(Fritware with white glaze painted in lustre)

Click on image(s) for larger view

Translated title

Fritware with white glaze painted in lustre

Maker/s

Unknown (potter)

Collection

Henry Scipio Reitlinger

Category

fritware (stonepaste)
Islamic pottery (sub-category)lustreware (sub-category)

Name

bowl

School/Style

Seljuk

Monumental style

Description

Buff fritware, wheel thrown, with an opaque white, slightly crazed glaze painted with yellow-brown lustre Shape: cono-segmental bowl with a slight ridge on the exterior upper body, a plain rim and foot ring Interior: a dentilated pattern covers the rim under which a frieze of Arabic script (kufic) is surrounded by foliage and enclosed within two concentric bands; all painted in lustre. The central decoration comprises a mounted horseman surrounded by scrolling vines, all painted in reserve against a lustred background. The body of the horse is decorated with spots; the animal is harnessed and wears a blanket decorated with six pointed stars and edged with scrolls. The horseman wears a headdress and a spotted tunic. Exterior: A solid lustre band covers the rim, while on the body a thin coiled vine is adorned with plump comma shaped leaves. The glaze runs over the exterior foot ring leaving patches uncovered but unusually continues onto interior of foot ring.

Production Place

Iran (potter) (country) ()

Iranian (potter) (nationality) ()

Technique Description

Buff fritware bowl, wheel thrown, with an opaque white, slightly crazed glaze painted with lustre

Dimensions

height: (whole): 7.9 cm
width: (whole): 18.8 cm
diameter: (rim): 18.8 cm
diameter: (base): 6.8 cm
weight: (whole): 329 g

Period

late 12th Century

Date

circa 1179 to 1198

Provenance

bequeathed: Reitlinger, Henry Scipio 1950 (Filtered for: Applied Arts collection)

Henry Scipio Reitlinger (d. 1950); Reitlinger Trust, Maidenhead

H. S. Reitlinger Bequest 1950; transferred from the Reitlinger Trust, 1991

Inscriptions/Marks

1. inscription
   Position: interior upper body
   Method: painted in lustre
   Content:
   Description: frieze of script is surrounded by foliage and enclosed within two concentric bands
   Interpretation: likely a quotation from Quran
   Language: Arabic (kufic) lettering but Persian language
   Translation: includes words 'God' and 'the greatest'
   
2. label
   Position: base exterior
   Method: hand written in pencil
   Content: 313/2
   Description: circular paper label with serrated edge
   

Documentation

1. Sotheby's (1986) Islamic Works of Art, Carpets and Textiles, London [page: 19] 15 October 1986)
   [comments: Publ. catalogue no. 90, withdrawn. Estimate £800-1,800]
2. (1992) Fitzwilliam Museum, Annual Report 1991, Cambridge (Cambs.) [page: 25]
   [comments: Illustrated]
3. Lane, Arthur (1947) Early Islamic Pottery, London: Faber and Faber
   [comments: Cf. similar decorative styles see catalogue number 52C and 53C]
4. Watson, Oliver (1985) Persian Lustre Ware, London: Faber and Faber Limited [page: 45-67]
   [comments: Cf. similar to figure 2 (p. 50) and Ref. on ‘monumental style’]
5. Mason, Robert, B. (2004) Shine Like the Sun: Lustre-Painted and Associated Pottery from the Medieval Middle East, California: Maznda Publications [page: 149, 155]
   [comments: Cf. exterior decoration similar to Motif KL.7; interior rim decoration similar to Motif KL.15, except with less pointed dentilation; Cf. identical form except using different decorative technique see GUL.02]

Other Notes

Accession Number

C.434-1991 (Applied Arts)
(Reference Number: 75084; Input Date: 2004-03-11 / Last Edit: 2011-07-22)