Name of Object:

Glass tumbler

Location:

Damascus, Syria

Holding Museum:

National Museum of Damascus

 About National Museum of Damascus, Damascus

Date of Object:

Hegira 3rd century / AD 9th century

Museum Inventory Number:

ع 16021

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Glass decorated with a coating of metallic lustre.

Dimensions:

Height 5.8 cm, diameter 7.5 cm

Period / Dynasty:

Abbasid

Provenance:

Damascus, Syria.

Description:

A white, translucent glass tumbler that was found in Palace B, where an inscription was found on the wall plaster thus associating the palace with the Abbasid Caliph al-Mu'tasim Billah. The glass is decorated with five vertically arranged lines of Arabic inscription that read: “drink and be filled with delight” and “made in Damascus.” It is, therefore, likely that the piece was made in Damascus and then transported to the Raqqa region. The spaces in between the inscriptions are decorated with a floral design. The object's decorative arrangement is executed in an applied coating of brown metallic lustre. It is believed that this type of lustre coating was used on glass before the technique was adapted for use on ceramics.
Raqqa, a region that lies between the Euphrates and Balikh rivers, flourished during the Abbasid period. A group of Abbasid palaces, parts of which were excavated during the 1950s and labelled with the letters A, B, C and D, are found in the region.

View Short Description

The application of metallic lustre was first used on glass, as evidenced by this Damascene tumbler dating to the 'Abbasid period, before it was famously applied on pottery.

Original Owner:

Caliph al-Mu’tasim Billah (r. AH 218–27 / AD 833–42)

How date and origin were established:

The tumbler is believed to be contemporary to Palace B, which has been dated to the period of Caliph al-Mu'tasim Billah (r. 218–27 / 833–42).

How Object was obtained:

The tumbler was found during archaeological excavations during the 1950s undertaken by the Syrian General Directorate of Antiquities under the direction of Nasib Salibi.

How provenance was established:

The inscription on the tumbler specifies that it was made in Damascus.

Selected bibliography:

Abu al-Faraj al-Ush, M., A Concise Guide to the National Museum of Damascus,
Damascus, 1969, p.161.
Carboni, S., and Whitehouse, D., Glass of the Sultans, New York, 2001.
Cluzan, S. et al (eds), Syrie: Mémoire et Civilisation, Paris, 1994.
Daiber, V., and Becker, A., Raqqa III, Mainz, 2004, p.103; fig. 20,
plates 51d, 51e.
Soustiel, J., and Kiefer, C., La céramique islamique, Fribourg, 1985, p.420.

Citation of this web page:

Mona al-Moadin "Glass tumbler" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;sy;Mus01;7;en

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


MWNF Working Number: SY 13