Collections Explorer

Maker:

Unknown; potter

Name(s):

jar
Islamic pottery; category
lustre ware; category

Date:

circa 1200 — circa 1250

Description(s):

fritware painted in turquoise, blue and lustre under a colourless glaze
fritware, wheel thrown, painted in turquoise, blue and lustre under or on a crazed, colourless glaze
Shape: inverted pear shaped jar with straight neck and an everted triangular rim, sits on a low foot ring.
Exterior: the rim is painted with a band of lustre. On the lower body a frieze of vertical lines in lustre imitate Arabic letters, while on the neck and body three similar bands of pseudo-calligraphy are painted in lustre on a dotted ground. The bands on the body enclose a frieze of palmettes, four of which are encircled by circles of blue or turquoise, and one section of calligraphy all of which are reserved on a lustred ground. On the lower body, the glaze covers the surface unevenly and leaves the fabric exposed in one area; it also pools slightly in places. A thinner glaze covers the lower body and base except for the rim of the foot ring.
Interior: lustre paint on the rim continues on the interior.

Production
Place:

Syria, Raqqa

Production
Place (legacy):

Syria, pottery, country
Syrian, pottery, nationality

Technique(s):

throwing; whole
painting underglaze; exterior; blue, turquoise
painting overglaze; exterior; lustre
glazing (coating); whole; colourless, covers the surface unevenly and leaves the fabric exposed in one area; it also pools slightly in places. A thinner glaze covers the lower body and base except for the rim of the foot ring

Material(s):

fritware; whole
pigment; exterior; blue, turquoise
oxide colours; exterior; lustre
glaze; whole; colourless, covers the surface unevenly and leaves the fabric exposed in one area; it also pools slightly in places. A thinner glaze covers the lower body and base except for the rim of the foot ring

Dimension(s):

height, whole, 24.2, cm
width, whole, 17.2, cm
diameter, rim, 9.2, cm
diameter, base, 9.3, cm
weight, whole, 987, g

Acquisition:

bought; 1935; Brangwyn, Frank

Inscription:

label; exterior base (underside of foot ring); printed, typed, hand written; “Lent by” (printed), “Brangwyn” (typed), "144" (hand written in black), "78" (hand written in pencil and crossed through); rectangular paper label with serrated edge around top, bottom and right hand edge; Possibly Victoria and Albert Museum label

Documentation:

Jenkins-Madina, Marilyn. 2006. Raqqa Revisited, Ceramics of Ayyubid Syria.New Haven and London: Yale University Pressp. 133
Cf. near identical jar except for lack of decoration on the lower body and frieze on the upper body see MMA18 (p. 133). Cf. profile 1 (p. 173), pattern 1 calligraphy band (p. 166), pattern 2 cursive script panel (p. 166) and pattern 18 symmetrical reserved arabesque (p. 171). Ref. on Raqqa

Lane, Arthur. 1947. Early Islamic Pottery.London: Faber and Faber
Cf. similar jar see Plate 57A

Tonghini, Cristina. Grube, Ernst J. (ed.). 1994. The fine wares of Ayyubid Syria.Oxford: Oxford University Press
Source Title: Cobalt and Lustre: The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery. The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art. IX ()
p. 248-293
Ref. on Ayyubid ceramics

Accession:

Object Number: C.62-1935
(Applied Arts)
(record id: 75691; input: 2004-03-11; modified: 2012-12-11)

Permanent
Identifier:

http://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/75691