@museumwnf/ceramics-data 1.0.1

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+{"0044afd3-0f41-5241-b9c1-a6db304da182":{"name":"Dish.","description":"A dish with a slightly foliated rim. The decoration, executed in underglaze painting, extends all the way to the edge of the bowl. It features a floral spray which includes blue tulips growing on turquoise stems and greyish-purple, carnation-like blossoms growing at the ends of spiky green stems. The flowers appear to be distributed at random, but in fact the composition is quite orderly: the large blue tulips alternate around the rim of the dish with groupings in which one smaller tulip (characterised by a fork-like turquoise 'frame') is sandwiched between two purple blossoms. The only place in which this rhythm is interrupted is at the upper right, where a lonely cloud-band takes the place of the expected tulip. The long stems of all these flowers are balanced out in the middle of the bowl by judiciously placed blossoms. This type of composition represents a transitional period in Iznik ceramic decoration, when a taste for elaborate compositions with long serrated leaves and large rosettes was giving way to a more free and naturalistic idiom.","short_description":"A dish with a slightly foliated rim, decorated with a spray of blue tulips and greyish-purple blossoms. The composition represents a transitional period in Iznik ceramic decoration, when a taste for elaborate compositions was giving way to a more free and naturalistic idiom.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, glazed painting","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum.","dates":"About hegira 957–962 / AD 1550–55.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Diameter 36.8 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stylistic comparison (see description).","method_for_provenance":"Iznik was the centre of quality ceramic production in this period.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Bequest of George Salting in 1910.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, Istanbul/London, 1989, p.142 and fig. 369.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Barry Wood","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["floral decoration"],"materials":["Painted and glazed ceramic."]},"005b3121-9261-5bac-a10d-c020d7f52f78":{"name":"Group of four tiles.","description":"A group of four stone-paste ceramic tiles painted in blue, emerald-green and red underglaze with large split-palmettes and lotus blossoms. The four tiles together create a symmetrical formation of leaves and flowers that would have been part of a larger group covering the interior of a building. Split-palmettes form a geometric structure surrounded by softer swirling flowers and small green leaves. The brilliant flame-red was created from iron-slip made from the iron-rich bole found in Armenia. Introduced to the ceramics industry in Iznik in about AH 956 / AD 1550, the iron-slip was applied thickly to prevent it from running under the glaze. New forms of decoration appear with this striking red underglaze; alongside the so-called *saz* leaf found in tiles and vessels from the previous decades, are more realistic plant forms such as hyacinths, carnations and tulips, as well as large lotus blossoms.","short_description":"These tiles feature the distinctive *saz* leaf next to flowers such as hyacinths, carnations, tulips and lotus blossoms. The bright red glaze on these tiles was a colour introduced to the Iznik ceramic industry in about AH 956 / AD 1550 and became popular for both vessels and tiles.","type":"Stone paste blue, red and turquoise painting","holder":"The British Museum.","dates":"Second half of hegira 10th / AD 16th century.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 21 cm, width 21 cm.","method_for_datation":"A number of buildings from the second half of the 10th / 16th century feature tiles with similar designs painted with the same distinctive flame-red colour; for example, the Mosque of Rustam Pasha of 969 (1559) in Istanbul, or the mihrab and sultan's lodge in the Selimiye Mosque of 976–82 (1569–75) in Edirne.","method_for_provenance":"It is not known where this particular group of tiles originated, but they were certainly produced in Iznik for a building in the Ottoman domain. In the second half of the 10th / 16th century, the major output of Iznik kilns was tiles rather than vessels. A number of documents record frequent missives from the imperial court in Istanbul pressing the potters of Iznik to concentrate on the tiles needed for imperial architectural projects.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Part of the Godman Bequest of 1983.","bibliography":"Atasoy. N., and Raby, J., Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, London, 1989.  \n  \nCarswell, J., Iznik Pottery, London, 1998, pp.74–89.  \n  \nPorter, V., Islamic Tiles, London, 1995, pp.104–9, fig. 97.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Emily Shovelton","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["floral decoration","geometric decoration","hyacinths","tilework"],"materials":["emerald-green and red painting under the glaze.","Stone-paste ceramic with blue"]},"008afac0-e38b-550a-a0d2-9a4b088b3083":{"name":"Bowl with inscription","short_description":"A ceramic bowl covered with a white slip and transparent glaze. The sole decoration on a white background is an Arabic inscription in black and a stylized flower in the centre. The inscription is benedictory in the *kufic* script: “Blessings and joy to the owner”. The bowl belongs to a type of pottery typical of the Samanid workshops in eastern Iran. The characteristic inscriptions usually include proverbs or wishes, and the reader is invited to rotate the object to read them.","type":"Bowl, earthenware, ceramic","holder":"Benaki Museum","dates":"Hegira 4th century / AD 10th century","location":"Athens","dimensions":"Diameter 24.8 cm","provenance":"Nishapur","keywords":["bowl","calligraphy","earthenware","kufic","Samanid"],"materials":["Earthenware"]},"0124cd97-dd77-5681-bbcc-85d4dc5ef20b":{"name":"Teapot","short_description":"This hand-painted teapot from Afghanistan is made of Russian Gardner porcelain, a factory that produced goods in vibrant colours with European-style floral patterns for the market of Central Asia in the mid-18th century. The metal repairs were done by professional porcelain restorers that are typical of Afghanistan. Total recycling; nothing is thrown away, and everything is repaired.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Weltmuseum Wien","dates":"1969","location":"Vienna","dimensions":"H: 15.5cm, Diameter: 22.5cm","method_for_datation":"Entry in the general inventory and archival documents.","method_for_provenance":"Entry in the general inventory book.","provenance":"Afghanistan; Jamshidi","obtention":"Collected 1969 by Dr. Alfred Janata, curator at the Museum für Völkerkunde, during his fieldwork in Afghanistan.","bibliography":"Steinmann, Axel, *Afghanistan, exhibition catalogue*, Vienna: Museum für Völkerkunde, 2003: 132.","materials":["Porcelain","tin","wire"]},"01f5cb79-72ae-5641-9e6b-2cdc4bbb24ac":{"name":"Rectangular tile.","description":"A stone-paste (fritware) rectangular tile that would originally have formed part of a border surrounding a large tile panel. It is composed of an interlacing arabesque design in white with red detailing. The entirety is outlined in black, with accents on the inside curves of the arabesques and on the red detailing also rendered in black. The entire composition is set against a vivid turquoise background.","short_description":"Tiles of this decorative style are associated with the extensive tile production of Iznik in Turkey from the AH late 10th–early 11th centuries / AD mid-16th–17th centuries. Originally this tile would have formed part of a border surrounding a large tile panel.","type":"Ottoman ceramic, stone paste","holder":"National Museums of Scotland (NMS).","dates":"Hegira, late 10th century / AD late 16th century.","location":"Edinburgh, Scotland","dimensions":"Length 25.1 cm, width 10.3 cm.","method_for_datation":"This tile has been dated on the basis of stylistic comparison with related Iznik pieces attributed to the late 10th / late 16th century.","method_for_provenance":"Tiles of this decorative style are associated with the period of almost exclusive production of tiles in preference to other ceramic wares in the Iznik workshops from the late 10th–early 11th century / late 16th–early 17th centuries.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Given anonymously in 1967.","bibliography":"Carswell, J., *Iznik Pottery*, London, 1998 (for general reference).","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Ulrike Al-Khamis","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["arabesque","Iznik","stone-paste (fritware)."],"materials":["black and turquoise underglaze","Blue","over which a clear glaze.","Stone-paste (fritware)","with bole-red slip"]},"021fc9a2-4a62-5d59-a094-931252cd0fe5":{"name":"Jar","alternate_name":"*Dabba*","description":"This container for transporting and storing date molasses was made from the stomach lining of an animal, such as a sheep or goat.  \nMade from raw leather, this jar has been waterproofed with several layers of natural resin. It has a large stained wooden stopper. The rim of the opening is made of gypsum and three layers of leather to ensure a truly waterproof seal. This use of animal leather demonstrates the commitment of populations living on seasonal pastures in the desert and involved in the production and trade of date syrup.  \n  \nIn Qatar, it's known as a *dabba*.","type":"Jar","holder":"National Museum of Qatar","owner":"National Museum of Qatar","initial_owner":"Qatar Museums","dates":"Hegira 12th–13th century / AD 18th–19th century","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Height: 67.5cm, body diameter: 37.5cm","place_of_production":"Qatar","provenance":"Qatar","obtention":"Object has been in the National Museum's permanent collection since 1975.","catalogue_holding_link":"https://explorer.nmoq.org.qa/api/en/artefact/?id=aHR0cHM6Ly9xY3BtYWluc3Rvbm1vcWttMDEuYmxvYi5jb3JlLndpbmRvd3MubmV0L3Byb2RxbWRpZ2xpYi9hc3NldHMvRzYvUU5NLjIwMTEuMjU3LjEuanBn0&culture=english","author":"Tania Abdulmonem Al Majid","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","materials":["gypsum","leather","Wood"]},"023e92fe-fb35-54cf-a11d-cb41fb889495":{"name":"Dish with hyacinths","short_description":"Dish painted with hyacinths, rosettes, and stems springing from a common root. The palette is characteristic of the so-called Damascus ware with manganese-purple, sage-green, cobalt blue and turquoise colours. These are characteristic of the work produces around 1555-1570 and may be attributed to the circle of the ‘Master of the Hyacinths’. The Iznik potters depicted recognisable flowers from among the local flora, no longer limiting themselves to the traditional stylised floral arabesques.","type":"Ottoman ceramic, fritware with polychrome underglaze decoration","holder":"Benaki Museum","dates":"Hegira 10th century / AD mid-16th century","location":"Athens","dimensions":"Diameter 36 cm","provenance":"Turkey","keywords":["ceramic","hyacinths"],"materials":["Frit ware with polychrome underglaze decoration"]},"02bdeffc-6e44-572b-83b7-207f18622c2d":{"name":"Pair of candlesticks.","description":"A pair of ceramic candlesticks of identical shape, with blue-and-white underglaze. Candlesticks of this shape were not usually produced in ceramic; the form derives from metalwork, of a type produced for the Italian market. The sloping sides of one of the candlesticks are painted with oval-shaped medallions interspersed with floral motifs, while the second candlestick has an undulating leafy scroll around the sides of the body. Both have floral scrolls around the base, a blue-and-white striped candle-holder, with a further row of flowers around the top. The distinctive 'tadpole' leaf featured here is a common feature of blue-and-white ceramics of this period. The origins of early Iznik blue-and-white ceramics can be traced to Chinese porcelain. These candlesticks were produced during the reign of Sultan Suleyman (AH 926–73 / AD 1520–66) when there was a considerable expansion of the ceramics industry in Iznik.","short_description":"The design of these Iznik ceramic candlesticks is influenced by Chinese blue-and-white porcelain. This pair was produced in the early years of Süleyman the Magnificent’s reign, when the Iznik ceramic industry expanded considerably.","type":"Stone paste blue and turquoise painting","holder":"The British Museum.","dates":"About hegira 936 / AD 1530.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 20 cm.","method_for_datation":"The date of this type of blue-and-white ceramic is established by a dated cut-down bottle in the British Museum dated 935 (1529). There are also tiles in the tomb of Mustafa Pasha (d. 934–5 / 1528–9) at Gebze, east of Istanbul depicting similar floral types and leaves.","method_for_provenance":"Iznik was the main centre of manufacture for ceramics of this style, and produced by this technique, in Ottoman Turkey.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Bequeathed to the British Museum by John Henderson in 1878.","bibliography":"Carswell, J., *Iznik Pottery*, London, 1998, pp.51–2, plate 28.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Emily Shovelton","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Chinese influence","Commerce","floral decoration"],"materials":["Blue-and-white underglaze ceramic."]},"0356286a-7b78-54d7-b0a8-bf8bfd97a059":{"name":"Ceramic tile with a picture of the Ka‘ba.","description":"Blue, green and red pigments have been used on a white background. A border with a chain-motif, drawn in black on a blue background, frames the single-piece tile. This is enriched by a second border made up of blue palmettes which ends at the top of the tile in a *mihrab* shape. The *mihrab*'s two corners are decorated with interlacing *rumi* (split-palmette) motifs on a dark-blue background. In the middle of the *mihrab*, also on a dark-blue ground, is a symmetrical pediment motif decorated with arabesques, at the bottom of which is an inscription in three rows of black *naskhi* script. The inscription contains *sura* 3, verses 96–7 of the Qur'an: 'Lo! the first Sanctuary appointed for mankind was that at Becca \\[Mecca\\] a blessed place, a guidance to the peoples; Wherein are plain memorials (of Allah's guidance); the place where Abraham stood up to pray; and whosoever entereth it is safe.' Below this text, the Masjid al-Haram is depicted within a rectangle drawn in green and blue. The Ka'ba is shown in the middle of the Masjid al-Haram, recognisable by its porticoed courtyard. The various buildings, gates, sacred spots (*maqams*), and water-wells located within the porticoes are represented and identified with their names.  \n  \nIntroducing the holy cities of Islam (Mecca and Medina) and the sacred sites therein with books, and reinforcing this introduction with pictures, is seen from the early period of Islam. Detailed pictures of these holy places were put in pilgrimage certificates, which were made especially in the Ayyubid period, and which have an important place in the Museum's collection. These documents begin with the banner of the caliph of the time and show painted images of Mount Arafat, Muzdalifa, the Sacred Enclosure (al-Haram al-Sharif), Medina, and even Jerusalem. Similar pictures of the holy places were made for pilgrimage certificates in Ottoman art. Beginning at the end of the 10th / 16th century images of the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca are also found depicted on tiles in certain mosques.","short_description":"This tile panel is assumed to have been produced at Iznik for the Mosque of Neslişah Sultan in Edirnekapı, Istanbul. The purpose of tile panels depicting the Ka'ba was to feel its presence, the most sacred shrine of Islam, during prayer at the mosque.","type":"Iznik tile, ceramics","holder":"Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts.","initial_owner":"Sultan Neslişah (d. 987 / 1579; granddaughter of Sultan Bayezid II).","dates":"Hegira last quarter of the 10th century / AD 16th century.","location":"Sultanahmet, Istanbul.","dimensions":"Height 62 cm, width 34 cm.","method_for_datation":"The panel was originally embedded in the wall of the Neslişah Sultan Mosque built in the late 16th century. Since such panels are not found in every mosque, and the quality of the work suggests that it was made for a structure built by an important person, it is plausible to think it was specially made for the aforementioned mosque.","method_for_provenance":"The materials, techniques and colours used are typical of an Iznik-produced tile.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"The tile was transferred to the Museum in 1914 from the mosque of Neslişah Sultan, the grandchild of Sultan Bayezid II, in the Edirnekapı section of Istanbul.","bibliography":"Ölçer, N. *et al, Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art*, Istanbul, 2002, p. 282.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Cihat Soyhan","translator":"Barry Wood","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Iznik","Ka‘ba","tile"],"materials":["Iznik tile of white clay","with a painting of the Ka‘ba in underglaze."]},"03d9bf39-2820-5bbc-b5ab-da3243697172":{"name":"Pilgrim flask","short_description":"The basic form of the canteen, which is still in use today, may be traced to Roman times; it has changed little over the centuries. While medieval Islamic canteens are sometimes referred to as pilgrim flasks, most seem to have played a more quotidian role as water vessels. There are large numbers of such unglazed canteens, mainly ranging in date from Hegira 6th–8th centuries / AD 12th–14th centuries and attributable to Iran, Syria, and Anatolia. A few canteens are glazed as well, such as this example; all have applied handles, which would allow for suspension.","type":"Furnishings","holder":"Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)","dates":"Hegira mid-6th century / AD mid-12th century","location":"Los Angeles","dimensions":"Height: 16.5cm","method_for_datation":"The carved relief decoration, a central rosette surrounded by a leafy scroll on one face and a rabbit circumscribed by the same leafy scroll on the other, is related to similar designs on ceramic wares from Syria, which are generally dated to the 12th century.","method_for_provenance":"The canteen’s carved relief decoration is related to similar designs on ceramic wares from Syria.","provenance":"Syria","obtention":"Collection of Maan Z. Madina (1926-2013), New York, until 2002 (sold to); LACMA, The Madina Collection of Islamic Art, gift of Camilla Chandler Frost.","bibliography":"Komaroff, Linda, *Lo Terrenal y lo divino: Arte islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Angeles*, Santiago, Chile: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015: 133, 136.  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Beauty and Identity: Islamic Art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art*, Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2016: 102.","author":"LACMA Staff","keywords":["ceramic","Pilgrim flasks","pilgrimage","vessels","zangids"],"materials":["carved and glazed","Fritware","with applied neck and handle"]},"03e3d46a-3509-564e-8a0c-ed2a1920de29":{"name":"Kütahya ceramics.","description":"Inv. no. 4083, a cup, is decorated with green and yellow radial designs with flowers in them.  \n  \nInv. no. 4092, a cup, is decorated with a stylised tulip within a circle and a band around the rim. On the exterior a flower grows from a red and dark-green base. Inv. no. 4151, a rosewater sprinkler, has a pear-shaped body divided by yellow bands into sections with stylised arabesques and flowers.  \n  \nInv. no. 4215, a plate, is decorated in purple, green and blue with a painting of a woman in local dress between two bouquets of flowers. Inv. no. 4216 is a canteen decorated with floral motifs in yellow, red, green and blue. Inv. no. 4231 is another canteen, the back and front of the round body decorated with raised circles. The front has a rosette surrounded by chain motifs. The other sides bear stylised flower and leaf motifs.  \n  \nAfter the cessation of tile and ceramic production at Iznik, the ceramic workshops at Kütahya came to the fore. The most common products of these workshops are fine and delicate cups, bowls, ewers with lids, rosewater sprinklers, candlesticks, incense burners, small goblets, and canteens. They are made of hard white clay and have painted underglaze decorations of flowers, leaves, ivy, teardrops, birds, fish, and people in local dress. In the last years of the AH 12th / AD 18th century and the first years of the AH 13th / AD 19th century the quality of these wares is seen to decline. Forms are simplified and become rough; lilac and red disappear, and dark colours, including purple, dominate the decoration. During this period stylised leaves, lines, speckles, and zigzags appear, all painted with brushstrokes.","short_description":"Kütahya replaced Iznik as an Ottoman ceramic and tile production centre in the AH 12th–13th / AD 18th–19th centuries. Like Iznik ceramics, Kütahya ceramics were also an important merchandise exported worldwide via land or sea.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, glazed","holder":"Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts.","dates":"Hegira 12th–13th century / AD 18th–19th century.","location":"Sultanahmet, Istanbul.","dimensions":"4083: height 7 cm, diameter 8 cm; 4092: height 4.2 cm, diameter 7.3 cm; 4151: height 16.5 cm, diameter 5.6 cm; 4215: diameter 15 cm; 4216: diameter 18 cm; 4231: diameter 16 cm.","method_for_datation":"The style, designs and colours point to a date in the 12th–13th / 18th–19th centuries.","method_for_provenance":"The designs and colours indicate production in Kütahya. Today Kütahya is still one of  Turkey's major centres of glazed-ceramic production.","provenance":"Kütahya, Turkey.","obtention":"All of the objects were recovered from a shipwreck in the Sea of Marmara and were purchased by the Museum in 1985.","bibliography":"ölçer, N. *et al, Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art*, Istanbul, 2002, pp.332–3.