Molded Bottle with Dancing and Music Scenes

This molded bottle belongs to a group of like examples produced during the seventeenth century in Isfahan, Iran. One side of the bottle depicts a woman playing a tambourine; the other a seated prince watching a woman dance. These scenes of courtly leisure are common to a wide variety of Safavid (1501-1722) arts, including textiles, doors, tilework, and life-size wall paintings in palaces.