The bowl is decorated in folk style with a human-headed quadruped, which evidently represents Buraq, the winged steed on which the Prophet Muhammad on his Night Journey ascended to the Seventh Heaven (mi'raj). Above and below are figures of a bird and an animal, possibly a goat. Most of the pieces decorated in this style depict heroic or narrative themes from pre-Islamic Iran, but this example shows that religious themes were also illustrated.