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Cihat Soyhan","translator":"Barry Wood","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["ceramics","Kütahya"],"materials":["hard white clay with underglaze painting."]},"0420c3d3-1445-51f2-9539-5a794d209ebf":{"name":"Dish.","description":"When the kilns of Manises and Paterna were in their heyday, the fashion of the time moved towards plant themes, betraying a gradual departure from Hispano-Muslim tradition. Certain designs remained very simple and schematic, such as the dotted flowers used to decorate the bases of the pieces in the 'Hail Mary' series, so called because of their inscriptions about the Virgin Mary in German Gothic characters. The most common type, to which this dish belongs, consists of groups of between three and six large dots, circumscribed by a thin line, inscribed in irregular circular spaces formed by slender, enveloping stems. They are surrounded by tiny dots and occasionally, as in this case, there is a central circle with a cross also finished in dots. For this reasons, this type has been called the 'dotted series'.  \nThe dish, turned on a potter's wheel, has a broad flat brim, a concave bottom and an umbo. It is covered in a creamy white tin glaze, upon which the decoration has been applied by means of successive oxidising and reducing firings. The bird is rendered in cobalt-blue with golden dots.  \nAlthough Valencian ceramicists produced different sized dishes, there is a predominance of smaller ones. Along with large examples, such as this one, there are other smaller ones with deer, gazelles, parrots, *fleurs-de-lys* and crowned initials.","short_description":"This dish was produced during the peak of technical creativity of the Manises potteries, at a time when Mudéjar ceramics in Valencia began to move away from the Hispano-Muslim decorative tradition and to incorporate new motifs, such as this realistic long-legged bird.","type":"Dish, clay, ceramic","holder":"National Archaeological Museum.","dates":"First half of the 15th century.","location":"Madrid","dimensions":"Height 4.5 cm, diameter 33.5 cm, diameter of base 11 cm.","method_for_datation":"From its style and the extensive documentation held in Valencian archives and published by a range of different authors, including Martínez Caviró (see bibliography). The coats of arms are very important references.","method_for_provenance":"From its characteristics described above, it is unquestionable that the piece originated in Valencia. Manises was the most important centre of production, lending its name to an entire style of ceramics. Recent excavations in Paterna have revealed the existence of other similar workshops, although the pieces found so far, produced using the same technique, are of inferior quality.","provenance":"Manises, Valencia, Spain.","obtention":"The piece was purchased for the National Archaeological Museum from Vicente Juan y Amat on 27 June 1872.","bibliography":"Camps Cazorla, E., *Catálogo Sumario del Museo Arqueológico Nacional. Cerámica Española (Nuevas Instalaciones)*, Madrid, 1936, p.32, plate IV.  \nFranco Mata, á., Balmaseda Muncharaz, L., Arias Sánchez, I. and Papí Rodes, C., “La Documentación de las Cerámicas Valencianas Medievales en el Museo Arqueológico Nacional”, in *La Cerámica de Paterna. Reflejos del Mediterráneo*, Exhibition catalogue, Valencia, 2002, pp.106–18.  \nMartínez Caviró, B., *Cerámica Hispanomusulmana*, Madrid, 1991, p.152, fig. 148.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_ES_EN_001","author":"Ángela Franco","copy_editor":"Rosalía Aller","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["clay","Dish","firing","Glazed","gold highlights","kaolin","Manises","Mudéjar","Valencia"],"materials":["Clay","firing","Glazing","golden highlights.","kaolin"]},"043212e6-dcaa-5260-93ad-6764b61c5752":{"name":"Dish.","description":"A circular stone-paste (fritware) dish with a shallow well, an everted rim and a circular foot. The well shows a frontally disposed female figure, reserved in white and outlined in black, against a green background. She wears a short-sleeved, kaftan-like coat (*üçetek*) that is belted with a green sash and worn over a long dress. The coat has a tulip-shaped bottom edge that opens at the front and slit at each side. She wears a cape-like garment rendered in white with blue spots around her shoulders and a tall head-cover formed from a folded scarf, and decorated with tulips and leaves in red and blue. On her feet she wears red socks and flat shoes. Her left arm is raised while in her right, she holds a tall, slender ewer with a red teardrop-shaped centre. The woman is surrounded on both sides by four sprays of flowers, comprising two prunus blossoms, a tulip, a carnation and a rose-like plant. All grow from four leafy tufts below. The rim shows a debased wave border. The underside of the dish is decorated with six small green, leaf motifs with black outlines, set at regular intervals.  \nPlates such as this mark the last phase of Iznik production starting in the early AH 11th / AD 17th century. The woman on this plate has been compared to similar figures occurring as album paintings prepared for Sultan Ahmed I and to single-figure paintings produced contemporaneously for Europeans in the bazaars of Istanbul.","short_description":"Plates like this one mark the last phase of Iznik production starting in the early AH 11th / AD 17th century. The lady on this plate resembles figures from album paintings prepared for Sultan Ahmed I and single-figure paintings produced for Europeans in the bazaars of Istanbul at the time.","type":"Ottoman ceramic, stone paste","holder":"National Museums of Scotland (NMS).","dates":"Hegira, early 11th century / AD early 17th century.","location":"Edinburgh, Scotland","dimensions":"Diameter 29 cm.","method_for_datation":"This plate belongs to a well-known sub-group of Iznik ceramics with individual male or female figures forming the main design, generally attributed to the early 11th / early 17th century.","method_for_provenance":"Stylistically related pieces are known to have been produced in Iznik during the early 11th / early 17th century.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Purchased from Jan Struther Antiques, Edinburgh, in 1973.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989, pp.273–85 (for comparable material).","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Ulrike Al-Khamis","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Iznik","stone-paste (fritware)."],"materials":["Blue","green","over which a clear glaze.","red and black underglaze","Stone-paste (fritware)"]},"0440ce02-52d9-59e9-9d80-0b24ab6725f0":{"name":"Table.","description":"A low table made of wood inlaid with cloud-bands and simple arabesque compositions in ebony and mother-of-pearl; set into the top is an underglaze painted ceramic tile with a centralised design featuring flowers on an arabesque framework, surrounded by a border with cloud-bands on a turquoise background. The table has 12 sides, to match the 12 sides of the ceramic top, but it is constructed with spandrel-like joins between the legs so that it stands on six legs.  \n  \nThis table is a rare example of furniture from the Ottoman imperial court, as well as a most unusual use of Iznik tilework. The beautiful, bright colours of the tile make a striking contrast to the subdued tones of the inlaid wood. It seems unlikely that such a fine piece of furniture would have been intended for everyday use; more likely, it was used as part of the elaborate ceremonials which defined Ottoman court protocol and impressed foreign ambassadors.","short_description":"A table made of wood inlaid with ivory and mother-of-pearl, with a 12-sided Iznik tile serving as the top. A rare example of furniture from the Ottoman court, this splendid table may have been used in the elaborate ceremonials which defined court protocol and impressed visiting ambassadors.","type":"Woodwork, mother of pearl, painted, glazed ceramic","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum.","dates":"Probably around hegira 966 / AD 1560.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 48 cm, diameter 63 cm.","method_for_datation":"The technique, materials and style of the woodwork are similar to those found on the throne of Sultan Süleyman in the Topkapı Palace Museum in Istanbul. The tile, too, is similar to those found in Sultan Süleyman's mosque (completed in 963 / 1557), though its size and distinct shape mean it must have been made specifically as a table-top.","method_for_provenance":"Iznik was the centre of quality ceramic production in this period; Istanbul, as home to the imperial ateliers, may be where the wood was inlaid and the final product assembled.","provenance":"Iznik or Istanbul, Turkey.","obtention":"Purchased by the Museum in 1987.","bibliography":"Mitter, P. and Clunas, C., \"The Empire of Things: The Engagement with the Orient\", A Grand Design: The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum (eds. M. Baker and B. Richardson), London, 1997, p.255.  \n  \nStanley, T., with Rosser-Owen, M. and Vernoit, S., Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Middle East, London, 2004, p.103.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Barry Wood","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["arabesque","ceramic","furnishing","tilework"],"materials":["mother-of-pearl","Painted and glazed ceramic.","Wood"]},"045254ba-cb4b-504a-ab29-8546af52208c":{"name":"Albarello","short_description":"This elegant albarello, a pharmacy jar with concave sides, has a form that was developed in Iran and Syria and became popular in Europe via Spanish-Moorish majolica.  \nIt is unusually large and was made up of two parts that were joined in the center of the body. The decoration was derived from the Persian Sultanabad style, which spread in the 14th century to Syria and Egypt.","type":"Albarello, fritware","holder":"The David Collection","dates":"Hegira 8th century / AD 14th century","location":"Copenhagen","provenance":"Syria, Damascus?","keywords":["Albarello","Fritware","medical plant","medicine","Persian style"],"materials":["Fritware painted in blue and black under the glaze"]},"04925050-34fb-5313-ba81-db73b9a96789":{"name":"Bowl with a lion attacking a fox","short_description":"It is now thought that stonepaste wares and lustre painting reached Syria from Fatimid Egypt almost simultaneously, in the late 11th or early 12th century, most probably through migrant craftsmen who later in the 12th century moved eastwards to Iran. They evidently established themselves in north-east Syria on the Euphrates (notably at Raqqa), but some pieces, including this example, have been associated with the site of Tell Minis, south of Aleppo and are consequently known as ‘Tell Minis wares’. The decorative repertory, generally in a monochrome chocolate lustre, is much influenced by the work of the Fatimid Egyptian lustre-painters on pottery and glass. The treatment of the decoration on this bowl, a lion attacking a fox on a ground of floral scrolls, is similar in style to the work of the Fatimid-Egyptian lustre painter, Sa‘d, who worked on both pottery and glass in Fustat (Old Cairo) in the early years of the 12th century.","type":"Bowl; stonepaste ware, lustre paint; ‘Tell Minis’ ware","holder":"Khalili Family Trust – Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art","dates":"AD 12th century","location":"London","dimensions":"10.5 x 36cm","method_for_datation":"Date and provenance are based on stylistic and technical grounds.","provenance":"Syria","bibliography":"Grube, E.J., *et al.*, *Cobalt and Lustre. The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery*, London: The Nasser D Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, volume 9, 1994: cat.297, pp.262–3.  \nRogers, J.M., *The Arts of Islam. Masterpieces from the Khalili Collection*, London: Thames & Hudson, 2010: no.142, pp.120–21.","keywords":["‘Tell Minis’ ware","Ayyubid","bowl","lion","lustre","stone-paste"],"materials":["Stonepaste ware","with lustre-painted decoration over a colourless transparent glaze (‘Tell Minis’ ware)"]},"04a11491-a326-52d7-ac85-c37a115eacb8":{"name":"Bowl with birds","short_description":"The silhouettes of the four stylised birds, separated by vegetal motifs of Chinese inspiration, are outlined with rice-grain perforations largely considered a typically Chinese feature, but actually originating in medieval Persian pottery. Covered with a clear glaze, the perforations enhance the airy quality of the bird-decorated register, while the fish and the undulating aquatic plants on the bottom reveal a scene with paradisiacal connotations in Islamic art. The underglaze painting in two shades of blue, the elegant drawing and fine ceramic paste suggest that the bowl dates back to the seventeenth century. The blue-and-white decoration of Chinese influence adopted by the Safavid potters continued to enjoy a great popularity in Iran until the end of the nineteenth century.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"The National Museum of Art of Romania","dates":"Hegira 11th century / AD 17th century (?)","location":"Bucharest","dimensions":"Height: 8cm, Diameter (of mouth): 22.5cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis","method_for_provenance":"Stylistic analysis","provenance":"Iran","obtention":"Purchased by the Ministry of Culture in 1978. Transferred to the Museum in 1979.","bibliography":"Crowe, Y., *Persia and China: Safavid Blue and White Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1501-1738*, London: Thames & Hudson, 2002.  \nDunca, M., *Islamic Art at the National Museum of Art of Romania*, Bucharest: National Museum of Art of Romania, 2015: 91, no. 38.","author":"Mircea Dunca","keywords":["Blue-and-white decoration"],"materials":["Fritware","pierced decoration","underglaze painting"]},"05677772-fb33-5d00-af7f-9cb213149293":{"name":"Bottle with depictions of dance and music","short_description":"This moulded bottle belongs to a group of like examples produced during the seventeenth century in Isfahan, Iran. One side of the bottle depicts a woman playing a tambourine; the other a seated prince watching a woman dance. These scenes of courtly leisure are common to a wide variety of Safavid (1501–1722) arts, including textiles, doors, tilework, and life-size wall paintings in palaces.","type":"Islamic, Indian & Southeast Asian works of art; ceramic","holder":"Shangri La, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira early to mid-11th century / AD early to mid-17th century","location":"Honolulu, Hawai'i","dimensions":"Overall: 23.5 x 16.7 x 9.8 cm","provenance":"Iran, Isfahan","keywords":["bottle","dance","Iran","monochrome-glazed","music","musical instruments","musician","Safawid","stonepaste"],"materials":["monochrome-glazed","moulded","Stonepaste"]},"05945c6c-5991-53ff-b891-6b20f4a3899a":{"name":"Tile panel","short_description":"This panel consists of 185 tiles and 3 half tiles, each with embossed tulip, hyacinth, saz leaf, and cloudband motifs that form a large-scale repeating arabesque pattern. Indigo, turquoise, green, and red glazes are on a white background.","type":"Islamic, Indian & Southeast Asian works of art; tilework; ceramic","holder":"Shangri La, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira 11th and 13th centuries / AD 17th and 19th centuries","location":"Honolulu, Hawai'i","dimensions":"Each tile: 25.4 x 25.4 cm","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","keywords":["cloud pattern","floral decoration","hyacinth","Iznik","Ottoman","saz","stonepaste","t ilework","Tile panel","tulip","underglaze-painted"],"materials":["Stonepaste","underglaze-painted"]},"05f8401e-7094-5321-82a6-63bc32507180":{"name":"Oil lamp.","description":"A ceramic, roughly triangular lamp that has four nozzles and a large handle, which has a highly debased animal's head at the end. Within its two inner channels are decorative lines in relief; a single line of *kufic* inscription is seen on each outer channel, which reads: 'Astura wa ibin Astan' ('Astoura and son of Astan'). The lamp is moulded, hard-baked buff ware with a metallic blackish brown slip that has been blackened by smoke. Such a lamp would have been used to in a domestic context.","short_description":"Ceramic lamp with four nozzles and a large handle, which has a debased animal’s head at the end. The body carries a *kufic* inscription that reads: Astura wa ibn Astan (Astoura and son of Astan). Such a lamp would have been used in a domestic context.","type":"Oil lamp, ceramic","holder":"Jordan Archaeological Museum.","dates":"Hegira 2nd–3rd century / AD 8th–9th century.","location":"Amman","dimensions":"Height 5.5 cm, length 10 cm, width 9.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"The lamp has been dated by comparison with similar ones found at Khirbat al-Mafjar, an Umayyad palace in Jericho.","method_for_provenance":"The provenance is not known.","provenance":"Unknown.","obtention":"Unknown; there is no information about how this lamp was acquired.","bibliography":"Khairy, N. I., and Amr, A. J., 'Early Islamic Inscribed Pottery Lamps from Jordan', *Levant*, XVIII, 1986, London, pp.143–53, plate XL, cat. no. 13.","author":"Aida Naghawy","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["calligraphy","Daily life","domestic vessels","kufic script"],"materials":["hard-baked (buff ware) ceramic with a blackish brown slip.","moulded"]},"061b77bb-faee-50ba-9c83-99e488d5500a":{"name":"Dish","description":"Large, white plate densely covered with vivid floral decoration consisting of tulips, roses and hyacinth on curved stems in addition to other flowers and leaves. Rim decorated with simplified plant motifs. On the back side of the rim five green and three blue spots.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"National Museum in Kraków","initial_owner":"Muzeum Techniczno-Przemysłowe w Krakowie / Industrial Museum in Kraków","dates":"11th century Hegira / 17th century AD","location":"Kraków","dimensions":"Diameter: 28.5cm, height: 5cm","method_for_datation":"Dating and origin based on similar pieces from other collections","method_for_provenance":"Material, technique and design are characteristic for İznik, which was a centre of quality ceramic production in this period","obtention":"Purchased by the Industrial Museum in Kraków in 1900.","bibliography":"Abrahamowicz, Z., *Wojna i pokój. Skarby sztuki tureckiej ze zbiorów polskich od XV do XIX wieku*, Warsaw: Muzeum Narodowe, 2000: p. 455, fig. 74","author":"Bożena Kostuch","keywords":["flowers","Islam","Iznik"],"materials":["polychrome painted under transparent glaze","Stone-paste (fritware)"]},"065ee648-ada2-516d-a7cd-4adf36e94026":{"name":"*Habb* water jar","description":"This large water jar (*habb*) combines a utilitarian function with ostentatious decoration. It occupied a place of honour in the domestic space. Water was drawn from it with a jug or pitcher as needed for daily living. The surface is adorned with stylised female figures that reflect the persistence, through millennia and civilisations, of the mother goddess.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museum of the Arab World Institute","dates":"Hegira 5th-7th / AD 12th-13th century","location":"Paris","dimensions":"Height: 79cm, Opening dimension: 22.5cm, Maximum diameter: 45.5cm","provenance":"Meskeneh, Syria","obtention":"Purchased at Christie, Manson & Wood Ltd, 1991.","bibliography":"Candy, S. and Beyazit, D., *Court and Cosmos. The Great Age of the Seljuqs*, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2016: 131, Fig. 60.  \n  \nCroisier, J-P. and Dürr, N., *Céramiques islamiques dans les collections genevoises*. Geneva: Editions du Tricorne, 1981: Fig. 241.  \n  \nDelpont, E., *L'Orient de Saladin. L'art des Ayyoubides*, Paris: Gallimard, Paris, 2001: 154, Fig. 135.  \n  \nDelpont, E., et al., *Album du musée*, Paris: Somogy éditions d'art, 2012: 295.  \n  \nMoulierac, J. and Vaudour, C., *La médecine au temps des califes: à l'ombre d'Avicenne*, Paris: Institut du monde arabe, 1996: 203, Fig. 126.  \n  \nMoulierac, J., et al., *Céramiques du monde musulman: collections de l'Institut du monde arabe et de J.P. et F. Croisier* , Paris: Institut du monde arabe, Paris, 1999: 151.  \n  \nReitlinger, G., \"Unglazed Relief Pottery from Northern Mesopotamia\", *Ars Islamica*, Vol: XV-XVI, 1951: 11-22.","translator":"Judy Harter","materials":["modeled and slip decoration","Unglazed clay"]},"06703762-5053-5671-b110-5b6f3f755b04":{"name":"Wellhead","description":"Ceramic wellheads of this type are distinctive for southern Spain throughout the entire period when the region was under Muslim dominance (AH 2nd to 9th / AD 8th-15th century). This wellhead, however, comes from the AH 4th - 6th / AD 10th-12th century, and holds a monumental decoration in two bands. The wider, lower band features a procession of graceful, long-eared gazelles alternating with birds set in roundels. Above it is a beautifully conceived Kufi inscription, which is illegible.  \n  \nThe whitish decoration, which was originally green, provides an elegant contrast to the earthenware’s red ground and, like the size of the wellhead, bears witness to the virtuosity of the ceramist.","type":"Wellhead","holder":"The David Collection","owner":"The David Collection","dates":"AH 4th - 6th / AD 10th-12th century","location":"Copenhagen","dimensions":"Height: 71cm; Diameter: 63cm","place_of_production":"Andalusia","copy_editor":"Zeina Al Amad","materials":["Earthenware painted in green and a manganese-colored glaze"]},"070af261-62bc-5eb0-a1c5-2ab9fe21bf39":{"name":"Plate with a picture of a youth","short_description":"Made during the Safavid period, this blue-and-white bowl depicts a young man surrounded by grape vines and a floral pattern. The figure wears a turban (*mandil*) and holds a drinking bowl and a vessel in his hands.  \nThe design is influenced by a new type of Chinese porcelain, consisting of cobalt blue painting on a white surface, which reached the Middle East in the 14 century. The production of these Chinese-influenced objects continued well into the eighteenth century. As with this dish, the objects can bear close resemblance to Chinese originals. As a typical Persian depiction, however, the motif of this specific bowl reflects local painting styles and is found in Iranian miniature painting from the 16th to the 18th century. Based on its style, it can be assumed that this bowl belongs to the so-called Kubachi ware group. The name refers to a small town in Dagestan in the Caucasus region where a corpus of glazed pottery was found without any reference to their origin or provenance. As a result of petrographic examinations, some of those objects can now be located to Samarkand and Nishapur.","type":"Dish","holder":"MKG Museum for Applied Arts","dates":"Hegira 1085-1111 / late 17th century","location":"Hamburg","dimensions":"Height: 6.7cm, Diameter: 32.3cm","method_for_datation":"The bowl has features specific to the Safavid period.","provenance":"Northern Iran","obtention":"Purchased in 1956 with funds from the Campe's Art Historical Foundation.","bibliography":"Fehervari, G., *Ceramics of the Islamic world: in the Tareq Rajab Museum*, London: I.B. Tauris, 2000: 271-291.  \nGolombek, Lisa (ed), *Persian Pottery in the First Golden Age*, Leiden: Brill, 2014.  \nGray, B., *Studies in Chinese and Islamic Art, Volume II: Chinese Ceramics and Islamic Art*, London: Pindar Press, 1987.  \nJakobsen, K., *Islamische Keramik*, Hamburg: Bilderhefte des Museums für Kunst und Gewerbe, 1959.  \nKraft, Eva (ed), *Die Campe’sche Historische Kunststiftung* Hamburg: Erwerbungen seit 1949, Hamburg: Hamburger Kunsthalle, 1964.","copy_editor":"Caitlin Link","keywords":["Chinese influence","kubachi","Safavid"],"materials":["cobalt blue under the glaze","Fritware","Kubachi ware"]},"073cada1-b5a8-5fa6-bce4-4879f04d6814":{"name":"Iznik jug","description":"An Iznik jug with one handle decorated with tulips and stems carrying small blue flowers. It was bought by Alexander Benaki in 1919 by the Cairo based dealer Boghos Ispenian whose name is handwritten in ink under the base, next to an etiquette indicating that it was part of the 1925 Alexandria exhibition.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Benaki Museum","dates":"16th century; bought in 1919","location":"Athens","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","author":"Mina Moraitou"},"074a1fed-663f-52de-8637-7774fe3a0861":{"name":"Dish.","description":"The polychrome underglaze painted dish with a sloping rim and a deep well presents a black-outlined figure of a woman on a white background. The woman wears a long green, belted dress, a blouse with blue sleeves, white trousers and a green hat. Her shoes and the flower that she holds in her right hand are of thick pale red. Flowers on thin curved stems fill the area around the woman. The rim shows a standardised Chinese motif of waves and rocks. On the back the dish is painted with green and blue ornaments.  \nFigurative depictions on Iznik ceramics were inspired by the popular imagery of miniature costume albums, many of which were produced for sale to Europeans from the beginning of the AH 11th century / AD 17th century.","short_description":"Polychrome painted dish with a deep well presenting a female figure on a white background. The area around the woman is filled with flowers. Figurative depictions on Iznik ceramics were inspired by the popular imagery of miniature costume albums.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, underglazed","holder":"Museum of Cultural History.","dates":"Hegira first half of the 11th century / AD first half of the 17th century.","location":"Lund","dimensions":"Diameter 26.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"The object was dated according to its decoration. Figurative depictions occurred in great number on Iznik ceramics from the beginning of the 11th / 17th century. They were inspired by single-figure costume studies such as the Album of Sultan Ahmed I (r. 1011–25 / 1603–17) and its popular copies.","method_for_provenance":"From the wave and rock pattern on the rim and from the depicted human figure, which was a popular motif of Iznik ceramics.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Bought in 1904 from the collector and art dealer I. G. Fenton, London.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N. and Raby, J., *Iznik*: *The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989.  \nCarswell, J., *Iznik Pottery*, London, 1998.  \n*Kulturens Årsbok 2004. Mellanöstern Här*, 56–7.  \nMüller-Wiener, M., *Türkisch-Osmanische Keramik*, Traunstein, 2004.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Friederike Voigt (partially based on information provided by the Museum of Cultural History in Lund).","copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["Dish","figurative decoration","Ottoman ceramic","Plate"],"materials":["Ceramic","underglaze painted."]},"076574ae-4169-58ea-8669-32621e8dc0c1":{"name":"Two-handled pot.","description":"Two-handled long-neck pot with a foot-ring. The decoration, painted in intense red lustre on a cream-white tin glaze, consists of solid-lustre plant motifs, which was common in later Hispano-Moorish products. The dotted base of the body of the pot depicts two typical birds, known as Valencian 'pardalots', painted in a characteristic style consisting of groups of lines. 'Pardalots' and 'grotesque lions' are unusual in the decorative repertoire of this type of piece, as is the shape of the pot, the different parts of which are outlined with thick bands of solid lustre.","short_description":"This pot belongs to a large group of objects produced in Valencia that were decorated with typical motifs and styles, although the birds (known as ‘pardalots’) and grotesque lions are unusual in this type of piece, as is the shape of the pot.","type":"Pot, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”","dates":"Hegira 11th century / AD 17th century.","location":"Rome","dimensions":"Height 20.5 cm, diameter 12.8 cm.","method_for_provenance":"The prototype for the pardalot can almost certainly be traced back to the eagle, which was often included on the base of Valencian plates in the first half of the 9th / 15th century. This style, which evolved over time to produce increasingly accentuated forms, became widespread in Valencian production in the 12th / 18th century.","provenance":"Spain, Valencian workshop.","obtention":"Purchase.","bibliography":"Ainaud De Lasarte, J., *Cèramica y Vidrio*, Ars Hispaniae, Vol. 10, Madrid, 1952.  \nFronthingham, A. W., *Lustreware of Spain*, New York, 1951.  \nTorre, P., “Maioliche a Lustro Ispano-Moresche”, *Serie Schede Museo Nazionale d'Arte Orientale*, 7, Rome, 1987.  \nTorre, P., *Le Mille e una Notte: Ceramiche Persiane, Turche e Ispano-Moresche, Faenza*, 1990.  \nTorre, P., “Techniques Journeying from East to West at the Time of the Crusades”, *Crusades: Myth and Realities*, Nicosia, 2004.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_ES_EN_001","author":"Paola Torre","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["figurative decoration","lustre","Mudéjar art","Pot"],"materials":["Lustre-painted ceramic."]},"07cf31a6-6851-53f9-8c13-e6ab4472665d":{"name":"Iznik plate","short_description":"This Iznik plate shows a pattern of overlapping edges on a green fond and an eight-petalled white flower.","type":"Plate","holder":"MKG Museum for Applied Arts","dates":"Hegira 988-998 / AD 1580-1590","location":"Hamburg","dimensions":"Diameter: 32.5cm","method_for_datation":"The distinctive texture of the underglaze indicates it was made in an Iznik workshop.","method_for_provenance":"Purchased from Collection Paul.","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","obtention":"Purchased in 1882.","copy_editor":"Caitlin Link","keywords":["Iznik"],"materials":["Pottery"]},"08b6e3c0-94d9-573c-a123-ddbc53534246":{"name":"Ewer with epigraphic decoration","description":"In Iran, during the Seljuq period, a large number of moulds were produced, typically with epigraphic expressions, though figures or foliage are also found. The potters shaped ewers that often borrowed forms developed by coppersmiths. The turquoise glaze replaces with colour the detailed decoration of carving and silver inlay found in metal pieces.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museum of the Arab World Institute","dates":"Hegira 6th-7th / AD 12th-13th century","location":"Paris","dimensions":"Height: 31.5cm, Diameter: 16cm, Neck height: 8.5cm, Neck diameter: 7.5cm, Base height: 1.9cm, Base diameter: 10cm","provenance":"Iran","obtention":"Purchased at auction on advice from Claude Boisgirard, 2003.","bibliography":"Delpont, E., et al., *Album du musée*, Paris: Somogy éditions d'art, 2012: 387.  \n  \nGrube, E.J., *Islamic Pottery of the Eighth to the Fifteenth Century in the Keir Collection*, London: Faber and Faber, 1976: Fig. 116.  \n  \nPinder-Wilson, R.H., *Islamic Pottery 800-1400*, London: Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1969: Fig. 77.  \n  \nSoustiel, J., *La céramique islamique*. Fribourg: Office du Livre, 1985: 101, 372; Fig. 25, 93.","translator":"Judy Harter","materials":["moulded and under glaze","Siliceous clay"]},"09311848-694c-5394-ba8a-5b19e1bcb2e0":{"name":"Wall tile.","description":"A square tile decorated with a large, central, symmetrical lotus-rosette design that is made up of several layers of petals and leaves, and which is surrounded by two wheat-stem-shaped branches. The entire design is executed in one colour blue (without shading or black outline) on a white background. The design of this tile shows the extent to which Middle Eastern material culture was influenced by Chinese blue-and-white porcelain ceramics. The genre to which this tile belongs includes the more commonly known blue-and-white hexagonal tiles that are sometimes also found decorated in turquoise and black.","short_description":"The lotus-rosette design on this Damascus-ware wall tile reveals the extent to which its Chinese counterpart has influenced Islamic Art. A number of examples of this type of blue-and-white tile can still be seen on the walls of Al-Tawrizi Shrine and Mosque, built in Damascus in the AH 830s / AD 1430s.","type":"Fritware, stonepaste, ceramics, porcelain","holder":"Burrell Collection, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira 9th century / AD 15th century.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 21 cm, width 22 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis: a number of examples of this type of blue-and-white Damascus ware can be found in European museums, furthermore a number of these tiles survive on the walls of Al-Tawrizi Shrine and Mosque in Damascus, built in the 830s / 1430s.","method_for_provenance":"A number of these tiles survive on the walls of Al-Tawrizi Shrine and Mosque in Damascus, built in the 830s / 1430s.","provenance":"Damascus, Syria.","obtention":"Part of the collection given to the City of Glasgow by Sir William and Lady Burrell in 1944.","bibliography":"Fehervari, G., *Ceramics of the Islamic World in the Tareq Rajab Museum,* London, 2000.  \n  \nLane, A., *Later Islamic Pottery: Persia, Syria, Egypt, Turkey*, London, 1971.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_EG_EN_001","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["architecture","blue-and-white","Chinese influence","floral decoration"],"materials":["painted blue under a transparent glaze.","Stone-paste (fritware)"]},"0945f0d0-17e6-52da-8c82-4b26290bbf1b":{"name":"Tile panel 'The Threshing of Wheat'","description":"This tile panel depicting the treshing of wheat using animals originally covered the wall of a bakery in Lisbon. Although it reproduces a traditional technique, this tile panel exemplifies the need for modernization of stores and public buildings which took place in main cities throughout Portugal by the beginning of the 20th century.","type":"Ceramic; tile","holder":"National Tile Museum","dates":"1920-1925","location":"Lisbon","author":"DGPC"},"09955371-479a-5a14-b2dc-ee4a31b465c8":{"name":"Plate made from clay","alternate_name":"মাটির থালা","description":"This plate forms part of the material culture of rural households in Bangladesh, where it has traditionally been used in everyday food practices.","type":"Plate","holder":"Water Museum","dates":"21st century","location":"Pakhimara, Kuakata District, Barishal Division, Barishal","author":"ActionAid Bangladesh","copy_editor":"Zeina Al Amad","keywords":["clay","Plate","water"],"materials":["Clay"]},"0a232d6e-3ce2-5412-be8a-b9cb0af2bff7":{"name":"Tile","description":"Kütahya was the second most important ceramic production centre after İznik due to the rich clay deposits in the area. Although there was a decline in ceramic production at the beginning of the 19th century, in the last quarter of that same century production was revived and new designs inspired by İznik ceramics were produced.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Pera Museum","dates":"Late 18th – early 19th century","location":"Istanbul","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega"},"0a3243f6-1969-529b-93a6-9d278278b70f":{"name":"Lidded ewer","short_description":"This terracotta vessel is probably made of a special clay called terra lemnia. This clay had been credited with antitoxic powers by ancient physicians such as Dioscorides and Galen. Arab translations of classical texts on medicine introduced this to the Islamic world, leading to the production of vessels made of this material. Such drinking vessels were probably also believed to protect drinkers from being poisoned. Afraid of dying from poison, Emperor Rudolf II charged Reinholf Lubenau, the physician at the Austrian embassy to the Ottoman court, with obtaining such vessels for him.","type":"Vessels","holder":"Kunsthistorisches Museum","dates":"Hegira 10th century / AD 16th century","location":"Vienna","dimensions":"Height:  20.7cm, Width: 13cm, Depth: 13cm","method_for_datation":"Arthistorical and historical analysis, archival and inventory research","method_for_provenance":"Listed in the AD 1880 inventary of Ambas collection","provenance":"Turkey?","obtention":"Ambras castle","bibliography":"Leitner-Böchzelt, Susanne and Pfaffenbichler, Matthias (eds), *Die Welt des Orients. Kunst und Kultur des Islam*, Leoben: Stadtgemeinde Leoben, 2006.","copy_editor":"Liz Cooper","keywords":["court life","De Materia Medica","Emperor Rudolf II","furnishing","Habsburg","medicine","Ottoman-Austrian relations","science","scientific manuscript","terra lemnia"],"materials":["Terracotta"]},"0ae3d4ea-7c05-5061-9bda-d8c4d8859491":{"name":"Bowl with Design of Fish","short_description":"A bowl glazed medium turquoise blue with a darker blue on the rim and on the exterior, which has six plant forms. The interior has swirling black fish under transparent turquoise glaze, with the fish in three rows and four additional ones on the bottom. The glaze is crackled. The rim and exterior at top has a yellow iridescence. The light brown biscuit is visible on the bottom and on the short foot, which are unglazed. There is a slight chip on the inside of the foot rim.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Saint Louis Art Museum","dates":"Hegira Late 5th to late 7th century / AD 12th–13th century","location":"Saint Louis","dimensions":"Height: 9.5cm; Diameter of mouth: 20.6cm; Diameter of foot: 8.3cm","method_for_datation":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","method_for_provenance":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","provenance":"Iran, Asia","obtention":"Museum Purchase, 1951","keywords":["Asia","bowl","ceramics","decoration","Fritware","Glazed","Iran","Paint","Persian","underglaze"],"materials":["Glazed fritware with underglaze painted decoration"]},"0b91f97f-aa76-5d14-a2ae-6751b59baea3":{"name":"Ring-shaped flask.","description":"This is a particularly fine piece of ceramic art. Thinly coated with tin-based glaze, it has no slip coating. Simple, elegant and harmonious, its beauty lies in its absence of decoration and in the finesse of its shape. From a disc-shaped base rises a hollow ring which becomes slightly broader at its upper part. A long, cylindrical neck, with two buttress–like supports, has four circles incised around the top. A handle is attached at the base of the neck.","short_description":"Despite the absence of decoration, the elegant shape and the harmony and simplicity of its component parts make this piece a real work of art, with its beauty found in the sparseness of its structure. The flask has a round, flat base below a slightly inflated ring topped with a long cylindrical neck.","type":"Flask, terracotta","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art.","dates":"Hegira, second half of the 3rd century / AD 9th century.","location":"Raqqada.","dimensions":"Height 27.5 cm, diameter 14.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"Raqqada, the Aghlabid capital, was built in 263 / 876 by the Aghlabid prince Ibrahim II. Since the flask was discovered on the excavation site, this date must be a *terminus ante quem*. Moreover, the constituent shapes of the piece (base, neck …) are characteristic of the Aghlabid period, which means that we can date the piece from the 3rd / 9th century. Both its shape and decoration suggest it was a local production, from the Kairouan or Raqqada workshops.","method_for_provenance":"An archaeological find among a group of other pieces of Aghlabid pottery.","provenance":"Raqqada or Kairouan.","obtention":"The flask was among objects discovered on site during the 1960 excavations at Raqqada. It was acquired by the Great mosque at Kairouan in 1964 and transferred in 1986 to the Museum of Islamic Art at Raqqada.","bibliography":"*30 ans au service du patrimoine* (exhibition catalogue), 1986, p.256.  \n*Tunisie, terre de rencontres et de civilisation* (Seville exhibition catalogue), Tunis,  \n1992, p.277.  \nDaoulatli, A., *Poteries et ceramiques tunisiennes*, Tunis, 1979, pp.26–7, fig. 7.  \n*Ifriqiya: Thirteen Centuries of Art and Architecture in Tunisia*, pp.174–5.","author":"Mourad Rammah","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"David Ash","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["geometric decoration"],"materials":["Lightly glazed terracotta."]},"0c64afe8-ef31-5013-ab4c-0e70f49a6799":{"name":"Traditional blue ceramic plate from Fez","description":"This ceramic dish is a remarkable example of craftsmanship in Fez, a Moroccan city renowned for its pottery production since the Middle Ages. The decoration is dominated by a circular rosette in the shape of a six-petaled flower, an emblematic motif of Islamic art combining geometry and symbolism. The centre is decorated with an interlaced six-pointed star (Star of David), symbol of infinity and universal harmony. The petals, finely filled with small blue dots on an off-white background, add texture and depth. Secondary floral motifs occupy the spaces between the petals, accentuating the decorative richness of the piece. The design is framed by a thick cobalt blue border, lending the work an elegance and striking visual contrast. This technique, which combines meticulous painting under a protective glaze, testifies to the mastery of its artisans. After being painted, the dish was baked at a high temperature to fix the colours and obtain the glossy finish characteristic of Fez ceramics.","type":"Plate","holder":"National Foundation of Museums","dates":"Hegira mid of 13th century / beginning of the 14th century – AD end of 19th century","location":"Rabat","dimensions":"Diameter: 41.5cm, height: 10.02 cm, base: 19.8 cm","place_of_production":"Fez","provenance":"Fez","translator":"Judy Harter","materials":["Blue glazed ceramic"]},"0d1ebd8b-952b-50c4-bf8b-872eb70782fa":{"name":"Bowl fragment.","description":"A stone-paste (fritware) fragment from a bowl produced in Damascus and found in excavations at Fustat, Old Cairo. The fragment, the centre of a bowl, and part of one of the sides, is decorated with black line-drawings of floral sprays under a transparent pale-turquoise glaze. The centre is decorated with a palmette, while the outside of the bowl is decorated with a succession of densely placed lancet leaves. Although Fustat in the Mamluk period became known as Misr, losing its fame to the new Cairo under Mamluk rule, this bowl fragment indicates that the markets of Fustat were still attracting trade from outside Egypt throughout the Mamluk period (AH 647–922 / AD 1250–1517). Syrian potters came to work in Fustat, just as Egyptian potters migrated in search of work too. The pattern on this dish is influenced by Chinese ceramics, which were very popular in the Middle East at that time.","short_description":"This Syrian ceramic bowl was excavated in the old city of Fustat in Egypt, brought there through the strong trading links between the two sides of the Red Sea. The Chinese influence is felt through the pattern of the floral designs, which has been adapted to suit local Middle Eastern taste.","type":"Fritware, stonepaste, ceramic","holder":"Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira 8th century / AD 14th century.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 7 cm (max), width 17.5 cm (max).","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis: the material composition, glaze and decoration of this fragment are typical of ceramics made in the potteries of  Syria. Several similar examples have been found in Fustat indicating that ceramics from the Middle East were brought to trade in Egypt.","method_for_provenance":"The material composition, glaze and decoration of this fragment are typical of ceramics made in the potteries of Syria. Several similar examples have been found in Fustat indicating that ceramics from the East were brought to trade in Egypt.","provenance":"Produced in Damascus, Syria; found at Fustat, Egypt.","obtention":"Purchased by the Museum in 1919.","bibliography":"Fehervari, G., *Ceramics of the Islamic World in the Tareq Rajab Museum*, London, 2000.  \n  \nLane, A., *Later Islamic Pottery: Persia, Syria, Egypt, Turkey*, London, 1971.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_EG_EN_001","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Chinese influence","Commerce","floral decoration"],"materials":["painted with black under a transparent turquoise glaze.","Stone-paste (fritware)"]},"0d3e43d7-9082-5cb7-bb0c-3a25c1f1ccc9":{"name":"Strainer.","description":"The reddish-grey earthenware fragment comes from a vessel that was provided with a slightly convex strainer. The lattice of this strainer is a geometrical design composed of circles and curved lines. The basic unit of the pattern is a circle filled with a four-sided border bent inwards to form a star with a holed circlet at the centre and four circles in the middle of the sides. The whole design is composed of three of these circles. The space between them is filled with a pointed motif flanked by two tiny holed circlets, which repeats a section of the basic pattern. An incised zigzag line bordered by two curved lines surrounds the openwork at the centre. The zigzag line is a characteristic element of Fatimid strainer designs.  \nThe strainer was placed at the juncture of neck and shoulder of an earthenware vessel to protect the stored liquid from insects and pollution. Most strainer vessels of the Islamic period were manufactured of clay. The vessels remained unglazed in order to allow evaporation through the porous material, if it was wished to keep the stored liquid, mostly water, cool.  \nDesigns put together on the basis of simple geometrical shapes such as circles, lines or triangles, the repetition of these elements and their rearrangement in new patterns are a feature of Fatimid strainers. Geometrical compositions are dominant among the strainer designs of this period followed by zoomorphic and epigraphic motifs. Decorative strainers are known from excavations from the AH 2nd / AD 8th century to the AH 9th / AD 15th century, but Fatimid period was the high point of their development.","short_description":"Earthenware fragment which was integrated in a vessel as a strainer. The latticework is composed of a geometrical design of circles and curved lines. The strainer was placed at the juncture of neck and shoulder of the earthenware vessel to protect the stored liquid from insects and pollution.","type":"Strainer, earthenware","holder":"Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities (Medelhavsmuseet).","owner":"National Museum of Fine Arts, Stockholm. In order to reorganise the expanding collections, the main part of the Islamic collection has been on permanent loan to the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities since 1982.","dates":"Hegira 5th–6th centuries / AD 11th–12th centuries.","location":"Stockholm","dimensions":"Diameter 6.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"Strainers of this pattern excavated in undisturbed strata were dated to the 5th and 6th / 11th and 12th centuries.","method_for_provenance":"Similar strainers were excavated at al-Fustat and their place of manufacture ascribed to the city. According to F. R. Martin, this strainer comes from excavations at al-Fustat.","provenance":"Al-Fustat, Egypt.","obtention":"Purchased from the collection of the Swedish art dealer and art historian F. R. Martin in 1921.","bibliography":"Olmer, P., *Catalogue Général du Musée Arabe du Caire: Les Filtres de Gargoulettes*, Cairo, 1932.  \nScanlon, G. T., *Fustat Expedition Final Report. Vol. 1: Catalogue of Filters*, Winona Lake, 1986.  \nWittkowski, G., “Arabic Filters from the Collection of the Cracow Archaeological Museum”, *Materialy Archeologiczne* XXX, 1997, 41–55.","author":"Friederike Voigt","copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["earthenware","geometric decoration","purification of water","water"],"materials":["Earthenware","incised.","unglazed"]},"0d8a58c2-5da1-5c7f-a4bc-5bc61e7ad347":{"name":"Bath scraper or pumice stone","description":"This object might be related to bath scrapers or pumice stones displaying a similar conical shape and attributed to the Safavid period.  \n  \nThis example is decorated with yellow and blue chevron motifs. Its flat side is left purposely untreated to be used as an abrasive surface that would be suitable for hammam rituals of exfoliation and purification of the skin.","type":"Ceramic object","holder":"Institute of the Arab World","dates":"AH 11th / AD 17th century","location":"Paris","dimensions":"Height: 6 cm, length: 10,5 cm","provenance":"Iran","obtention":"Gift, 2023","author":"Dounia Handis","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","keywords":["bath scraper","Hammam","water"]},"0da353d3-8291-51cb-a468-1cc100a5bfc4":{"name":"Vase.","description":"A vase with a spherical body resting on a foot-ring with a high tulip-shaped neck almost the same height as the body. The two curved handles starting at the neck rest on the upper part of the body. The clay is clear, highly fired, and the walls are very thin. Brown manganese-oxide paint covers the handles, and decorates the neck and the upper part of the body. Two different styles can be found on the neck. On the upper part, a painted strip is decorated with repeated excised motifs, in a shape of concentric half-circles. A frieze of arabesques divided by slightly curved vertical lines reminiscent of calligraphic characters seems to clumsily imitate the word 'Allah'. The same ornamental layout and design appear on the body. This type of drinking vase, or *jarrita*, with its elegant shape and a pseudo-epigraphic design that mixes the techniques of paint and excision, was widespread during the same period in the south of al-Andalus.","short_description":"This type of round-bellied drinking vessel (*jarrita*) with a tall tulip-shaped neck, curved handles and pseudo-epigraphic decoration crudely imitating the word 'Allah' was very common in the south of al-Andalus at this time.","type":"Vase, earthenware","holder":"Archeological Museum.","dates":"Hegira 7th / AD 13th century.","location":"Tetouan.","dimensions":"Height 6.5 cm, max. diameter 11.5 cm, diameter base 4.8 cm, diameter mouth 8.2 cm.","method_for_datation":"Found during the excavations in the ruins of a medieval bourgeois house at the archaeological site of Lixus. The date has been confirmed by the stylistic and comparative study with reliably dated objects found in Murcia and Huelva in Spain dating from the end of the first third of 8th / 13th century.","method_for_provenance":"Excavated at Lixus.","provenance":"Lixus, Morocco.","obtention":"Excavated.","bibliography":"Ataallah, M., “La céramique musulmane à paroi incisée ou peinte à Lixus”, *Bulletin* *d'archéologie marocaine* VII, 1967, pp.627–39.  \nBazzana, A., “La céramique médiévale”, in *Maroc, les trésors du royaume*, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1999.  \nNavarro Palazón, J., *La céramique hispano-arabe à décor esgrafié*, trans. Bazzana, Madrid, 1986.  \nPonsich, M., *Lixus, le quartier des Temples*, Études et travaux d'archéologie marocaine series, Vol. IX, Rabat, 1981, p.127.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_MA_EN_001","author":"Naima El Khatib-Boujibar","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["geometrical decoration","pseudo-inscription","vegetal decoration"],"materials":["fired","painted and excised earthenware."]},"0e9e99b6-9407-5be8-bd91-c9e2938c4e17":{"name":"Bowl emulating Chinese stoneware","short_description":"This ceramic bowl, boldly decorated in cobalt blue against a parchment-like white slip, is one of the earliest examples to incorporate calligraphy as the main element of decoration. The Arabic word *ghibta* (happiness) is repeated on two lines in the centre and creates a balanced composition when combined with the half-circles decorating the rim. Iraqi potters of the ninth century attempted to emulate the luminous quality and hard body of Chinese whitewares by using a tin‑opacified white glaze.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"The Metropolitan Museum of Art","dates":"Hegira late second–late 3rd century / AD 9th century","location":"New York","dimensions":"H: 6cm, Diameter: 20.3cm","provenance":"Probably Basra, Iraq","obtention":"Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1963  \nVendor: Nasli M. Heeramaneck, Indian, 1902–1971, New York  \nFormer owner \\[dealer\\]: \\[Nasli M. Heeramaneck, Indian, 1902–1971, New York, until 1963; sold to MMA\\]","bibliography":"Allan, James, *Islamic Ceramics. Ashmolean–Christie's Handbooks*, Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1991: 6.  \nEkhtiar, Maryam, Canby, Sheila R., Haidar, Navina and Soucek, Priscilla P. (eds), *Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art*, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011: 33–34, no. 10, ill. 34 (colour).  \nEkhtiar, Maryam and Moore, Claire (ed), *Art of the Islamic World. A Resource for Educators*, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012: 210–11, ill. pl. 41 (colour).  \nGrube, Ernst J., \"The Art of Islamic Pottery\", *Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin*, 23/6 (February 1965): 210, ill. fig. 2 (b/w).  \nJenkins-Madina, Marilyn, Valenstein, Suzanne G. and Meech-Pekarik, Julia, *Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections. Vol. 12: The Metropolitan Museum of Art*, Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1977: 270, 312, ill. pl. 79 (colour), profile in b/w.  \nKoechlin, R. and Migeon, Gaston, *Oriental Art. Ceramics, Fabrics, Carpets One Hundred Plates in colour*, Paris: The Macmillan Company, 1928: pl. IV. Illustrates in color a very similar bowl, with single \"inscription\"; called Rhages, 9th century; collection Koechlin.  \nLane, Arthur, *Early Islamic Pottery. Faber Monographs on Pottery and Porcelain. Mesopotamia, Egypt and Persia*, London: Faber and Faber, 1947: pl. 9A. Illustrates a similar tin-glazed bowl painted on blue, signed Made by Salih; diam. 8 1/4 in.; called 9th-10th century, Mesopotamian; in Detroit Art Institute.  \nPancaroglu, Oya, *Perpetual Glory: Medieval Islamic Ceramics from the Harvey B. Plotnick Collection*, Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2007: 42.  \nWatson, Oliver, *Ceramics from Islamic Lands: Kuweit National Museum - The Al-Sabah Collection*, New York: Thames and Hudson, 2004: 171–80.  \nWelch, Stuart Cary, *The Islamic World. Vol. 11*, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987: 20, ill. fig. 8 (colour).","copyright":"The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1963","keywords":["Abbasid","Arabic inscription","Basra","blue-and-white","bowl","calligraphy","clay","earthenware","earthenware dish","Glazed","inscription","Iraq","kufic"],"materials":["Earthenware","painted in blue on opaque white glaze"]},"0eb816fe-a6fd-5eb6-bd76-fe059b1cc12f":{"name":"Pilgrim bottle fragment.","description":"An unglazed fragment from the flat side of a pilgrim bottle, with part of the depiction of an archer on horseback moulded in low relief. An idea of the original shape can be obtained from a number of pilgrim bottles that survive intact. The bottle would have been shaped like a drum with a spout attached at the top, circular in shape with two flat sides and two handles on the rounded edge. Due to their similarity with vessels brought back from the Holy Land by Western pilgrims these vessels are usually termed 'pilgrim bottles'. Unglazed pottery was used for storing water as the porous clay was especially efficient at keeping water cool, particularly important on long journeys.","short_description":"A fragment from an unglazed earthenware pilgrim bottle showing part of the depiction of an archer on horseback. These bottles, used for carrying water, were termed pilgrim bottles due to their similarity to vessels brought back from the Holy Land by Western pilgrims.","type":"Eartheware","holder":"British Museum.","dates":"Hegira 6th–7th century / AD 12th–13th century.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Length 21 cm.","method_for_datation":"Comparable fragments have been found in excavations in Syria that can be dated to this period.","method_for_provenance":"There were workshops for these unglazed bottles at a number of locations in Syria. Moulds and kilns have been found in Damascus and Hama. This fragment was found at a factory site in Aleppo.","provenance":"Aleppo, Syria.","obtention":"Acquired by the British Museum in 1902.","bibliography":"L'Orient de Saladin au temps des Ayyoubides, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 2001, cat no.131-134, p.152-3 (for similar bottles in the National Museum, Damascus).","author":"Emily Shovelton","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Archer","horse","pilgrim's flasks","pilgrimage"],"materials":["Moulded earthenware.","unglazed"]},"0ec56979-2b66-516d-a77f-a6c3c80db240":{"name":"Ewer with Design of Animals and Inscriptions","short_description":"A stoneware, brown and white Luster-painted ewer with cylindrical body that swells slightly as it rises toward the shoulder; rounded shoulder from which extends a flat handle, neck, and spout. The handle extends upwards from the shoulder and turns at a 45 degree angle to connect to the neck just below the rim. The neck is funnel-shaped with and everted rim; there is a hollow collar at the base of the neck, just above where it joins to the shoulder.  \nThe decoration consists of a yellow-brown Luster painting over an opaque, white glazed background and is concentrated in two zones of the ewer: the bottom section of the body and the upper section, including the neck, shoulder, handle and spout. This leaves a large, central section of opaque white glaze on the body on which a single line of inscription has been added in the yellow-brown Luster. The inscription, a quatrain in Persian, reads as follows:  \n*man mihr-i tu dar miyan-i jan awardam / ba u hama khurda dar miyan awardam / akhir zi hama jahan bar awardam sar / ta 'ishq-i tu bar sar-i jahan awardam  \nli-katibihi katabahu Abu Zayd bi-khattihi dar sana sittami'a*  \nI brought your love to the midst of my soul / I discussed the smallest matters with it / Until I overcame the entire world / In order to bring your love to the world.  \n\\[This belongs\\] to its writer.  \nAbu Zayd wrote it in his own script in the year six hundred.  \nIn the lower zone is a second inscription written in reserve in large, Kufic script on a background of the yellow-brown Luster with small, delicate scrolls and spirals. This inscription mainly repeats the word *al-'izz* (\"glory\") along with one or two instances each of *al-dawla* (\"good fortune\") and al-salama (\"well-being\").  \nThe upper zone of decoration is comprised of three registers. The lowest register contains a series of plump birds with their feet on the ground and their wings in mid-flap. They are painted in Luster against a background of light scrolls. The middle register contains a chase scene moving from right to left with a cheetah, placed to the immediate left of the handle, pursuing a series of gazelles that fill the remainder of the register on either side of the spout. The cheetah is represented wearing a collar with a ring, indicating that it is a trained cheetah rather than a wild one. The animals are painted in reserve against a background of Luster with fine scrolls. The upper register of the shoulder has another *Kufic* inscription, possibly the phrase *al-'izz al-da'im* (\"perpetual glory\"), written in Luster and fitted tightly around the base of the neck. The neck is painted with a small-scale chain pattern. The exterior of the rim is painted in solid Luster while its interior contains *Kufic*\\-style pseudo-epigraphy. Finally, the outward facing side of both the handle and the spout appear to have been painted with ascending palmette motifs.  \nThere are numerous hairline cracks throughout the vessel, and the spout, handle, and rim have all been partially restored. The central *Kufic* band has a notable area of blurring and streaking of the glaze.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Saint Louis Art Museum","dates":"Hegira 599-600 / AD 1203–4","location":"Saint Louis","dimensions":"Height: 27.3cm; Diameter of mouth: 7.3cm; Width from handle to spout: 12.7cm; Diameter of body: 14cm; Diameter of base: 12.1cm","method_for_datation":"Per inscription (see description)","method_for_provenance":"Per inscription (see description)","provenance":"Kashan, Iran, Asia","obtention":"Museum Purchase, 1954","bibliography":"Pancaroglu, Oya, *Metalwork and Material Culture in the Islamic World: Art, Craft, and Text*, London: Tauris and Co. Ltd., 2012.","keywords":["Abu Zayd","Asia","ceramics","ewer","Fritware","Glazed","Iran","Kashan","Luster","lustre","Persian"],"materials":["Luster-glazed fritware"]},"0f40f0f0-ca7e-554c-be5f-7c891a71c669":{"name":"Plate with Design of Arabic Inscription in *Kufic* Script","short_description":"A shallow earthenware plate with inscription in dark brown slip over white slip background and a transparent glaze. The Arabic inscription in *Kufic* script serves as the main decoration; its elongated horizontal bars and ligatures form a border along the circumference of the plate while the sharply pointed vertical staffs extend towards the central depression to form a radiating design. Translated, the inscription reads \"Planning before work protects you from regret! K...\" There are many scratches and repaired cracks. At several spots along the edge, the white slip has chipped away, exposing the pinkish buff earthenware.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Saint Louis Art Museum","dates":"Hegira Late 2nd to late 4th / AD 10th century","location":"Saint Louis","dimensions":"Length: 4.4cm x Width: 37.8cm","method_for_datation":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","method_for_provenance":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","provenance":"Nishapur, Khorasan, Iran, Asia","obtention":"Museum Purchase, 1951","bibliography":"Bloom, Jonathan and Blair, Shelia, *God is the Light of the Heavens and the Earth: Light in Islamic Art and Culture*, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2015.  \nSpeight, Charlotte F. and Toki, John, *Hands in Clay, Mountain View*, CA; London / Toronto: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1999.","keywords":["Asia","ceramics","earthenware","Fritware","Glazed","Iran","Khorasan","Nishapur","painted","Persian","Plate","slip"],"materials":["glazed and slip-painted earthenware"]},"0fc12068-b2a4-51bb-a564-cc98546c289d":{"name":"Moorish bowl.","description":"In a land such as Spain where sailing was of such importance it is no surprise that ships were used in the decoration of ceramics. At the centre of a bowl with a vertical rim, a sailing ship, which conforms to a type of ship known as a ‘nao’ in Spanish and a ‘nau’ in Portuguese, is depicted in front of spiralling tendrils with rosettes. Both the Spanish and the Portuguese were at the time masters of the earth’s seas.  \nThe ship is a single-masted type with a large, square sail. The artist has stylized the bowsprit due to lack of space; at the stern, of the two “flags”, the one aft may be a spritsail that the artist has curtailed due to lack of space. The superstructure of the rudder is decorated in Arabic letters which read \"peace\". The structural elements of the ship can only partially be made out on this object, with its somewhat basic and faint markings, However, knowledge of this type of ship is known from an example on a large bowl with steep, angular sides that is housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The decorative design of the Berlin bowl matches that of the London one. An original model nao can be seen in the Maritime Museum in Rotterdam. Under the ship on the Berlin bowl, stylised dolphins can be seen playing, occasionally intersected by the bowl’s rim. After Valencia succumbed to Christian rule in 1238, ceramic manufacturers worked under the commission of Christian patrons. The type of ship shown here demonstrates this relationship and testifies to the proximity in which Christians and Muslims lived during this time. A ship accompanied by dolphins was a known motif in the ceramics produced in Malaga towards the end of the 14th and beginning of the 15th century. The fact that only a few ceramics with this motif existed perhaps reveals that only a few commissioned this princely theme. An examination in 1983 of a fragment of the London plate conclusively confirmed that Nasrid ceramics were manufactured in Malaga. Stylistic examinations had already suggested that this was the case. These comparisons have also demonstrated the connections between the Spanish ceramics of this period and those made in Sicily and Egypt. Depictions of ships first appeared at the time of the *Reconquista* and with the emergence of Christian patrons.","short_description":"Ships carrying trade across the Mediterranean sea appear frequently on pottery vessels made in the workshops of al-Andalus. This bowl was made in Manises near Valencia. The marks of the tripod show that such bowls were manufactured in large numbers and were traded to Mediterranean countries.","type":"Bowl, ceramics","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art at the Pergamon Museum","owner":"Museum of Arts and Crafts, Berlin.","dates":"Hegira late 8th century–834 / AD late 14th century–1430.","location":"Berlin","dimensions":"Height 9.5 cm, diameter 22 cm.","method_for_datation":"Bowls featuring depictions of ships are numerous in Spanish ceramic ware. This example, with its three-master, is dated to between the late 14th and the first half of the 15th century, from the way in which it is painted and from its markings.","method_for_provenance":"From its shape and its painted markings the bowl looks like ceramics from the Spanish town of Manises.","provenance":"Manises, Valencia, Spain.","obtention":"Transferred from the Museum of Arts and Crafts as a long-term loan.","bibliography":"Caiger-Smith, A., *Lustre Pottery*, London, 1985, pp.84–125.  \nCaviró, B. M., *Cerámica Hispanomusulman: Andalusí y Mudéjar*, Madrid, 1991, pp.82–5, ill. 65–6.  \nDodds, J. D., *Al-Andalus. The Art of Islamic Spain*, New York, 1992, no. 114.  \nFrothingham, A. W., *Lustreware of Spain*, New York, 1951, pp.91–3, ill. 56–7.  \nHaus der Kulturen der Welt Berlin (eds.), *Schätze der Alhambra. Islamische Kunst aus Andalusien*, 253, Berlin, 1992, no. 129.","author":"Annette Hagedorn","translator":"Maria Vlotides","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["Andalusia","ceramics","lustre","Moorish","nao","peace","ship","Valencia"],"materials":["Ceramic with lustre and blue glaze."]},"10055861-fa02-5348-9d89-bbe6682bf4ef":{"name":"Tiles of the Buyan Kuli Khan","short_description":"These tile fragments are from the mausoleum of Buyan Qulï Khan in Bukhara. The turquoise glazed tile is decorated with an intricate vine pattern in white. The ornament is not painted, but cut as a relief into the clay using a complex technique.  \nThese tiles were a part of the decoration program of the mausoleum of Buyan Kuli Khan, who was murdered in 1358. He was the 25th successor of Genghis Khan (1155/62 / 67-1227) and ruled over the Chagatay Khanate empire. His tomb is situated in Bukhara, present-day Uzbekistan, and was covered with tiles both inside and out. The present fragment was initially installed on the outer facade. The Victoria and Albert Museum also possesses several tiles from the mausoleum.","type":"Architecture fragment","holder":"MKG Museum for Applied Arts","dates":"Hegira 8th century / AD 14th century","location":"Hamburg","dimensions":"Length: 125cm x Width: 59cm","method_for_datation":"These tiles are from the mausoleum of King Buyan Kuli Khan. They were acquired in 1903 by Justus Brinckmann in Kabebdjan Galleries in Paris.","method_for_provenance":"Gift from Alfred Beit, London, through Ounik Kalebdjian, Paris.","provenance":"Uzbekistan, Fatahabad near Buxoro","obtention":"Endowment in 1908.","bibliography":"Haase, C.-P., \"Buyan Quli Chan—Baudekor,\" *Damaszener Mitteilungen*, 11 (1999): 205-225.","copy_editor":"Caitlin Link","keywords":["Architectural decor","Buyan Kuli Khan","Mausoleum"],"materials":["Glazed ceramic"]},"109ed34a-507a-5652-bb30-736569eca0ac":{"name":"Drum","alternate_name":"Awakener drum; *Musahirati* drum","description":"Small round drum, pointed on the bottom, covered on the top with leather, and fastened with a linen rope. It was played with a wooden stick to create special sounds of music, and it was used during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan to wake up people to eat (*suhur*) before sunrise. Some people used to volunteer to go around before dawn to wake people up during Holy Ramadan, reflecting community spirit.","type":"Cultic drum; musical instrument","holder":"Jordan Folklore Museum, Department of Antiquities","dates":"Late 19th century – early 20th century","location":"Amman","provenance":"Jordan","author":"Huda Kilani","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega"},"123030ca-d6ea-5a9d-b948-0601ad74e192":{"name":"Dish (*ghtar*)","description":"Glazed, blue, terracotta dish, dated 1894 and made in Fez.","type":"Pottery","holder":"Batha Museum","dates":"1894","location":"Fez"},"1304f4ee-e28f-57f0-a08d-b92839b37afe":{"name":"Incense burner","description":"Incense burners like this are usually made of clay mixed with water and kneaded until a mixture is formed that can then be shaped. The burner is then adorned with engravings, intricate drawings, and different colors. The incense burners are then fired in a kiln, after which they are ready for use. Note the handle; it makes the burner safe to carry from room to room. Incense occupies a central place in Omani life, as the passing of a fragrant burner at the end of a visit is customary in every region of the country.","type":"Ceramic, earthenware, acrylic colours","holder":"The national Museum - Sultanate of Oman","dates":"Hegira early 15th/AD early 21st century","location":"Muscat, Sultanate of Oman","dimensions":"Height: 12, width: 14.5","provenance":"Dhofar Governorate","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","materials":["acrylic colours","Earthenware"]},"13363244-5ab8-5c8e-ad7b-fd1feb510f5a":{"name":"Dish","short_description":"Large fritware Kirman style dish with foliatae designs finely incised through the cobalt-stained slip to show the white body beneath. The lip is very finely scalloped in imitation of Chinese ware. The interior of the foot ring is covered with a transparent pale bluish-white glaze with a large roundel enclosing an artist's signature in the form of a painted 'tassel' mark.","type":"Vessels & receptacles, fritware ceramic","holder":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah","dates":"Hegira 11th century / AD 17th century","location":"Kuwait City","provenance":"Iranian world, Kirman","keywords":["Chinese motifs","Dish","Glaze","Iran","Kirman"]},"14764713-cb27-5756-8029-2aade64971eb":{"name":"Lidded bowl.","description":"A squat, elliptically shaped, lidded bowl of stone-paste (fritware) with a flattened domical lid topped by a gilded copper-alloy finial. A blue, red and green rosette enhances the base of the finial; the pattern on the lid itself then opens out from the base of the finial where, from leafy stems, four mythical, blue, serrated *saz* leaves with red centres sprout, moving in an anti-clockwise direction, their stems crossing. In between the *saz* leaves, there are four floral pairs, each consisting of a blue lily and a red-orange hyacinth. These also emerge from leafy stems, sinuously crossing over each other.  \nThe edge of the rim is decorated by a scalloped border of white on blue, a black dot in the centre of each scallop. The upper edge of the body receives a guilloche border rendered in red and green. Below, nine blue tulips with red dotted detailing flow around the bowl in a clockwise direction, giving the impression of a horizontally disposed garland, although they all rise in fact from the base. A second band below the tulips is composed of carnations, this time flowing in an anti-clockwise direction, their stems again springing from the baseline below. The well of the bowl receives a decorative roundel defined by three linear borders. It contains five flower sprays with red and blue petals. Six abstract motifs in blue fill the remaining spaces.  \nThe shape of this bowl recalls Iranian metal and ceramic bowls dating to the AH 7th / AD 13th century and also appears among the tableware of the Italian courts during the 15th century (as seen, for example, in an engraving by Mantegna where an attendant serves at table during a card game). In Ottoman court culture lidded bowls such as this were produced in gilt copper (*tombak*), and occurred as an integral part of the tableware used to serve food at mealtimes.","short_description":"In Ottoman court culture lidded bowls like this one were produced in gilt copper (*tombak*) as well as pottery and occurred as an integral part of the crockery used to serve food at mealtimes. Its style of decoration places it among other floral Iznik wares dated to the AH 10th / AD late 16th century.","type":"Ottoman ceramic, stone paste","holder":"National Museums of Scotland (NMS).","dates":"Hegira 10th century / AD late 16th century.","location":"Edinburgh, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 15.24 cm, diameter 20.3 cm.","method_for_datation":"The decorative style of this lidded bowl places it among a group of floral Iznik wares dated to the 10th / late 16th century.","method_for_provenance":"This type of ceramic ware is known to have been produced in Iznik during the 10th / late 16th century.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Bought from the Castellani Collection in 1884.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989, figs. 559, 678, 742.  \nCarswell, J., *Iznik Pottery*, London, 1998, p.82, fig. 61.  \nScarce, J., *Domestic Culture in the Middle East: An Exploration of the Household Interior*, Edinburgh, 1996, p.60.  \n*Türkische Kunst und Kultur aus osmanischer Zeit*, exhibition catalogue, Recklinghausen, 1985, p.144, cat. no. 2/13.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Ulrike Al-Khamis","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Iznik","stone-paste (fritware)","tombak"],"materials":["black and bole-red underglaze","Blue","green","over which a clear glaze.","Stone-paste (fritware)"]},"151fac1e-ebdf-570b-9f37-a9dcd36098e4":{"name":"Flask: Candle holder for festival of name-giving","short_description":"On the 7th day after the birth of a child, there is a candle burning naming festival in Egypt. For both boys and girls, flasks for drinking water are made of clay, and are provided with candle holders. Depending on the sex of the new-born baby, the neck of the bottle is either fashioned as a stylised female figure or ends in an implied penis. The festival is celebrated in honour of the 7 angels who stand around the new-born. On the evening of the 7th day after the birth of the child, these angels become a threat. In order to propitiate them, they are provided with a plate of food-offerings. Nearby, the clay bottle stands on a tray with beans. The beans are sprinkled with water and the candles on the flasks are lit. Each candle receives a name. The one which burns the longest is, so to speak, the \"baptismal candle\" of the child. The stub of the candle is then placed in a small bag, together with magical substances, and worn around the child's neck as an amulet to ward off evil.","type":"Religion","holder":"Weltmuseum Wien","dates":"Before 1975","location":"Vienna","dimensions":"H: 55cm, Diameter: 20cm","method_for_datation":"Entry in the general inventory and archival documents.","method_for_provenance":"Entry in the general inventory book.","provenance":"Egypt, Cairo","obtention":"Catalog entry: \"Purchased from Dr. Peter W. Schienerl, Kairo, 1975.\"","bibliography":"Steinmann, Axel, \"Light\", in Christian Schicklgruber (ed), *Weltmuseum Wien, exhibition catalogue*, Vienna: Weltmuseum Wien, 2017: 130-133.","materials":["Ceramic","pigment"]},"1551f405-e3e6-5970-8bcb-de56cf919879":{"name":"Tile","short_description":"The geometric pattern of this glazed tile is made from an elaborate pattern of white lines, intersecting in knot-like patterns to form various shapes, including stars. The colours in the shapes form an alternating pattern, with bands of green and manganese brown surrounding a yellow centre.","type":"Architecture fragment","holder":"MKG Museum for Applied Arts","dates":"Hegira 880-905 / AD 1475-1500","location":"Hamburg","dimensions":"Length: 16.5cm, Width: 18.3cm","method_for_datation":"By comparison with similar objects e. g. Victoria and Albert Museum (see Ray 2000, p. 331).","method_for_provenance":"Unknown.","provenance":"Spain, Toledo","obtention":"Catalogued in 1974; accession unknown.","bibliography":"Ray, A., *Spanish Pottery 1248-1898. With a Catalogue of the collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum*, London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2000.","copy_editor":"Caitlin Link","keywords":["Spanish","tile"],"materials":["Glazed tile with a plaster backing"]},"15b3397c-76d7-510d-9b01-2bd087128afe":{"name":"Tile panel in the shape of a tympanum.","description":"Panel of glazed tiles decorated in blue, turquoise, green and yellow. The central composition is framed by scrolls of stylised clouds forming a serpentine band which encloses a lotus flower in a trefoil knot. Unfurling in a spiral from the central motif are slender boughs with leaves, flower buds and *hatayi*\\-style motifs (garlands of flowers of Chinese inspiration). In Ottoman architecture panels of tiles were used mainly to decorate interior rooms.  \nIt has been claimed that this panel belongs to a set of around twelve almost identical tympana, which decorated a building commissioned to be built by Piyale Pasa, Lord of the Admiralty and protégé of Sultan Selim II. There was some doubt as to which building this might be: the mosque or the palace. The most widely held view is that the panels were removed from the Mosque of Piyale Pasa in Istanbul, probably built by the architect Sinan in AH 980–1 / AD 1573–4, since all the tympana disappeared and only the *mihrab* (prayer niche) remains.","short_description":"This tile panel belonged to the Piyale Pasa Mosque in Istanbul. The piece is dominated by plant motifs. The central composition is framed by stylised clouds forming a strip enclosing a lotus flower, from where other plant motifs are developed.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, glazed","holder":"Calouste Gulbenkian Museum.","dates":"About Hegira 980 / AD 1573.","location":"Lisbon.","dimensions":"Height 71 cm, length 142 cm.","method_for_datation":"By methods of stylistic analysis and by comparison with pieces from the same period. The stylistic similarities with the tympana from the mosque of Selim II, built by Sinan in Edirne in 975–82 / 1569–75) and with the tomb of the same sovereign in Istanbul (which Sinan finished building in 981–2 / 1574–5) are undeniable. Furthermore, all the tympana which formed this set are dated to AH 980 / AD 1573, which confirms the dating of this panel.","method_for_provenance":"By expert examination. The European collections in which the tympana from this set are to be found, such as the Louvre Museum and the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris, confirm the provenance of these panels to be the Mosque of Piyale Pasa in Istanbul.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Purchase.","bibliography":"*Un Jardín Encantado: Arte Islámico en la Colección Calouste Gulbenkian*, exhibition catalogue, Madrid, 2001.  \n*Museu Calouste Gulbenkian*, Lisbon, 1st edition 2001, 2nd edition revised and updated 2002.  \n*Only the Best: Masterpieces of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon*, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1999.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Maria Queiroz Ribeiro","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["architectural decoration","ceramic","clay","Glaze","hatayi","Iznik","lotus","Mosque interior decoration","Ottomans","siliceous","Tile panel","tilework","tympanum"],"materials":["Ceramic made from siliceous clay","painted and glazed."]},"1602f68b-990c-5682-9da4-a873d3cc650b":{"name":"Pitcher with cockerel head","short_description":"The pot-bellied pitcher with cockerel head, decorated with an inscription on the neck and close to the base, shows large human figures surrounded by a garden, typical of the monumental style of Kashan.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 6th–7th century / AD 12th–13th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Height 27.5 cm","provenance":"Iran (Kashan)","keywords":["ceramic","Kashan","lustre","Seljuq"],"materials":["Frit body","lustre decoration"]},"1657e49f-ee2a-5134-8524-b0acdfbf4c0c":{"name":"Dish","short_description":"During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, luster ceramics made in Manises, a suburb of Valencia on Spain’s eastern coast, were made for Italian, Spanish, and French patrons. Accordingly, Christian symbols, Latin inscriptions, and European blazons were standard components of Manises lusterware iconography. This exceptional dish bears the arms (two intersecting maces) of the Gondi banking family of Florence. It can be dated to the late fifteenth century.","type":"Islamic, Indian & Southeast Asian works of art; earthenware; ceramic","holder":"Shangri La, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira c. 892 / AD 1487","location":"Honolulu, Hawai'i","dimensions":"Diameter: 27.0 cm","provenance":"Spain, Manises","keywords":["ceramic","coat of arms","Dish","earthenware","Gondi family","lustre","Manises","Nasrid","overglaze-painted","Spain","tin-glazed"],"materials":["Earthenware","overglaze-painted in luster","tin-glazed"]},"17315f50-dba9-5ad0-a841-47bafdd7bfe6":{"name":"Dish","short_description":"The dish shows a simple, elegant decoration in manganese on an opaque white glaze.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 3rd–4th century / AD 9th–10th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Height 4 cm, diameter 42 cm","provenance":"Iran","keywords":["ceramic","Glaze","manganese","Samanid"],"materials":["Earthenware","splashes of green on opaque white glaze"]},"17634e8b-75c4-531c-a525-4f57d46e78f9":{"name":"Bowl","description":"This bowl is a fine example of pottery from the Samanid (AD 819–1005) workshops of eastern Iran. Its design is stark and striking, featuring a single line of Arabic calligraphy that encircles the deep rim. The script, with its elegantly elongated horizontals and sharp-tipped verticals, is an early form of Arabic calligraphy known as New Style Kufic. The bowl's decoration is minimal yet visually compelling, with the inscription reading: “Knowledge is the most noble lineage and chivalry the most intricate.” The inscription’s meaning is elevated by the artistic manipulation of the letters. Through shortening, bending, and elongating, the script is transformed into abstract motifs of remarkable visual impact. The vertical flourishes interspersed among the horizontal flow create a rhythmic interplay that draws in the viewer. Likely used for serving on special occasions, the bowl’s message about the virtues of knowledge and chivalry is particularly apt.","type":"Pottery","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art","owner":"Qatar Museums","dates":"Hegira 4th century / AD 10th century","location":"Doha, Qatar","dimensions":"Diameter: 27.8cm","place_of_production":"Iran, Khorasan province","provenance":"Iran, Khorasan province","bibliography":"Christie's London, *Art of the Islamic and Indian World*, 2011.","author":"Teslim Sanni","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","materials":["Earthenware","opaque white glaze with black painting"]},"17822504-ba29-52b3-9e9c-841ecbda9631":{"name":"Plate with seven compartments","description":"The compartments of this serving dish contained spices to improve the flavours of food and enhance the diet. In Iran, when celebrating the arrival of spring, it is customary to present “the seven spices”.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museum of the Arab World Institute","dates":"Hegira 7th century / AD 13th century","location":"Paris","dimensions":"Height: 10.5cm, Diameter: 29cm","provenance":"Iran","obtention":"Purchased at auction on advice from Pierre Bergé & Associates, 2003.","translator":"Judy Harter","materials":["lustre decoration over opaque glaze","Siliceous clay"]},"17f38219-908a-521a-bc48-bdfa982ef72d":{"name":"Small decorated glazed jar","description":"The small size of this jug and its decoration make it a delicate piece of tableware. It has three rounded handles on the shoulder and is entirely covered with an opaque glaze on the inside and out, now stained grey. The cobalt-blue decoration has been reconstructed as an oval above two curling branches, probably a plant motif, and is repeated between each of the three handles. A bright green vertical line runs down the outside of each handle.  \n  \nOriginally this jug would have looked bright and striking, with dark blue-and-green painted designs against a white or cream colour.","short_description":"It could have been a table vinegar pot used to contain sweet and sour sauces that were very popular in the AH 3th / AD 9th century. The painted design and technology indicate that this was manufactured either in Iraq or Iran.","type":"Container","holder":"National Museum of Qatar","owner":"National Museum of Qatar","initial_owner":"Qatar Museums","dates":"AH late 2nd to late 3rd century / AD late 8th to late 9th century","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Height: 8.5cm, body diameter: 10.5cm","place_of_production":"Iraq or Iran","method_for_datation":"Stratigraphy/scientific analysis.","method_for_provenance":"Stratigraphy/scientific and laboratory analysis.","provenance":"Murwab, Qatar","obtention":"Archaeological excavation.","bibliography":"Carvajal Lopez, J., Guerin, A., and Georgakopoulou, M., \"Petrographic analysis of ceramics of Murwab, an early islamic site in Qatar\", Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 51 (2022): 55–70.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Preliminary pottery study: Murwab horizon in progress, ninth century AD, Qatar\", in Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 40 (2010): 17–34.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Territory and settlement patterns during the Abbasid period (ninth century AD): the village of Murwab (Qatar)\", Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 39 (2009): 181–196.  \n  \nHardy-Guilbert, Cl., \"Fouilles archéologiques a Murwab, Qatar\", in R. Boucharlat et J.-F. Salles (eds.), Arabie Orientale, Mésopotamie et Iran méridional: De l’Age du Fer au début de la période islamique, Paris: ERC 37, 1984: 169–188.  \n  \nKnuth, E., \"An Early Islamic fort and settlement at Murwab”, in F. Hojlund (ed.), Danish Archaeological Investigations in Qatar 1956–1974, Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 97 (2017): 83–98.","author":"Alexandrine Guerin","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","keywords":["blue cobalt glaze","earthenware","table jar"],"materials":["Glazed earthenware"]},"180f723a-4db3-52e6-816e-594df6310f46":{"name":"*Zellij* panel.","description":"This panel of earthenware wall-facing is square shaped. Like all *zellij* mosaics, it consists of shapes cut into the tiles and assembled. It is decorated exclusively with geometric figures, *testir*.  \nThe star shape obtained by dividing a circle into equal parts is the dominating form in its design. The repetitive motif that constitutes the basic element of its decoration is made up of polychrome knotwork whose dominant colours are black and turquoise blue on an ivory white base. Starting from the centre and a twelve-pointed star, black-line knotwork forms a rosette surrounded with irregular five-pointed stars by overlapping with other turquoise-blue knotwork. Combining with the second black line, it develops around this rosette to form a square whose corners are marked with eight-pointed stars. Inside the square, a yellow ochre ribbon with serrated edges circumscribes the rosette, while two black and almond green concentric octagons surround the figures in the corners of the square. This complex arrangement, strikingly harmonious both in terms of the geometric motifs and their range of colours, would have required a profound knowledge of geometric figures and their combinations. This extremely fine work is testimony to the invention and technical mastery in the art of *zellij*\\-making inherited from Marinid craftsmen.","short_description":"This panel of wall facing, evidence of the mastery in the art of *zellij* inherited from the Marinids, consists of an arrangement of shapes cut in the tiles. It is decorated exclusively with geometric figures, with a star shape dominating the pattern.","type":"Panel, tile, earthenware","holder":"Batha Museum.","dates":"Hegira 13th / AD 19th century.","location":"Fez.","dimensions":"Height 72.7 cm, length 72.7 cm.","method_for_datation":"The inventory register dates the house it came from to the AH 13th / AD 19th century.","method_for_provenance":"It was originally from a house in Fez, according to the inventory.","provenance":"Fez.","obtention":"Salvaged by the Department of Historical Monuments and deposited with museum in 1945.","bibliography":"Hedgecoe, J. and Samar Damluji, S., *Zillig, L'Art de la céramique marocaine*, London, 1993.  \nMarçais, G., *L'architecture musulmane d'Occident*, Paris, 1954.  \nPaccard, A., *Le Maroc et l'artisanat traditionnel islamique dans l'architecture*, Vol. 1, Paris, 1979.  \nTerrasse, H. and Hainaut, J., *Les arts décoratifs au Maroc*, Paris, 1925.  \n*Andalusian Morocco: A Discovery in Living Art*, p.232.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_MA_EN_001","author":"Naima El Khatib-Boujibar","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["geometric decoration","tilework"],"materials":["Small glazed earthenware tiles."]},"18f05dc3-e256-5db0-861c-eedad63d44e9":{"name":"Dish.","description":"A dish with tall foot-ring and small flat edge. It is painted green, white, brown and blue. The bottom of the dish is decorated with small leaves. The centre is marked by a flower with four petals, inside which there is a decoration of several leaves. Four spokes radiate from this and divide the plate into four fields of similar sizes. Each of them is decorated by a large leaf, which is filled with small leaves. The flat edge is composed of concentric filaments and by a frieze decorated with leaves of different sizes.","short_description":"Dish from the Ilkhanid period produced in the potteries of Raghés (Sultanabad, Persia). The principal decorative motifs – in a variety of sizes and painted in green, white, brown and blue – are phytomorphic and cover the inside and rim of the dish.","type":"Dish, earthenware","holder":"National Museum of Ancient Art.","dates":"Hegira 7th century / AD 13th century.","location":"Lisbon.","dimensions":"Diameter 22.7 cm.","method_for_datation":"By stylistic analysis of the object, in relation to the decorative motifs and to the technique used in its making.","method_for_provenance":"The provenance of the dish was determined using the same criteria as for dating the piece.","provenance":"Sultanabad, Persia.","obtention":"A donation from the Group of Friends of the National Museum of Ancient Art in 1920.","bibliography":"Moulierac, J., *Céramiques du Monde Musulman*, Paris, 1999.  \nSoustiel, J., *La Céramique Islamique,* Paris, 1985.","workshop":"Raghés pottery.","author":"Paula Pelúcia Aparício","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["glazed earthenware","Ilkhanid","Persia","plant decoration","Plate","Raghés","Sultanabad"],"materials":["Blue","brown and white.","Glazed earthenware made on a wheel and painted in green"]},"1917f306-bbb6-5dba-b6df-5ad0d13eb882":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"In the Abbasid era Samarra and Basra were flourishing centres offering a rich testimony of active local craftsmen. Islamic ceramists' admiration for Chinese porcelain is reflected in the production of monochrome white or cream-coloured pottery, coated with a thick opaque glaze decorated with spots of colour.","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"MAO Museumof Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 3rd–4th century / AD 9th–10th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Diameter 26 cm","provenance":"Iraq","keywords":["Abbasid","Basra","ceramic","pottery","Samarra"],"materials":["Earthenware","opaque white glaze and blue spots"]},"197c66bc-cc66-5bb1-87c4-c6327477449c":{"name":"Box trap/Spindle traps","alternate_name":"Ghuni (ঘুনি) /Chai (চাই)","description":"A rectangular trap made of fine bamboo sticks, and tied with coir rope or nylon twine. The Ghuni is constructed with specially designed involuted front and back walls that create vertical openings to guide fish inside, and it also includes an upper opening for collecting the catch. The clever device is typically used in beels, derelict waterbodies, and inundated paddy fields, especially in rural areas, for catching small-sized fish, prawns, and shrimps.","type":"Fishing gear","holder":"Water Museum","dates":"21st century","location":"Pakhimara, Kuakata District, Barishal Division, Barishal","bibliography":"Sandhya, K. M., *et al.*, “Traditional Fishing Gears, Fish Catch and Species Composition of Selected Floodplain Wetlands of Lower Gangetic Plains, West Bengal, India” in *Fishery Technology*, 56 : 2 (2019): 101–109: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332631090\\_Traditional\\_Fishing\\_Gears\\_Fish\\_Catch\\_and\\_Species\\_Composition\\_of\\_Selected\\_Floodplain\\_Wetlands\\_of\\_Lower\\_Gangetic\\_Plains\\_West\\_Bengal\\_India \\[last accessed: 4/10/25\\]","author":"ActionAid Bangladesh","copy_editor":"Zeina Al Amad","keywords":["box trap","ghuni","spindle trap","water"],"materials":["Bamboo","Jute fibers"]},"1a58458a-01e5-5ba9-8601-e299f739c320":{"name":"Ewer.","description":"A ceramic ewer with bulbous body, narrow neck flaring to an almost vertical rim, and a tall spout rising above the level of the rim. The handle is in the shape of an open-mouthed dragon. Painted in shades of blue and cobalt, the body has a scroll design with split palmettes, or arabesques. Below is a floral scroll and above the shoulder is a row of 'tadpole' leaves. Other decorative motifs are the scales painted on the handle, and the interlocking-chain design on the spout. The importance of this object lies not with the decoration, which is a clumsy rendition of early Iznik-style pottery, but in the inscription on the base. Writing in Armenian bolorgir script, the Christian craftsman gives his name – Abraham of Kütahya – and the year AH 959 (AD 1510). The presence of a date on an Iznik ceramic is unusual and therefore invaluable in establishing the date of many other blue-and-white vessels of a similar style. This ewer may have been used as a liturgical vessel.","short_description":"An important piece. This blue-and-white ceramic ewer has an inscription on the base that includes the name of the craftsman and the date. Writing in Armenian script, the craftsman was clearly a Christian. The date enables the dating of many other vessels of similar style to be established.","type":"Blue-White ceramic","holder":"The British Museum.","dates":"Hegira 915 / AD 1510.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 17 cm, Diameter (at rim) 6.9 cm; (at base) 7.2 cm.","method_for_datation":"On the base of the ewer, an inscription in seven lines of Armenian bolorgir script, gives the date 11th March 915 (1510).","method_for_provenance":"Over the past 50 years scholars have debated whether this ewer was actually made in Kütahya or by Armenian craftsmen in Iznik. However, Carswell has shown that blue-and-white sherds were found at excavations in Kütahya. Furthermore, there are many records of pottery manufacture in this city, at least by the 11th / 17th century. Carswell also draws attention to a particularly interesting church of around 884 / 1480 in Kütahya whose inventories reveal it was made for a deacon named Abraham, described as the 'son of a potter'.","provenance":"Kütahya, Turkey.","obtention":"Part of the Godman bequest to the British Museum in 1983.","bibliography":"Atasoy. N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989, no. 96.  \n  \nCarswell, J., *Iznik Pottery*, London, 1998, pp.45–6, plate 24.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Emily Shovelton","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Arabesques","blue-and-white","floral decoration"],"materials":["Blue-and-white ceramic."]},"1a94744a-6596-5190-8100-1548c229068b":{"name":"Ostracon.","description":"A triangular Ostracon that bears part of the Qur'anic sura 105 (the Elephant) written in simple *kufic* script. Unfortunately some words are missing because the sherd is incomplete. The function of this Ostracon was most probably for the study and memorisation of the sura by a student, but it is possible that it may have formed part of a vessel of some sort which would have been kept in the home to bring good luck and good fortune to its inhabitants.","short_description":"Ostracon (inscribed pot sherd) from Petra that bears part of the Qur'anic Sura 105 (the Elephant) in *kufic* script. It was probably used by a student to study the verse, or could have been part of a vessel kept in a house to bring good fortune to its inhabitants.","type":"Ostracon, pottery","holder":"Jordan Archaeological Museum.","dates":"Hegira 2nd century / AD 8th century.","location":"Amman","dimensions":"Height 7 cm, width 3 cm.","method_for_datation":"The object was dated on paleographical grounds to the early Islamic period.","method_for_provenance":"The object was found during the course of an archaeological excavation in Petra.","provenance":"Petra, Jordan.","obtention":"The object was acquired during an archaeological excavation conducted by G. Horsfield in the Palace Tomb at Petra in 1936.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_JO_EN_001","author":"Aida Naghawy","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Arabic inscription","kufic script","pottery","Qur’an."],"materials":["Inscribed pottery."]},"1ad64436-5830-5802-954f-1fad4506d0f8":{"name":"Bowl with horse and horseman","short_description":"Developed in Nishapur, the production of so-called \"animated buff ware\" was characterised by decoration obtained with liquid clays coloured with green, yellow, purple and manganese, applied on a buff-coloured surface and coated with transparent glaze. The decorations, highly influenced by Sassanid iconography, include figures of horsemen and horses, hunting scenes and fantastical animals and birds, in the midst of a richly decorated space.","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 4th century / AD 10th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Height 7.5 cm, diameter 13.5 cm","provenance":"Iran (Nishapur)","keywords":["ceramic","earthenware","Samanid","slip"],"materials":["Earthenware","underglaze polychrome slip decoration"]},"1b18b5ad-219e-51fb-a044-c41096e34a7f":{"name":"Prayer niche (*mihrab*)","description":"A prayer niche (*mihrab*) is located in a mosque to show every Muslim the direction of Mecca towards which they pray. The *mihrab* shown here is from the Bey Hakim Mosque, which was endowed by the physician of the Anatolian Seljuq Sultan Kılıç \\[Qilich\\] Arslan IV (d. AH 665 / AD 1266) and built in Konya. This prayer niche is very similar to others of the same period in its decoration in faience tiles, especially in its combination of calligraphic and decorative elements. These elements have been combined in a variety of ways, resulting in manifold decorations. Borders of differing widths featuring inscriptions and vegetal motifs create unity. Small columns with cubic capitals frame the imagined entrance to Paradise. As was always the case in this period, the lower half of the niche is embellished with geometric patterns and the niche’s upper half by a *muqarnas* (stalactite) vault also covered in geometric patterns. The vault is also framed with geometric motifs. The geometric decoration of the Berlin *mihrab* has an additional 12-star pattern. Raised eight-pointed stars can be found in both spandrel fields. The inscribed areas feature extracts from various parts of the Qur’an. Sura 29 verse 45 is cited on the forefront of the niche: ‘Proclaim what has been revealed to you in scripture and pray. Prayer protects against dishonour and temptation. And truly, to think of Allah is one’s greatest duty; and Allah knows what you do’. The aesthetic unity of the decoration was created by calligraphers and draughtsmen of ornaments in conjunction with the producers of tiles. In terms of colour palette, turquoise, dark blue, black and aubergine were selected. Craftsmen were also responsible for the cutting of the tiles, so that they could be organised into a pattern without leaving any gaps. Tile production in Konya reached its apotheosis around AH 658 / AD 1260, so that, in the AH 7th / AD 13th century, 21 mosques were decorated with faience mosaic.  \n  \nClick [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxg1P6Wi4Ro&t=3s) to **watch a video presentation** of this artefact.","short_description":"Turquoise, brown and dark manganese faience mosaic was common in monumental Seljuq prayer niches. This impressive niche with Qur’anic inscriptions and arabesque and geometric patterns, once belonged to the Bey Hakim Mosque in Konya, Turkey. It was assembled from fragments and restored parts.","type":"Mihrab, prayer niche, glazed ceramic, mosaic","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art at the Pergamon Museum","dates":"About Hegira 669 / AD 1270.","location":"Berlin","dimensions":"Height 395 cm, width 280 cm.","method_for_datation":"The prayer niche comes from the Bey Hakim Mosque, which was founded by the favourite physician of the Seljuq Sultan Kılıç [Qilich] Arslan IV (d. 665 / 1266), and which thus dates it to around the mid-7th / mid-13th century.","method_for_provenance":"The fragments of this reconstructed niche in Berlin, along with other fragments housed in various cities (Paris, London, Istanbul), formed part of a prayer niche that once belonged to the Bey Hakim Mosque in Konya. Its identity has also been established through early photographs.","provenance":"Bey Hakim Mosque, Konya, Turkey.","obtention":"The prayer niche was reconstructed from numerous individual fragments.","bibliography":"Enderlein, V., “Der Mihrab der Bey Hakim Mosche in Konya: Ein Denkmal und Seine Geschichte”, in *Forschungen und Berichte* 17, 1976, pp.33–40.  \nMeinecke, M., *Fayencedekorationen Seldschukischer Sakralbauten in Kleinasien*,Tübingen, 1976, Vol. II, pp.326–36, cat. no. 81.  \n*Museum für Islamische Kunst*, Catalogue, Mainz, 2001, pp.362–3.  \nSarre, F., *Denkmäler Persischer Baukunst*, Berlin, 1910, plates 105–108.  \nSarre, F., *Seldschukische Kleinkunst, Erzeugnisse islamischer Kleinkunst*, part II, Leipzig, 1909, p.32, plate 28.","author":"Annette Hagedorn","translator":"Maria Vlotides","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["Anatolia","Anatolian Seljuq","Faience","mihrab","Mosque interior decoration","prayer niche","Rum Seljuq"],"materials":["faience mosaic.","Glazed ceramic"]},"1bac2f91-68fb-5035-974f-d01111b23596":{"name":"Lustre ware bowl","short_description":"A conical shape bowl resting on a circular foot. Under a clear copper lustre glaze, the interior is decorated with six medallions around the sides each containing a seated figure. In the centre is a repeat of the seated figure motif. A vegetal design fills the spaces between the medallions.","type":"Bowl","holder":"Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization","dates":"Late 6th-early 7th century AH / Late 12th-early 13th century AD","location":"Sharjah","dimensions":"Height: 9.5cm, Diameter: 34.2cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis","method_for_provenance":"Stylistic analysis","provenance":"Kashan, Iran","obtention":"Purchased","author":"Hazelle Page","materials":["Ceramic","copper lustre ware"]},"1bd4ddad-a3bc-5a69-8b22-cef129e37f47":{"name":"Figurine","description":"Animal figurines were a short-lived phenomenon of the late 12th to 13th centuries AD in Syria and Iran. The cow or bull figure was especially popular, but in Iran it was made to function as a vessel with a filling spout in the back and an open mouth through which the liquid poured, whereas in Syria the trend was for figurines with a purely decorative function. However, as the basic form of the cow would have been moulded – suggesting that multiple versions of the same figure were made – the function of these decorative figurines remains a mystery. The present example is rendered with perfect naturalism. It can be identified as a zebu cow and calf. The mother is shown standing while her calf suckles; the hanging dewlap, small hump, swept-back horns and large cloven hooves of the breed are accurately modelled. This breed is indigenous to Syria, and would have been what people saw in the fields of the Euphrates Valley.","type":"Pottery","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art","owner":"Qatar Museums","dates":"Hegira 7th century / AD 13th century","location":"Doha, Qatar","dimensions":"Height: 29.1cm, length: 37.2cm","place_of_production":"Syria","provenance":"Syria","bibliography":"Google Cultural Institute, *Google Art Project*, 2012.  \n  \nSotheby's London, *Arts of the Islamic World, including Fine Carpets and Textiles*, 2008.","author":"Tara Desjardins","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","materials":["Stonepaste painted under transparent turquoise glaze"]},"1bd55ea0-ed71-5324-a769-f06d5bcb1dd8":{"name":"Ewer.","description":"An example of little-known AH 7th century / AD 13th-century Syrian ceramics, this bulbous-shaped ewer has an elegantly twisted handle and a small spout. The body is decorated with brown-coloured linear designs in horizontal bands. Unfortunately, the transparent glaze has deteriorated to such a degree, that it now conceals the underglaze painting. The shape of this vessel is very interesting from an artistic point of view as it is interconnected with designs in both glass and metalwork. The bulbous shape of the body and neck and the twisted handle appear in contemporary glass, while the fine lines of the decoration round the belly of the ewer remind us of contemporary metal inlay from both Iraq and Iran.","short_description":"This Raqqa lustre-decorated vessel has been inspired in its shape by both glass and metal vessels. The bulbous shape of the body and neck, and the twisted handle, appear in contemporary glass, while the fine lines of the decoration round the belly are inspired by contemporary metal inlay.","type":"Stone paste blue and turquoise painting, ceramic","holder":"Burrell Collection, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira 7th century / AD 13th century.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 17 cm, diameter (of rim) 4 cm; (of base) 6.5 cm; (of body) 12 cm.","method_for_datation":"Artistic analysis: although the shape of the ewer is not as common as most other shapes in Raqqa pottery, the material composition of the body and the way it has deteriorated; the cobalt-blue colour and the glaze and lustre decoration, all belong to Raqqa ware-type ceramics of the 7th / 13th-century.","method_for_provenance":"The vessel's material composition and its deterioration is typical of Raqqa ware of the 7th / 13th century.","provenance":"Raqqa, Syria.","obtention":"Part of the collection given to the City of Glasgow by Sir William and Lady Burrell in 1944.","bibliography":"Fehervari, G., *Ceramics of the Islamic World in the Tareq Rajab Museum*, London, 2000.  \n  \nGrube, E. J., *Cobalt and Lustre: The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery*, the Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, Vol. 9, London, 1994.","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["crafts","Domestic wares"],"materials":["over which lustre glaze.","Stone-paste with underglaze blue decoration"]},"1bdcb311-686f-5698-aa9b-df0727b85070":{"name":"Incense Burner or Lamp","short_description":"The date palm tree (Phoenix dactylifera), an enduring symbol of Oman, is identified with the early oasis Civilisation of Magan in the 3rd millennium BC and the taming of the desert. It is one of the few tree species specifically mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, and according to Islamic tradition Maryam (Mary) gave birth to 'Iesa (Jesus) in the shade of a palm.  \n  \nIn the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:  \nAnd the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a date palm. She said, \"Would that I had  \ndied before this, and had been forgotten and out of sight!\" Then \\[the infant 'Iesa (Jesus)\\] cried unto her from below her, saying, \"Grieve not! Your Lord has provided a water stream under you\";  \nAnd shake the trunk of date palm towards you, it will let fall fresh ripe dates upon you.  \n  \nMary Chapter (Surat Maryam) (19:23-25)  \n  \nHighly simplified palm motifs appear as design elements on such diverse items as wooden doors, coffee pots, forefinger rings and copper spoons. The date palm is often combined with geometric or floral elements to create circular or linear patterns as a repetitive motif.","type":"Archaeological Artefact","holder":"National Museum Oman","dates":"1,300–300 BC","location":"Muscat","dimensions":"Length: 26cm, Weight: 751g, Diameter: 6.7cm","provenance":"Sallut (ad-Dakhiliyah Governorate)","obtention":"Museum of the Frankincense Land","copy_editor":"Valerie Pulsifer","keywords":["Date Palm","floral","Incense burner","Lamp"],"materials":["Pottery"]},"1c40ee85-b340-51ae-ba35-f36c089d387c":{"name":"Water jug","description":"The body of this terracotta jug is decorated with embossed Arabic inscriptions, and beginning from the end points of the inscriptions, there are raised dot-like ornaments about the size of a chickpea on the surface.","type":"Jug","holder":"İstanbul Su Müzesi / Istanbul Water Museum","dates":"Hegira 5th–6th century / AD 11th–12th century","location":"Istanbul","dimensions":"Diameter: 16cm, height: 18cm","place_of_production":"Persia","method_for_datation":"Determined by the experts of the Istanbul Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts.","method_for_provenance":"It was determined by the experts of the Istanbul Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts.","obtention":"Purchased.","author":"Ercan Topçu","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","keywords":["calligraphy","inscription.","Jug","water"],"materials":["Terracotta"]},"1c44d333-671b-59f9-9067-b9a5054398e1":{"name":"Dish with moulded decoration","short_description":"The dish ranks among the finest examples of a rare group of pottery that first came to light in the excavations at Samarra and later in those at Susa. The group shares certain characteristics, such as the shallow form without articulation; low-relief decoration moulded with great precision; and the use of a fine glaze which covers the entire surface of the vessel, both inside and outside.","type":"Dish; moulded decoration; pottery","holder":"Khalili Family Trust – Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art","dates":"AD 9th century","location":"London","dimensions":"3 x 18cm","method_for_datation":"Date and provenance are based on the shape of the dish and the techniques used in its production, all of which are comparable to pottery excavated in Samarra and Susa.","provenance":"Iraq","obtention":"Habib Anavian Collection, New York.","bibliography":"Grube, E.J., *et al.