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 painted with lustre Buff fritware, wheel thrown, with an opaque, white, slightly crazed glaze painted with yellow-brown lustre. Shape: cono-segmental bowl with a plain rim and foot ring Interior: On the rim, hemispherical cartouches containing kneeling figures are separated by friezes of Arabic script (kufic). On the body, a series of roughly spherical cartouches each contain a seated figure. The figures in both cartouches are roughly painted in reserve lustre; and wear a spotted robe and a headdress. Around the spherical cartouches detailed arabesques and half palmettes containing a cross-hatch pattern are painted in lustre. Exterior: a simple, repeating scrolling pattern is contained above and below by concentric bands; both painted in lustre. The glaze covers the surface to the mid point on the foot ring.
Production Place	Iran (potter) (country) () Iranian (nationality) ()
Technique Description	Buff fritware bowl, wheel thrown, with an opaque, white, slightly crazed glaze painted with yellow-brown lustre
Dimensions	height: (whole): 8.1 cm width: (whole): 19.7 cm diameter: (rim): 19.7 cm diameter: (base): 7.5 cm weight: (whole): 303 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	inscription Position: interior rim Method: painted in lustre Content: Description: friezes of script are separated by hemi-spherical cartouches containing seated figures Language: arabic (kufic) label Position: exterior base Method: hand written in pencil Content: 313/a Description: Circular paper label with serrated edge
Documentation	Watson, Oliver (1985) Persian Lustre Ware, London: Faber and Faber Limited [page: 45-67] [comments: Cf. identical form see figure 2 (p. 50) and for general Ref. on ‘monumental style] Watson, Oliver (2004) Ceramics from Islamic Lands, London: Thames & Hudson [page: 348] [comments: Cf. similar seated vessels on interior and identical exterior decoration see catalogue number Cat. O.2] Mason, Robert, B. (2004) Shine Like the Sun: Lustre-Painted and Associated Pottery from the Medieval Middle East, California: Maznda Publications [page: 149] [comments: Cf. exterior decoration similar to Motif KL.10]
Other Notes
Accession Number	C.447-1991 (Applied Arts) (Reference Number: 75129; Input Date: 2004-03-11 / Last Edit: 2011-07-22)

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