Name of Object:

Jug

Location:

Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom

Holding Museum:

Burrell Collection, Glasgow Museums

About Burrell Collection, Glasgow Museums, Glasgow

Date of Object:

Hegira 6th century /AD 12th century

Museum Inventory Number:

BC 33.35

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Fritware with opaque-blue glaze.

Dimensions:

Height 17.5 cm, diameter (of rim) 9.5 cm

Period / Dynasty:

Ayyubid

Provenance:

Raqqa, Syria.

Description:

The shape of this jug probably copies a glass prototype, a probability further endorsed by the indentations that are arranged in a circular pattern similar to that found on contemporary Iranian glassware. The jug is moulded and glazed with an interesting opaque lavender-blue colour, but falling short of the foot, which has been left unglazed. The shape of this vessel shows the influence of Iranian ceramics on Raqqa's pottery industry. Raqqa was one of two major pottery-production centres in Ayyubid Syria, the other being Rusafah. Raqqa had a number of pottery workshops, which produced a range of ceramics including lustre-painted, relief-moulded and underglaze-painted vessels.

The potters of the Middle East were frequently looking at other industries for artistic inspiration. The shape of this jug is moulded, copying a glass prototype. The circular indentations that decorate the belly of the jug are also found on contemporary Iranian glassware.

How date and origin were established:

Stylistic analysis.

How Object was obtained:

Part of the collection given to the City of Glasgow by Sir William and Lady Burrell in 1944.

Selected bibliography:

Fehervari, G., Ceramics of the Islamic world in the Tareq Rajab Museum, London, 2000.

Citation of this web page:

Noorah Al-Gailani "Jug" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;uk;Mus04;12;en

Prepared by: Noorah Al-GailaniNoorah Al-Gailani

Noorah Al-Gailani is Curator for Islamic Civilisations at Glasgow Museums, Scotland. With a BA in Interior Design from the College of Fine Arts, Baghdad University and three years' experience in design and folk art preservation, she moved to the UK in 1992. On completing her MA in Museum Studies at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London in 1994, she worked as Project Officer at the Grange Museum of Community History documenting the presence of Muslim communities in the London Borough of Brent. In 1995 she was Assistant Curator, Ancient Monuments Laboratory, English Heritage, and in 1996 became Curator for John Wesley's House and the Museum of Methodism in London. She co-authored The Islamic Year: Surahs, Stories and Celebrations (Stroud: Hawthorn Press, 2002) for non-Muslim children. Since 2003 she has been based at The Burrell Collection in Glasgow, working across the city's museums to interpret Islamic art and culture, ancient and modern, through research, exhibitions and educational activities.
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: UK4 18