The Fitzwilliam Museum : Lustreware in the Fitzwilliam

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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	Fritware with white glaze and lustre decoration Buff fritware, wheel thrown, with an opaque white crazed glaze painted in yellow-brown lustre. Shape: conical bowl with slightly convex body and a plain rim, sits on a low foot ring. Interior: a central design dominates the interior, comprising a seated figure wearing a hat and dressed in a spotted robe, holding an object, possibly a flower, in his left hand. The figure is surrounded by scrolling vines; a white concentric line under the rim delineates the design. All decoration is painted in reverse against a lustred background. Exterior: a band of lustre covers the rim; the glaze covers three quarters of the upper body, running down the lower body at one point.
Production Notes	Possibly a fake
Production Place	Iran (potter) (country) () Iranian (potter) (nationality) ()
Technique Description	Buff fritware bowl with clear crazed glaze and painting in reserve in yellow-brown lustre
Dimensions	height: (whole): 5.3 cm width: (whole): 11.9 cm diameter: (rim): 11.9 cm diameter: (base): 5 cm weight: (whole): 136 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
Documentation	Sotheby's (1986) Islamic Works of Art, Carpets and Textiles, London [page: 21] 15 October 1986) [comments: Publ. lot 96, withdrawn; estimate £700-1,000] Watson, Oliver (1985) Persian Lustre Ware, London: Faber and Faber Limited [page: 45-67] [comments: Cf. for similar depiction of human face and surrounding scrolling vines see catalogue 10 (p. 47). Also for general Ref. on monumental style] Morgan, P. (1994) Iranian Stone-Paste Pottery of the Saljuq Period. Types and Distribution, : Oxford University Press [page: 147-247] Source title: Cobalt Blue and Lustre. The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery. The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art. ( [comments: Cf. vessel form but with similar decoration see catalogue number 157 (p. 165). Also see for Ref. on Iranian lustre wares] Mason, Robert, B. (2004) Shine Like the Sun: Lustre-Painted and Associated Pottery from the Medieval Middle East, California: Maznda Publications [page: 147-247] [comments: Cf. vessel form in figure 6.6, catalogue ASH.05 (p. 150)]
Other Notes
Accession Number	C.437-1991 (Applied Arts) (Reference Number: 75091; Input Date: 2004-03-11 / Last Edit: 2011-07-22)

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