The Rietz Collection of Food Technology in the Department of Anthropology at the California Academy of Sciences, consists of nearly 1400 food-related items from around the world, and documents a wide range of food-related activities, including production, gathering, storing, processing, preserving and serving. The collection was assembled by Carl Austin Rietz, a leader in the food industry and inventor of industrial devices for food industries. Rietz had a lifelong interest in the food habits of other cultures and he traveled extensively, often returning from his travels with food items for his collection.

This web page focuses on a select portion of the Rietz Collection, Persian ceramics, of which the collection includes approximately 50 beautiful bowls and other vessels, dating from the 12th through the 18th centuries. Representative examples are illustrated and their manufacture discussed in the larger context of Persian ceramic history.

Visit our online collection database to search for all of the Persian ceramics in the
Anthropology collection. Search on the Category: "Pottery" and the Culture: "Persian."