Name of Object:

Bowl

Location:

Damascus, Syria

Holding Museum:

National Museum of Damascus

About National Museum of Damascus, Damascus

Date of Object:

Hegira late 5th–early 6th century / AD late 11th–early 12th century

Museum Inventory Number:

ع 13584

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Earthenware, painted with metallic lustre.

Dimensions:

Height 12.2 cm, diameter 15.5 cm

Period / Dynasty:

Fatimid

Provenance:

Syria; possibly Raqqa or Tel Minis.

Description:

The development of ceramics painted with metallic lustre was an important advancement in Islamic ceramic art. It was considered luxurious because it gave a metallic sheen, giving the impression of a precious metal. Such ceramics come in various types: normally the lustre is applied on to a transparent glaze; less frequently, it is found on cobalt-blue, manganese and turquoise glaze. This piece is one such example.
A ceramic bowl with a cylindrical body and a columnar base, the bulk of the body decorated with a double border containing a band of repeating angular pseudo-kufic script and curling, stylised vegetal scrolls. Painted semi-circles are arranged around the rim. These designs are executed in dark, reddish-brown metallic lustre underneath a transparent layer of turquoise glaze. While the technique and the designs are familiar in other Fatimid lustre-ware, the shape is somewhat unusual. The emphasis on the decorative quality of calligraphy that this piece exhibits may be evidence of the influence of ceramics derived from the Eastern Samanid Dynasty, which is contemporary to the Fatimid period.

View Short Description

The pseudo-kufic calligraphy and semi-circular rim decoration of this lustre-painted and transparent-blue-glazed bowl is most probably the work of Fatimid Egyptian potters who settled in Syria.

How date and origin were established:

The bowl was dated by comparison with similar pieces found in Tel Minis, a Syrian village near Ma'rrat al-Nu'man. The style was influenced by Egyptian Fatimid pottery of the 5th / 11th century.

How Object was obtained:

Purchased in 1959.

How provenance was established:

This bowl was found by a resident of Raqqa, but ceramic production in the region did not begin until the early 6th / 12th century. It is thought, therefore, that this piece may be either early Raqqa or Tel Minis ware. Lustre-ware production in Syria was prolific, but the provenance cannot be determined definitively.

Selected bibliography:

Abu al-Faraj al-Ush, M., A Concise Guide to the National Museum of Damascus, Damascus, 1969, p.157.
Porter, V., Medieval Syrian Pottery, Oxford, 1981.
Porter, V. and Watson, O., “'Tel Minis' Wares”, in Syria and Iran: Three Studies in Medieval Ceramics, Oxford, 1987, pp.173–248.
Seipel, W., Schätze der Kalifen: Islamische Kunst zur Fatimidenzeit, Wien, 1998, pp.107–8; fig. 58.

Watson, O., Ceramics from Islamic Lands, London, 2004.

Citation of this web page:

Mona al-Moadin "Bowl" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;sy;Mus01;19;en

Prepared by: Mona Al-Moadin
Translation by: Hilary Kalmbach (from the Arabic)
Translation copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: SY 25

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 Artistic Introduction

 Timeline for this item

Islamic Dynasties / Period

Fatimids


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