Name of Object:

Pitcher

Location:

Damascus, Syria

Holding Museum:

National Museum of Damascus

About National Museum of Damascus, Damascus

Date of Object:

Around hegira late 6th century / AD 12th century

Museum Inventory Number:

ع 5942

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Earthenware with polychrome underglaze technique.

Dimensions:

Height 11.9 cm, width (of opening) 8.7 cm

Period / Dynasty:

Atabeg

Provenance:

Jazira (the region located between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, hence known as “the island” and currently consisting of northeast modern Syria and northwest Iraq), or Mesopotamia.

Description:

A pitcher offering an example of Syrian polychrome underglaze pottery. It follows the trend in Persian mina'i ware that is characterised by prominent colours, and gilding, applied over the glaze. As Syrian potters were not familiar with the technique of applying overglaze enamels, they used their habitual underglaze method while adopting the iconography and style of mina'i. This type of enamel ceramic decoration flourished during the AH 6th / AD 12th and AH 7th / AD 13th centuries in Persia with contemporary imitative wares in Syria, The increased flexibility in paint application and colour has characterised these wares with more figurative and even narrative representations.
This small pitcher is outfitted with a handle and has a simple circular base. The lip of the vessel opens out slightly towards the exterior presumably to ensure liquids poured efficiently, and is decorated with geometric and stylised vegetal ornamentation. Most of the body is decorated with a group of sitting women, some of them playing musical instruments. Their clothing, accessories and hairstyles may indicate the fashions of the day, and provide insight into what were seen as the ideals of beauty by contemporary society; the trend for vertically striped fabrics in alternate colours is an example. The decoration of the pitcher is executed in black, burgundy, and dark blue on an ivory-yellow base, and traces of gilding are also evident.

This exquisite little pitcher with polychrome underglaze decoration is an example of a popular style of ceramics from the AH 6th and 7th / AD 12th and 13th centuries in Syria. It reveals a scene of Eastern-featured women playing various musical instruments.

How date and origin were established:

Through stylistic comparisons with similar objects made in Syria most of which date to the late 6th / 12th and early 7th / 13th centuries.

How Object was obtained:

Purchased in 1950.

How provenance was established:

Many similar pieces of polychrome underglaze pottery have been found in the regions of Jazira and Raqqa. Furthermore, scholars have noted the lack of enamel or overglaze painted pottery found in the region. Hence it is thought to be a Syrian production and not an Iranian import.

Selected bibliography:

Abu al-Faraj al-Ush, M., A Concise Guide to the National Museum of Damascus, Damascus, 1969, p.231.
Grube, E., Islamic Pottery of the Eighth to Fifteenth Century in the Keir Collection, London, 1976.
Porter, V., Medieval Syrian Pottery, Oxford, 1981.
Soustiel, J., and Kiefer, C., La céramique islamique, Fribourg, 1985.
Watson, O., Ceramics from Islamic Lands, London, 2004.

Citation of this web page:

Mona al-Moadin "Pitcher" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;sy;Mus01;22;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 28