a yellowish glaze
Black-and-White Bowl with Arabic Inscription
Earthenware, white slip with black-slip decoration under a transparent glaze
Bowl with Abstract Peacock Motif
The abstracted script on this bowl may evoke a repetition of the Arabic word for blessing, baraka.
Imitation Lustre-Bowl with a Bird
Earthenware, white slip with brown decoration under a transparent glaze.
Multicoloured Bowl with Large Callgraphic Band
This bowl is decorated with a band of Arabic writing stating, “Generosity is a disposition of the dwellers of Paradise”.
Dish with Palmettes Encircling a Central Calligraphic Motif
Earthenware, white slip with polychrome decoration under a transparent glaze.
Bowl with Inscriptions on a Stippled Ground
Earthenware, white slip with red and brown under a transparent glaze, 10th century.
Bowl with Inscriptions on a Stippled Ground
Earthenware, white slip with polychrome decoration under a transparent glaze, late 10th to early 11th century.
Bowl with Design of Rectangular Panels
Earthenware, white slip with black decoration under a yellowish glaze, late 10th century.
Bowl with Moulded Calligraphic Decoration
Fritware, moulded, with brown and purple decoration under a transparent glaze, mid-12th to 13th century.
Bowl with Moulded Interwoven Design and Coloured Stripes
Fritware, moulded and pierced, with brown and purple decoration under a transparent glaze, mid-12th to 13th century.
Bowl with Circular Black Motifs
Fritware, moulded and pierced, with brown and purple decoration under a transparent glaze, mid-12th to 13th century.
Animal-Shaped Pitcher (Aquamanile)
Fritware, with black decoration under a transparent turquoise glaze, late 12th to early 13th century.
Bottle with Moulded Brown and Blue Stripes
Fritware, with decoration and lustre-painting on an opaque white glaze (lustre ware), late 12th to early 13th century.
Black and Blue Striped Bowl with Inscriptions in Naskhi Script
Fritware, with black and blue decoration under a transparent glaze, 13th century.
Bowl with Golden Calligraphy
Fritware, moulded, with a transparent turquoise glaze (and later gold overglaze-painted decoration), 12th century.
Black-and-White Bowl with Waterweed Motif
Fritware, decorated in black under a transparent glaze, early 13th century.
Black-and-White Bowl with Waterweed Motif
Fritware, decorated in black under a transparent turquoise glaze, 13th century.
Bowl with Flaring Rim and Moulded Decoration
Fritware, moulded, with a transparent turquoise glaze, 13th century.
Bowl with Palmettes and Bands of Inscriptions
Fritware, with lustre-painting on an opaque white glaze (lustre ware), late 12th to early 13th century.
Bowl with Horse and Rider
A special group of ceramics made in Iran in the 12th to 13th centuries was decorated with what is known as a lustre glaze, made from a combination of copper, silver, and other metals.
Dish with Seven Sections, possibly for the Haft-Sin
When it was made, this dish may have been used to serve halwa, dried fruit, nuts, or marzipan piled into attractive mounds.
Multi-Patterened Bottle
Fritware, with lustre-painting on an opaque white glaze (lustre ware) early 13th century.
Bowl with Eight-Paneled Design
Fritware, with blue decoration and lustre-painting on an opaque white glaze (lustre ware), 13th century.
Cobalt Blue Bottle with Gilded Decoration
Fritware, opaque monochrome glaze with polychrome inglaze and overglaze decoration, and gilding (lajvardina ware) late 13th century.
Beaker with Courtly Figures, Birds and Arabesques
Fritware, opaque monochrome glaze with polychrome inglaze and overglaze decoration, and gilding (minai ware), 1200-1219.
Twelve-Lobed Bowl with Vegetal Designs
Fritware, with lustre-painting on an opaque white glaze (lustre ware), late 12th to early 13th century.
Dish with Seven Sections, possibly for the Haft-Sin
Fritware, with lustre-painting on an opaque white glaze (lustre ware), 13th century.
Medicine Jar (Albarello)
Fritware, white slip with blue decoration under a transparent glaze, 15th century.
Dish with Geometric and Floral Decoration on a Blue Ground
Fritware, polychrome painted under a transparent glaze (Iznik ware), 1550-1575.
Bottle with Striped and Floral Decoration
Fritware, with lustre-painting on an opaque white glaze (lustre ware), 17th century.
Bowl with Panels of Cobalt Blue and White
Fritware, with blue and black decoration under a transparent glaze, 14th century.
Dish with Five-Petalled Flower
Fritware, with blue and black decoration under a transparent glaze, 14th century.
Dish with Blue Lion and Tulips
Fritware, polychrome painted under a transparent glaze (Iznik ware), 1560.
Pitcher with Blue-and-White Decoration
Fritware, with blue decoration on a white ground under a transparent glaze, 17th century.
Dish with Carnation Plants
Fritware, polychrome painted under a transparent glaze (Iznik ware), 1550-1575.
Dish with Roses, Carnations and Tulips
Fritware, polychrome painted under a transparent glaze (Iznik ware), second half of 16th century.
Jug with Pattern of Serrated Leaves and Fish-Scales
Fritware, polychrome painted under a transparent glaze (Iznik ware), 1550-1575.
Dish with Paired Tulips
Fritware, polychrome painted under a transparent glaze (Iznik ware), second half of 16th century.
Pitcher with Lustre-Painted Peacocks
Fritware, with lustre-painting on an opaque white glaze, and a transparent cobalt glaze on the exterior (lustre ware), 17th century.
Dish with Serrated Leaf and Carnations
Fritware, polychrome painted under a transparent glaze (Iznik ware), 1550-1575.
Dish with floral design
Fritware, with black decoration under a transparent turquoise glaze, 17th century.
Jug with Decoration of Serrated Leaves and Cypress Trees
Fritware, polychrome painted under a transparent glaze (Iznik ware), 1560-1570.
Dish
Scaled patterns began appearing on Iznik ceramics in the mid-16th century. Two sources, from different directions, have been suggested as possible influences: China in the East and Italy in the West.