Name of Object:Glazed bowl Location:Mértola, Beja, Portugal Holding Museum:Mértola Museum About Mértola Museum, Mértola. Date of Object:Hegira second half of 6th century / AD second half of 12th century Museum Inventory Number:CR/CS/0014 Material(s) / Technique(s):Ceramic made from a coarse-grained straw and paste mix, modelled on a potter’s wheel, and fired in an oxidising atmosphere, glazed and decorated using the cuerda seca technique throughout. Dimensions:Height 8.5 cm, diameter (of mouth) 29.2 cm, diameter (of base) 11 cm Period / Dynasty:Almohad Provenance:Almería or Málaga (Spain). Description:A bowl with a circular mouth, a curved vertical rim with a triangular lip, a hemispherical body and slightly convex base with diagonal foot-ring. The exterior is glazed in honey-coloured monochrome and the interior presents an unusual decorative style which combines a frieze of small stamped rosettes with the decoration in cuerda seca in which the white, green, purple and honey colours of the glaze are separated by lines of manganese. The central theme is the tree of life formed by three lotus flowers in cross-section joined by a stalk, surrounded by a frieze of stamped rosettes. The composition is completed by a design on the rim in four parts, consisting of two pairs of alternating plant motifs. The 'tree of life' or 'tree of paradise' theme already appeared in metallic lustre-ware in the earthenware of AH 3rd -century / AD 9th-century Iraq (Grube, 1976). The object has been restored. View Short DescriptionBowl decorated in cuerda seca. The central motif is a tree of life consisting of three lotus flowers seen from the side and joined by a stem, all surrounded by a rosette border. The decoration is completed by a four-part composition on the brim, formed by two pairs of alternating plant motifs. How date and origin were established:The stratigraphic context in which the object was found was very disordered, which led to its being dated to the 6th / 12th century by comparison with objects of identical shape and decorative technique found, for example, in Ceuta and Alcazarseguir (Morocco) and in Cartagena, Málaga and Almería (Spain). How Object was obtained:Found in the archaeological excavations carried out by the Campo Arqueológico de Mértola in the citadel of the Castle of Mértola. How provenance was established:The abundance of this type of ceramic in Málaga and Almería (Spain), where kilns have been found in which they were made, has led researchers to attribute its production to these towns. Selected bibliography:Gómez Martínez, S., “Catálogo da Cerâmica”, in Museu de Mértola. Arte Islâmica, ed. S. Macias, Mértola, 2001, p.127. Citation of this web page:Susana Gómez Martínez "Glazed bowl" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;pt;Mus01;4;en Prepared by: Susana Gómez Martínez
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