12th-century Stone-paste from Persia 'Hoopoe'

Persian stonepaste (Fritware) from the 12th century in the form of hoopoe.

Stone-paste is a type of pottery in which frit is added to clay to reduce its fusion temperature.

In the 13th century the town of Kashan in Persia/Iran was an important centre for the production of fritware.

Masterpieces from Ziwiye, Kurdistan Province of Persia

Penn Museum in Philadelphia recently has reopened its Middle Eastern Galley after restoration. The gallery contains fantastic pieces from Mesopotamia and Persia. The items from Ziwiye (located in Persian Kurdistan) cached my eyes:

If you are around, don't miss the museum!

ALSO WATCH: Art of Persia @ Freer Gallery of Art, Washington DC:

Persian Cat Lustreware, 13th century

As a cat lover, wherever I go I capture the cats! This time I have discovered a 13th-century Persian cat at the British Museum. The lustreware has been made in the city of Kashan and it has been offered to the museum as a gift around 1934. 

The cat looks chubby and lazy. Typically Persian! the cat I mean of course :)) 
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Imperial Bank of Persia (1931 advertisement)

I just received an old newspaper from Birmingham. The daily, dated February 1931 contains an advertisement of "Imperial Bank of Persia".

In various online sources, it is mentioned that Imperial Bank of Persia has been active since 1889 to 1929 but it can not be correct because this advertisement has been published in 1931. Anyway:

The beautiful building of Imperial Bank of Persia is still in operation in Tehran under the name of Bank Tejarat, located in Toupkhaneh Square. The designer of the building is Markar Galstiants (1885-1985), the Persian-Armenian architect.
IBP was the first modern bank in Persia / Iran and established with a concession from the Persian government to Baron Julius De Reuter.

SHAHNAMEH FERDOWSI (Baysonghori Manuscripts)

A few pages of a rare manuscript of SHAHNAMEH (national epic of Persia) which has been published in 1971 in commemoration of the celebration of 2500th anniversary of the founding of Persian Empire by Cyrus the Great.

Video: Ancient Art of Persia

Mohammad Manzarpour fired from VOA Persian Service

Manzarpour (Photo: Facebook)

Mohammad Manzarpour, the editor of Voice of America's Persian Service has been fired today.
The reason is not clear.
Manzarpour was one of the close staff members of VOA Persian Service to the director Setareh Derakhshesh. VOA management (BBG) had already received countless complaints in regard of Mazarpour's and Derakhshesh's unprofessional behavior at work.

Before joining the VOA Persian Service, Mohammad Manzarpour was a producer at BBC Persian Service at its Washington bureau. His cooperation with BBC was stopped in 2013 in a suspicious atmosphere as well.

Voice of America has not given any comment on Manzarpour fire.
WATCH: One of the most successful productions by VOA Persian Service (an Interview with Iraj Pezeshkzad, author, produced by Hooman Bakhtiar and Bijan Farhoodi) 

ALSO READ: VOA stops radio broadcast service in Persian

Removing the name PERSIAN GULF from Berlin's Islamic Art Museum map!

Recently the Islamic Art Museum in Berlin has organized an exhibition entitled "Ctesiphon". The exhibition displays the objects which have been found in this ancient Persian city by the American and German archaeologists in 1931.
The organizers of Ctesiphon exhibition has installed a big map at the museum which shows the West Asia. In the map the name of all seas and waterways are written except for the Persian Gulf.

A museum is considered as a neutral and academic organization but it seems Berlin's Islamic Art Museum is just going to please Arab countries; maybe because of its financial ties with them.
Also at the end of the Ctesiphon Exhibition there is a sign in English and Arabic!
It seems Berlin's Islamic Art Museum does not know the language of Persian Empire and Ctesiphon was Persian, not Arabic.

Parts of the exhibition can be watched in this video. The objects are quite unique. If you visit Berlin do not miss this exhibition. It is on Pergamonmuseum at the Museum Island of German capital.

More information about the exhibition: PERGAMON MUSEUM website