*, *Cobalt and Lustre. The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery*, London: The Nasser D Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, volume 9, 1994: cat.15, pp.22–3.  \nRogers, J.M., *The Arts of Islam. Masterpieces from the Khalili Collection*, London: Thames & Hudson, 2010: no.24, p.48.","keywords":["Abbasid","earthenware","green glaze","Iraq","Iraqi ceramics","moulding","pottery"],"materials":["Earthenware","with moulded and incised decoration under a transparent green glaze","with patches of yellow and purple staining"]},"1c5cb612-6069-5871-8e48-e67c020fc864":{"name":"Tile Panel with a hunting scene","short_description":"This tile panel depicts a hunting scene. Produced during the Safavid period in Isfaha, the tile was made using a *cuerda seca* technique in which designs were outlined by an oily substance mixed with manganese, leaving a dark outline after firing. This prevented the coloured pigments from bleeding into each other. During the Timurid and Safavid periods, this technique was widely used and later introduced to Turkey. This tile panel most likely decorated a hunting palace.","type":"Tile","holder":"MKG Museum for Applied Arts","dates":"Hegira 1085-1111 / AD late 17th century","location":"Hamburg","dimensions":"Height: 132cm, Length: 346cm","method_for_datation":"The arch is from a palace near Isfahan. This scene is modelled on Persian book illumination.","method_for_provenance":"Saeed Motamed.","provenance":"Iran, Isfahan","obtention":"Purchased in 1980.","copy_editor":"Caitlin Link","keywords":["cuerda seca","Safavid","tile"],"materials":["Fritware","painted in cuerda seca technique"]},"1d61ec66-2c37-507e-9e98-65e166b78f82":{"name":"‘Escudilla de orejas’ (bowl with handles).","description":"A cup of the ‘escudilla de orejas’ type painted with brown-red lustre on a cream background. The internal decoration includes a band with a damaged inscription in Latin characters from which the words ‘In the beginning was the Word’ (John 1:1) and a series of stylised palmettes can be made out, all framed with solid lustre strips. On the base there is a medallion with a coat of arms decorated with a dolphin. The decoration on the outside of the piece has almost completely disappeared, but a stylised fern-leaf motif is still visible.","short_description":"This cup is an example of Hispano-Moorish art. Probably produced in Valencia, it is made of ceramic painted with metallic lustre and decorated with an inscription in Latin characters alongside phytomorphic and zoomorphic motifs.","type":"Bowl, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”","dates":"Hegira 10th century / AD 16th century.","location":"Rome","dimensions":"Height 6 cm, diameter 13.5 cm.","method_for_provenance":"This type of cup is typical of Hispano-Moorish production and was probably produced in a Valencian workshop, although the possibility of it coming from an Aragonese workshop cannot be excluded, because of both the division of the decoration using concentric bands of solid lustre and the rendering of motifs by leaving elements uncoloured.","provenance":"Spain, Aragonese or Valencian workshop.","obtention":"Purchase.","bibliography":"Ainaud De Lasarte, J., *Cèramica y Vidrio*,Ars Hispaniae, Vol. 10, Madrid, 1952.  \nFronthingham, A. W., *Lustreware of Spain*, New York, 1951.  \nTorre, P., “Maioliche a Lustro Ispano-Moresche”, *Serie Schede Museo Nazionale d'Arte Orientale*, 7, Rome, 1987.  \nTorre, P., *Le Mille e una Notte: Ceramiche Persiane, Turche e Ispano-Moresche, Faenza*, 1990.  \nTorre, P., “Techniques Journeying from East to West at the Time of the Crusades”, *Crusades: Myth and Realities*, Nicosia, 2004.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_ES_EN_001","author":"Paola Torre","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["calligraphy","inscription","lustre","Mudéjar art"],"materials":["Lustre-painted ceramic."]},"1df0321d-307c-5a72-871d-69fcaac29119":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"The decoration on the inside of the bowl consists of six compartments delineated by two deep blue stripes. Black onion-shaped arabesque medallions dominate the white field.  \n  \nThis bowl is one of a whole series of vessels whose aesthetics are based on the same trichord of blue, black and white. It is dominated by the so-called water-weed motif. Its popularity stems from the fact that the decoration could be painted directly onto the background with a free, unrestrained stroke of the brush. This freedom can also be seen here at the top of the medallion with its outwardly striving leaves. However, such expression is tamed by the more classical split-leaves at the bottom. This combination of free and restrained elements results in an aesthetically attractive tension.","type":"Ceramic vessel","holder":"Museum Rietberg","initial_owner":"Private collection, Switzerland","dates":"Hegira  early 7th century / AD early 13th century","location":"Zurich","dimensions":"Height: 8.6cm, Diameter: 20.7cm","method_for_datation":"By comparison with similar dated objects","method_for_provenance":"By comparison with stylistically similar works","provenance":"Iran, Kashan","obtention":"Gift from Daeniker family in memory of Armin Daeniker","bibliography":"Watson, Oliver, *Ceramics From Islamic Lands*, London: Thames & Hudson, 2004: esp. 338-339.","author":"Axel Langer","copy_editor":"Jonathan Turnbull","materials":["decoration painted in blue and black under a transparent glaze","Frit ware"]},"1e8c52f2-59ae-5930-b434-948802ee9220":{"name":"A pilgrim’s flask.","description":"A ceramic pilgrim's flask, sometimes called a Zamzameyyah, due to the fact that pilgrims used to fill such flasks with holy water from the famous well in Mecca called Zamzam.  \n  \nThis type of ware is usually tan or creamy buff in color. These flasks are made of two separate moulded discs which are joined together; the neck and handles are then added. There is a guilloche decoration at the juncture to hide the join. The moulds of the discs have hollow decorations to form a pattern in relief on the surface of the flasks. Often the decoration includes an emblem or rank to indicate the status or profession of the owner, normally an official associated with the Ayyubid or Mamluk court. On this particular flask we have a lily in the middle with a sword on either side, an emblem belonging to several sultans and amirs of the time.","short_description":"A ceramic pilgrim’s flask or zamzamiyyah after the holy well of Zamzam in Mecca. Made of two moulded discs which are joined together, the design has a lily in the middle with a sword on either side, an emblem belonging to several sultans and amirs of the time.","type":"Flask, ceramic","holder":"Jordan Archaeological Museum.","dates":"Hegira 8th century / AD 14th century.","location":"Amman","dimensions":"Height 17.5 cm, width 15.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"The flask was dated by stylistic analysis and by comparing it to similar dated artifacts in other museums, such as other pilgrim's flasks displayed in Damascus National Museum.","method_for_provenance":"The provenance of this flask is unknown but it was probably produced in Syria.","provenance":"Unknown, probably Syria.","obtention":"Purchased from an antiquities dealer.","bibliography":"ساري. صالح، الفخار الأيوبي و المملوكي في بلاد الشام 567-923 ه/1171 – 1575 م، رسالة ماجستير، الجامعة الأردنية، 1979، 120، شكل 36.  \n  \nالبهنسي.عفيف، (تحقيق) الآثار السورية: مجموعة أبحاث أثرية و تاريخية (ماينز على الراين، 1982)، ص 285، شكل 253.  \n  \nالعش، محمد،\" الفخار غير المطلي\" الحوليات الأثرية السورية، المجلد العاشر، 1960، ص. 135-184، لوحة 18، رقم 78-84.  \n  \nHerzfeld, E., \"Damascus: Studies in Architecture I,\" Ars Islamica, IX, 1942, p.11, fig. 6.9","linkcatalogs":"IAM_EG_EN_001","author":"Aida Naghawy","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["pilgrimage","relief decoration"],"materials":["Wheel-thrown ceramic."]},"1eed41b3-c147-5628-8b7b-5a7e28136494":{"name":"Dish.","description":"A lustre-painted and tin-glazed dish that is representative of this type of earthenware which was decorated by incising the outlines of the main design onto the surface of the unfired dish. The incised areas (a technique borrowed from the metalworking industry) stand out in the unusual luminescent blue of the stag, its antlers, the eight-petal flower, and the accents on some of the foliage. The brownish-gold lustre decoration of the background was added at a later stage after further firings.  \n  \nManises was one of the main pottery-making towns in Valencia. It played a leading role in the manufacture of lustre-wares for export to Europe, principally to France and Italy. Manises' pottery left for export from the Valencian port of Groa where many Manises potters owned pottery warehouses and shops. These potters were a mixture of Christians and Moors (Muslims), the latter of which were not permitted to take their skills to work outside the town, testifying to the value of their special skills to the economy of Manises. By the mid-16th century (AH 956), Manises had a major monopoly on the production of lustre-wares in Valencia.","short_description":"This lustre-painted and tin-glazed dish was made in the town of Manises in Valencia. It monopolised the manufacture of this type of ceramics, which were made by Muslim potters who were remnants of its old Moorish population. Such dishes were very much sought after in both France and Italy.","type":"Earthenware, ceramics","holder":"Burrell Collection, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira late 9th–early 10th century / AD late 15th–early 16th century.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"Diameter 47.6 cm.","method_for_datation":"Artistic analysis: a small number of similar dishes survive and although not precisely dated, this dish is contemporary to two other types of Spanish Islamic lustre ceramics dating from the late 9th–early10th / late 15th –early 16th centuries.","method_for_provenance":"Stylistic similarities with other types of Spanish Islamic lustre ceramics.","provenance":"Manises, Valencia, Spain.","obtention":"Part of the collection given to the City of Glasgow by Sir William and Lady Burrell in 1944.","bibliography":"Ray, A., *Spanish Pottery 1248–1898*, with a catalogue of the collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2000.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_ES_EN_001","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["animal decoration","Commerce","figurative decoration"],"materials":["Earthenware with incised relief decoration","lustre-painted and tin-glazed."]},"1f016872-92d0-54fb-b596-c44b25a26d1a":{"name":"Plate","description":"Kütahya was the second most important ceramic production centre after İznik due to the rich clay deposits in the area. This plate has flat rim, is slightly deep in body and has a circular bottom. It was made of white clay and coated in white on which there are patterns in cobalt blue, yellow, turquoise, purple and red covered with transparent glaze. In the middle of the plate there is an Ottoman coat-of-arms while both sides of the plate are decorated with curtains. Above the coat-of-arms, “Long Live My Sultan” is written in Turkish in Arabic letters forming a crescent and there is a *tuğra* (monogram) of Abdülhamid II (1876-1909) in the middle of the sun covering both the *tuğra* and the crescent.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Vehbi Koç Foundation Sadberk Hanim Museum","dates":"Early 20th century","location":"Istanbul","provenance":"Kütahya","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega"},"1f5adf40-300f-5b78-8290-c958c757a4db":{"name":"Bowl","description":"Purchased at the 1873 World's Fair in Vienna.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"MAK – Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art","dates":"3rd quarter of the 19th century","location":"Vienna","provenance":"Turkey, Çanakkale","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega"},"1fb04e5b-19da-5863-be2b-d7e7c321b743":{"name":"Bowl.","description":"A large bowl on a high foot, decorated with underglaze painting. On the exterior, flowers and leaves in shades of blue and sage-green meander with relative freedom about the surface. The largest flowers feature a distinct cloud-band motif at their centre. Similar flower and leaf motifs, more regularly organised, adorn the foot, at whose base is a thin band of repeating cartouches containing four leaves each. The extraordinary size of this bowl, as well as the skill with which it is decorated, suggests production for the highest levels of the Ottoman hierarchy, although direct evidence for this is lacking.","short_description":"A very large footed bowl on a high foot, decorated with large leaves and flowers in blue and sage-green. The size and quality of this bowl suggests that it was made for a high-ranking Ottoman official, possibly for washing the feet during ablutions.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, glazed painting","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum.","dates":"About hegira 951–56 / AD 1545–50.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 26.8 cm, diameter 43.1 cm.","method_for_datation":"The style and details of the decoration link this bowl with a group of wares associated with the circle of an artist named Musli, who signed a mosque lamp dated 956 / 1549.","method_for_provenance":"Iznik was the centre of quality ceramic production in this period.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Bequest of George Salting, 1910.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, Istanbul/London, 1989, pp.135–8 and colour plate 356.  \n  \nStanley, T., with Rosser-Owen, M. and Vernoit, S., Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Middle East, London, 2004, p.102.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Barry Wood","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["floral decoration","inlay","water"],"materials":["Painted and glazed ceramic."]},"1fe2bf0f-28b8-574f-bc6b-664e988fdf29":{"name":"Pitcher","description":"Çanakkale was a pottery production centre between the end of 17th century and first quarter of the 20th century where pottery with interesting and original forms was produced. Mostly coarse red clay and occasionally beige-coloured paste was used. This jug with a pear-shaped body and long neck has green, brown, dark yellow, under-glazed purplish brown, dark blue and white decorations made by a brush. In front there is a single raised pattern of a flower. On either side there are painted flowers.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Ethnography Museum","dates":"19th century","location":"Ankara","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega"},"204250dc-0aee-5c7b-a35b-e5449a289de5":{"name":"Dish","description":"In the 19th century, new forms and decorative styles began to appear on dishes from Fez, which are remarkable both for the colours used and their design. This dish, decorated with two sailing boats, resembles designs seen on ceramics from Izmir in Turkey.","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"Batha Museum","dates":"19th century","location":"Fez"},"2084dfbd-b212-5edf-ac0e-b8dab11011bf":{"name":"Tile Panel from Iznik","short_description":"This door hutch contains fifty tiles and can be dated to the 1570s. It shows floral decorations such as *saz* leaves. The panel is made of fritware and decorated with polychrome painting on white slip clay under a colourless glaze. Probably it adorned the Royal Palace in Edirne.","type":"Tile","holder":"MKG Museum for Applied Arts","dates":"Hegira 2nd half of 10th century / AD 2nd half of 16th century","location":"Hamburg","dimensions":"Height: 170cm, Length: 230cm","method_for_datation":"The arch is probably from the Sultan's Palace of Edirne.","method_for_provenance":"Ramsegger & Co. Art Dealer in Hamburg.","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","obtention":"Purchased in 1901.","bibliography":"Erduman-Çalış, D. and Ilgaz, N., \"Furor Ceramicus: Justus Brinckmann und die Sammlung osmanischer Baukeramik aus Iznik am Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg\", *EOTHEN*, 7 (2018): 75-107.","copy_editor":"Caitlin Link","keywords":["Iznik"],"materials":["Fritware","polychrome painting on white slip under a colourless glaze"]},"21203aaf-bad1-5324-9ce5-01be5dd93e89":{"name":"Bowl with inscription.","description":"Round-based bowl with chamfered rim, coated with a green copper oxide glaze. In the centre of the bowl are four rows of *kufic* script written using a brown glaze (manganese oxide) with the word ‘al-Mulk’ (Sovereignty) written twice over. This expression occurs right through AH 3rd- / AD 9th-century Muslim pottery, from al-Andalus to India. The letters are drawn with split ascenders, a practice which became frequent in Ifriqiya from the second half of the AH 3rd / AD 9th century. The background colour of the lettering is yellow ochre based on antimony oxide or iron oxide and the script is surrounded by a frame of four brown rectangles.  \nGreen, brown and yellow ochre are the three colours typically used in Aghlabid pottery. Interestingly, these three colours have been consistently employed in Tunisian pottery through the centuries and up to the present day.","short_description":"Dish with a ring base and bevelled rim. The green, brown and yellow ochre colours used are the same as those typically found in Aghlabid ceramics, and they have remained an almost constant part of Tunisian ceramics through the centuries to the present day.","type":"Bowl, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art.","dates":"Hegira, last third of the 3rd century / AD 9th century.","location":"Raqqada., Kairouan.","dimensions":"Height 7 cm, diameter 24 cm, diameter (at base) 9 cm, thickness 1 cm.","method_for_datation":"Raqqada, where the bowl was found, was the Aghlabid capital city, built in 263 / 876 by Prince Ibrahim II, which makes this date a *terminus ante quem*. Moreover, the bowl is characteristic in its shape, colour and decoration of that of the Aghlabid period just before the advent of the Fatimids in 296 / 909. It is therefore likely that the *terminus post quem* can be taken at the latter date.  \nUnfortunately, these excavations were not carried out methodically and scientifically and no excavation record was compiled, so a more accurate dating is not possible. It is probable that the same shapes, colours and techniques were carried over to the Fatimid era.","method_for_provenance":"The discovery of this bowl on the Raqqada site, painted in the Aghlabid manner and of Ifriqiyan-style manufacture, would confirm that this was a local piece from the Raqqada potteries or from those at Kairouan, the nearest economic capital.","provenance":"Raqqada or Kairouan.","obtention":"This bowl was found during the Raqqada site excavations in the 1960s. At first it was kept on site, but since 1986 it has been on display at the Museum of Islamic Art at Raqqada.","bibliography":"Daoulatli, A., *Poteries et céramiques tunisiennes*, 1979, pp.32–3.  \n*Tunisie: du christianisme à l'islam* (exhibition catalogue), Lattes, 2001, p.184.  \n*Ifriqiya: Thirteen Centuries of Art and Architecture in Tunisia*, pp.174–5.","author":"Mourad Rammah","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"David Ash","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["calligraphy","floral decoration"],"materials":["Glazed ceramic."]},"21645a7b-fc42-55ef-a2ec-27424e1c67fc":{"name":"Tile Plate","description":"The surface is covered in white clay and slip decorated in cobalt blue, coral red and green with black contours under a transparent colourless glaze. The plate’s surface is decorated with symmetrically distributed branches of tulips and red carnations with blue spots rising vertically from a single stem. Two tulips and carnations in the centre of the composition are held in place by a bracket. The composition is embellished with tulip and carnation buds, small stylised flowers, with cobalt blue Chinese-style clouds interspersed throughout the design. The use of bud and clover motifs in the decoration of plates was common during this period. A narrow border of white half-rosette flowers with red centres is framed by cobalt blue inside the rim. A double tulip and open rose motif alternate on the back.","type":"Utensil","holder":"Istanbul Archaeological Museums (The Tiled Kiosk)","dates":"Hegira 982-987 / AD 1575–1580","location":"Istanbul","dimensions":"Diameter: 30.2cm, height: 5.1cm","place_of_production":"İznik/Bursa","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","materials":["Glazed terracotta/Tile"]},"22832cf5-d8f3-561b-aeea-71694ea3b574":{"name":"Spouted jug","short_description":"The jug is covered with a transparent turquoise glaze and has two feline-shaped handles and two bullhead-shaped spouts. The designs are vertical compositions of leaf motives intercepted by curving peacock feathers.  \nTwo bands of inscriptions, *en reserve* on a black background read a Persian poem in the form of a *ruba\\`i* (quatrain) that was a popular type of verse established by the end of the 10th century. The interior is with a group of fish.","type":"Jug, glaze, Seljuq ceramics, fritware","holder":"Benaki Museum","dates":"Hegira 6th-7th century / AD 12th-13th century","location":"Athens","dimensions":"Height  15.5 cm","provenance":"Iran","keywords":["Calligraphy motifs","Fish motifs","Glaze","Iran","Jug","Persian poetry"],"materials":["Frit ware","underglaze painted in black"]},"236db96b-210d-5f2b-b7a3-43f9546cfc60":{"name":"Tile panel.","description":"An elongated tile panel that consists of 21 square and rectangular tiles. The design comprises a central field and a border; the central composition a tall and slender arch, the cusped apex highlighted with a fine red line. Within the arch there is a lattice of blue tiger-stripe motifs that contain individual upright and inverted *chintamani* (a design characterised by tiger-stripes and three balls) these, executed in blue and red, are surrounded by sinuous green with red detailing. The border has a continuous scroll of palmette leaves and so-called *saz* leaves that alternate with small flowers set against a deep blue background. The palmette leaves have orange or turquoise centres; those with orange centres have further detailing in turquoise, while those with turquoise centres have further detailing in orange. The heart of the *saz* leaves contain small floral stems in orange and green.  \nThe origin and meaning of the *chintamani* motif are still unclear, but it has been suggested that the triple dot motif may have had apotropaic associations among Turkic peoples, warding off evil by reflecting it back at the perpetrator, while the tiger-stripes seem to recall the tiger-skin worn by the Iranian superhero Rustam.","short_description":"This tile panel is assumed to be the product of the Tekfur Saray factory near Eyüp on the Golden Horn, which was set up with the help of a group of potters from Iznik after the production centre there had declined by the end of the AH 11th century / AD 17th century.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, earthenware underglazed","holder":"National Museums of Scotland (NMS).","initial_owner":"Fuad Pasha.","dates":"Hegira, late 12th century / AD mid-18th century.","location":"Edinburgh, Scotland","dimensions":"Length 174 cm, width 61 cm.","method_for_datation":"Technical and stylistic details place this tile panel within the context of Iznik 'revival wares' made at Tekfur Saray factory in Istanbul from the late 11th / late 17th century onwards.","method_for_provenance":"The panel is said to have come from the Palace of Fuad Pasha (1815–69) in Istanbul and was probably made in the Tekfur Saray factory which was set up with the help of a group of potters from Iznik following the decline of the industry at the end of the AH 11th / AD 17th century.","provenance":"Probably made at the Tekfur Saray factory in Istanbul, Turkey. The panel is said to have come from Istanbul and the Palace of Fuad Pasha (1815–69) who was an eminent Turkish statesman.","obtention":"Purchased in 1892.","bibliography":"Scarce, J., *Domestic Culture in the Middle East: An Exploration of the Household Interior*, Edinburgh, 1996, p.40 (object illustrated).","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Ulrike Al-Khamis","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["cintamani","Eyup","floral decoration","Fuad Pasha","Iznik-style","palatial architecture","tilework","vegetal decoration"],"materials":["Underglazed earthenware."]},"239141a6-d7e1-59fa-8b30-34134536fa01":{"name":"Dish decorated with inscription.","description":"This shallow *tabsil* dish is one of the few dishes from Fez decorated with a free composition that is neither radial nor with motifs arranged around the centre. The decoration is arranged in a fan around a vertical axis, unlike most earthenware dishes. The principal theme is epigraphic and architectural. The central motif, painted in blue and surrounded by a brown line, shows a mirror image of the pious formula ‘al-Mulk’, or 'power' (of God) in very stylised twisted *kufic* characters. It is framed by a poly-lobed arcature painted in blue and highlighted on the inside with a bright yellow line reminiscent of the *mihrab*. This decorative motif with religious undertones was introduced in earthenware in the AH 13th / AD late 18th century and was still in use in the early 19th century. This theme was inspired by similar designs engraved on wooden lintels from the Marinid and Sa'did eras. The arcature extends on both sides with consoles that end in fleurons, and the background is covered with floral motifs and Ottoman-style flowers.  \nThis type of shallow plate would normally have been used to serve *bastila* (Moroccan pie), but this example seems to have been more decorative and symbolic than practical.","short_description":"This type of dish was used to serve pies. The free composition of non-radiating decoration is symbolic, epigraphic and architectural. Its stylised decoration includes a mirror-image of the word ‘al-Mulk’, understood to mean 'divine power', beneath a representation of a *mihrab* arch.","type":"Dish, earthenware","holder":"Batha Museum.","dates":"Hegira 13th / first half AD 19th century.","location":"Fez.","dimensions":"Height 10 cm, base diameter 22 cm, diameter 40 cm.","method_for_datation":"From stylistic and comparative study. Also, the greyish, faded blue is characteristic of plates that predate the second half of the 13th / 19th century, which was a result of the quality of the cobalt oxide which remained full of impurities until 1266 / 1850. Indeed it is not until after this date, with the introduction of new industrial processes, that this type of ore could be completely cleared of its impurities and a strong blue obtained in ceramics.","method_for_provenance":"This type of earthenware was a speciality of Fez ceramicists from the 12th / 18th century.","provenance":"Fez.","obtention":"Purchased.","bibliography":"Bel, A., *Les industries de la céramique à Fès*, Algiers; Paris, 1918.  \nKhatib-Boujibar, N., “La céramique émaillée”, in *Maroc, les trésors du Royaume*, catalogue, Paris, 1999.  \nLoviconi A. and Belfitah D., *Regards sur la faïence de Fès*, Aix-en-Provence, 1991.  \n*Andalusian Morocco: A Discovery in Living Art*, pp.128–9.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_MA_EN_001","author":"Naima El Khatib-Boujibar","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["architectural decoration","epigraphic decoration","floral decoration"],"materials":["Glazed earthenware","painted with cobalt oxide for the blue and limonite for the yellow."]},"23a0b5aa-ba65-58fa-85ce-1a8b261b0a49":{"name":"Tympanum","short_description":"The tympanum consists of 16 assembled tiles and comes from the palace of the grand vizier Piale Pasha (c.1515– 1578) or the mosque he founded. Both were finished in 1573 and were decorated lavishly with tile fields. A lucky knot motif of cloud bands in so-called “tomato red” dominates in front of spirals. Palace and mosque were “renovated” after the earthquake of 1890, and tile tympana sold world-wide through dealers. At least nine identical tympana are now kept in European and American museums.","type":"Ceramic, architectural decorations","holder":"MAK – Museum of Applied Arts","dates":"About 1572","location":"Vienna","dimensions":"Height: 67cm, Width: 142cm; Sixteen-piece","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","obtention":"Purchase","bibliography":"Noever, Peter (ed), *Global:Lab: Kunst als Botschaft. Asien und Europa 1500-1700, Exh. cat. Museum of Applied Arts Vienna*, Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2009.","catalogue_holding_link":"https://sammlung.mak.at/sammlung_online?id=collect-46020","author":"Mio Wakita-Elis","keywords":["architectural decoration","floral decoration","Iznik style","tilework"],"materials":["decoration: underglaze painting in blue and so-called tomato red","Quartz frit ceramic"]},"23f47ae4-92dd-5aa9-bc77-16f877d33d49":{"name":"Tile Fragments","short_description":"The ancient city of Qalhat, known as the Twin of Hormuz, was the main port of northern Oman from the 7th to 9th centuries AH / 13th to 15th centuries AD. The Great Mosque was its most famous edifice, built around 699 AH / 1300 AD by Bibi Maryam, the wife of Bahauddin Ayaz, King of Hormuz and Ruler of Qalhat. The Moroccan geographer Ibn Battuta visited Qalhat during his travels in the 8th century AH / 14th century AD and wrote a vivid description of the Great Mosque shortly after its completion:  \n  \n\"Qalhat has fine bazaars and an exceedingly beautiful mosque, the walls of which are decorated with elaborate tile work.\"  \n  \nThis fragment of a square tile features a moulded tri-lobed arch, painted in blue with a gold lustre-painted background. The lustre on this fragment has now almost completely vanished and is visible only in oblique light. It was based on a floral stem motif and was a prevalent form of decoration on the Kashan tiles manufactured for the Great Mosque.","type":"Architectural Artefacts; Tiles","holder":"National Museum Oman","dates":"Circa 668–710 AH / 1270–1310 AD","location":"Muscat","dimensions":"Length: 24.5cm, Width: 19cm, Thickness: 2cm","provenance":"The Great Mosque, Qalhat (Oman). Origin: Kashan, Persia (Iran)","obtention":"Ministry of Heritage and Culture Collection","copy_editor":"Valerie Pulsifer","keywords":["arabesque","Hormuz","Lajvardina","Lapis Lazuli","Qalhat","tiles"],"materials":["Glazed earthenware"]},"2420606d-db2f-5da6-a8b4-ce74b2c066ae":{"name":"Dish","short_description":"Soon after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, Iznik production grew significantly and developed a distinctive style. However, the place of honour at dining tables of discernment was held by Chinese blue and white porcelain and celadon. The response of Iznik potters was to imitate the highly admired blue and white wares of China. The earliest group of Iznik ceramics was in this colour scheme and can be divided into two groups: the first relied on the Nakkashane for designs and metalwork for shapes; the second blue and white group clearly incorporated Chinese motifs.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia","dates":"c. Hegira 930-35 / c. AD 1530-35","location":"Kuala Lumpur","dimensions":"6 x 34cm","provenance":"Turkey","bibliography":"Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, *The Essence of Iznik*, Kuala Lumpur: IAMM Publications, 2011: 51-53.","materials":["Underglazed painted fritware"]},"24ba84ea-5d4a-55c8-b96d-2f3763e9540e":{"name":"Hanging lamp.","description":"A bulbous-shaped lamp made from stone-paste ceramic with flared rim; a form typical of glass mosque lamps produced during the Mamluk period. Loops attached to the side would have been used to suspend the lamp. Bands of Qur’anic inscriptions, painted in white with a blue background, surround the rim, the waist, and the base of the lamp. Between these calligraphic panels are two friezes of cloud-scrolls and arabesques, painted in blue and olive-green. A row of white tulips fills a narrow band above the central inscription. Around the base are small cartouches with inscriptions giving the name of the decorator, Musli, and the date and place of production. It is in this respect that the lamp is so important, establishing the date of Iznik pottery in this style and colour scheme.  \nThe austere design befits the religious setting for which this lamp was made. Between AH 936 and 946 (AD the 1530s and 40s) Süleyman the Magnificent (r. AH 926–73 / AD 1520–66) ordered the refurbishment of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Iznik tiles replaced the earlier mosaics on the exterior, while inside the building Iznik lamps were hung on chains. This lamp was found in the Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem in the 19th century.","short_description":"This ceramic lamp was evidently made for the refurbishment of the Dome of the Rock, ordered by Süleyman the Magnificent. Made in Ottoman Turkey in AH 956 / AD 1549, it was found in the Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem.","type":"Stone paste blue and turquoise painting, ceramic","holder":"The British Museum.","dates":"Hegira 956 / AD 1549.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 38.1 cm.","method_for_datation":"The lamp bears the date 956 (1549).","method_for_provenance":"The inscription on the base includes the place of production as well as a dedication to the Iznik holy person, Eşrefzade.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Gift to the British Museum by C. Drury Fortnum in 1887.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, London, 1989, cat. no. 239.  \n  \nCarswell, J., Iznik Pottery, London, 1998, pp.65–68.  \n  \nRogers, J. M., and Ward, R., Suleyman the Magnificent, London, 1988, cat. no. 148.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Emily Shovelton","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["calligraphy","Mosque interior decoration"],"materials":["Stone-paste ceramic with blue and olive-green painting under the glaze."]},"25cc99b8-ea3d-5a36-aad3-2fdf4e0f6ac5":{"name":"Wedgwood ‘drabware’","description":"Illustrates the influence of Egyptian motifs on Victorian ceramics. Part of the second wave of Egyptianisation, related to the construction of the Suez Canal.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"The British Museum","dates":"1815–20","location":"London","provenance":"United Kingdom"},"26770047-7eca-547b-bc65-67b8abf591d5":{"name":"Bottle","alternate_name":"Bottle of King Philip II","description":"In 1580 Portugal came under the rule of the Spanish Kings, giving rise to a new political situation that altered the traditional commercial relationship with both Portugal's European trading neighbours and the Far East. A deep political and economic crisis emerged and the pottery workshops of Lisbon searched for new markets. Blue Chinese porcelain, common during the Wanli period (1573–1619), was an inspiration for Portuguese faience. The wares were then exported via existing Portuguese trade routes to overseas colonies and north and north-western Europe.  \nThis bottle – with a flattened circular body – has a cylindrical neck and a trapezoidal foot. The neck is finished in copper. It has a lid, indicating that it would have been used as a drinking vessel. The shape, which was rare in China, is probably based on a metal model from western Asia.  \nPainted in several shades of blue, the front bears the coat of arms of Philip II of Spain: a medallion with flowers sprouting out from a border of dots. On the reverse are more blooms and insects. Both sides have a blue border with dots in a darker shade, probably imitating the nails used in the metal models that inspired it.  \nAccording to Howard and Ayers (1978), the coat of arms of King Philip II was copied from a coin. It is not clear how the piece was commissioned, however, because Spain had limited access to China via the Philippines through Formosa in the 1570s and, in around 1580 for a year, via some land granted in Pinal near Macao. Michel Beurdeley (1962) believes that Philip II had a collection of almost 3,000 Chinese porcelain objects.","short_description":"A porcelain bottle with the coat of arms of King Philip II of Spain. It was inspired in both shape and decoration by a pilgrim’s flask, a precious and much coveted object of the 16th century that was used to hold drinking water when on pilgrimage.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Museum and Library of the House of Braganza","owner":"João Gonçalo do Amaral Cabral","dates":"Wanli period","location":"Vila Viçosa, Évora","dimensions":"H: 26.5 cm; w: 15.1 cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis","provenance":"China","obtention":"On permanent loan by João Gonçalo do Amaral Cabral","bibliography":"Beurdeley, M., *Porcelaine de la Compagnie dês Indes,* Fribourg, 1962.  \nHoward, D., Ayers, J., *China for the West: Chinese Porcelain and other Decorative Arts for Export*, 2 vols, New York, 1978.  \nMatos, M. A., de, *Azul e Branco da China. Porcelana ao tempo dos Descobrimentos,* Lisbon, CMAG/IPM, 1997.  \n*Catálogo Caminhos da Porcelana. Dinastias Ming e Qing*, Lisbon, 1998.","author":"Maria de Jesus Monge","translator":"Maria de Jesus Monge","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["blue-and-white","ceramic","exoticism","first commands","Goa","India","pilgrimage","Porcelain","travel","underglaze painting"],"materials":["White porcelain decorated with cobalt-blue underglaze"]},"2778ce78-5836-53cd-89f8-bb048bc613b1":{"name":"Bottle with stamped design","description":"The overall shape of the object consists of four distinct parts: neck, handle, and upper and lower hemispheres of the body. The decoration, of great complexity, consists of patterns frequently found on jewellery, which gives the impression of a goldsmith’s work transposed to clay. Included in this profusion are roundels framing a bird downed by a hawk or passing lion, twisted columns topped with discs in the shape of flowers, fish, lotus buds, palmettes, and palm trees, circular marks…  \nIt is a utilitarian but decorative piece intended for pouring water in apartments or reception rooms.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museum of the Arab World Institute","dates":"Hegira 5th-6th century / AD 12th century","location":"Paris","dimensions":"Height: 15.5cm, Diameter: 7cm","provenance":"Syria or Iraq","obtention":"Purchased on advice from Couturier-De Nicolay, 1989.","bibliography":"Atil, E., *Renaissance of Islam. Art of the Mamluks*, Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1981: 128.  \n  \nBaer, E., \"Jeweled Ceramics from Medieval Islam: a Note on the Ambiguity of Islamic Ornament\", *Muqarnas, an Annual on Islamic Art and Architecture*, vol. VI (1989): 83-97.  \n  \nDelpont, E., et al., *Album du musée*, Paris: Somogy éditions d'art, 2012: 291.  \n  \nMoulierac, J., et al., *Céramiques du monde musulman: collections de l'Institut du monde arabe et de J.P. et F. Croisier* , Paris: Institut du monde arabe, Paris, 1999: 44.","translator":"Judy Harter","materials":["on-wheel and stamped design","Unglazed clay"]},"27a8bc2c-716a-5b73-bc30-dce11b765646":{"name":"Pilgrim’s flask.","description":"One of the specialities of Mamluk Syrian potters was the unglazed moulded pilgrim's flasks for the transportation of cool water on long journeys. These sturdy flasks became extremely popular in the AH 7th and 8th / AD 13th and 14th centuries and were certainly produced by a number of Syrian kilns. They were all made in the same manner: the globular body with its flattened sides was created from two identical moulds; the two handles on the shoulders and the short slightly tapering mouthpiece were then added separately. The moulded decoration on the body is various, including hunting scenes, mythical creatures, floral motifs, knotted designs, inscriptions and heraldic emblems which, no doubt, were meant to identify the ownership of the Mamluk officers who carried them.  \nThis well-preserved pilgrim's flask from the National Museum of Aleppo was uncovered during the course of recent Syrian-German excavations at Aleppo Citadel. Its decoration is highly unusual: it shows a large crescent on top of a solid triangular base, flanked by a pair of swords inscribed in a roundel. The background is covered with small impressed circles. The upper segment of the roundel is separated and decorated with foliage. Knotted bands run along the outer edges of the body.  \nThe unusual central composition is obviously meant to represent a Mamluk blazon, albeit the emblem depicted here is completely unknown in the canon of Mamluk heraldry. It might possibly be the result of a misunderstanding or indeed an inspired fantasy of the potter who mixed the crescent with the more popular cup symbol. It is possible that these decorations were only meant to look like heraldic emblems without actually being such. The piece has not been produced very carefully: although the same mould was used on both sides as usual, the impression on the back is seriously off centre.","short_description":"This pilgrim's flask from the Mamluk period was found during recent excavations in the Citadel of Aleppo. Although its shape is typical, its decoration is highly unusual as the emblem is unknown in the repertory of Mamluk heraldry.","type":"Flask, earthenware","holder":"National Museum of Aleppo, Islamic Department.","dates":"Hegira 8th century / AD 14th century.","location":"Aleppo","dimensions":"Height 23.8 cm, diameter16.5, diameter (of mouthpiece) 3.7 cm.","method_for_datation":"The flask was dated by stylistic considerations and by comparison with similar flasks.","method_for_provenance":"The flask was found during archaeological excavations in the area of Aleppo Citadel.","provenance":"Although this flask was discovered during an archaeological excavation at Aleppo Citadel, its place of production is unknown, but it was possibly produced in Syria.","obtention":"The flask was brought to the Museum in 2004.","bibliography":"Riis, P. J., and Poulsen, V., “Hama: Fouilles et Recherches de la Foundation Carlsberg,1931–8, IV/2” in *Les verreries et poteries médiévales,* Copenhagen, 1957.  \nSarre, F., *Keramik und andere Kleinfunde der islamischen Zeit von Baalbek*, Berlin–Leipzig, 1925.  \nSauvaget, J., *Poteries Syro-Mésopotamiennes du XIVe siècle*, Damascus, 1932.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_EG_EN_001","author":"Julia Gonnella","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["canteen","earthenware","Emblem","moulded","Pilgrim flasks","pilgrimage","pottery"],"materials":["Moulded earthenware."]},"27de28c8-df7c-5e34-b27a-6b4d7277f037":{"name":"*The Adoration of the Shepherds*","description":"This bas-relief is part of a series which includes four horizontal and four oval scenes, all are in their original frames.  \nThree shepherds approach to adore the Child. The Madonna, St. Joseph and the angels, occupying the middle of the scene, point to the object of interest, Jesus. Piò moulds the tender scene to create a soft and delicate three-dimensional picture, similar to his contemporary painters.","short_description":"This sculpture is a good example of the baroque technique of Bolognese terracotta. Terracotta bas-reliefs were intended as proper paintings, framed and hanging from the walls, but lacking colours. The figures are scattered on different planes; in the foreground they are nearly three dimensional while the background figures are drawn more two dimensionally.","type":"Sculpture","holder":"Museo Diocesano di Arte Sacra di San Giovanni in Persiceto","initial_owner":"Oratorio del Suffragio","dates":"1711","location":"San Giovanni in Persiceto, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna","dimensions":"64 x 77 cm","place_of_production":"Bologna","method_for_datation":"The date is inscribed on the surface of the bas relief. The origin is described by the biographer of the artist, Zanotti.","provenance":"San Giovanni in Persiceto, Bologna","obtention":"The bas-relief was originally made for the oratory of the Suffragio in San Giovanni in Persiceto. It was moved to the oratory of the Holy Sacrament and later to the church of the Madonna della Cintura. In 1948 it was moved again to the Collegiata (the main church) of San Giovanni in Persiceto. The museum of the church was opened to the public and it was exhibited there.","bibliography":"Riccomini, E. “Sculture del Settecento a Bologna: Angelo Piò ed altri problemi”, *Arte Antica e Moderna:* 21, 1963, p. 58.  \n*Scultura Bolognese del Settecento* (exhibition catalogue) (ed. E. Riccomini), Bologna, 1965, p. 76, p. 77, p. 84, p. 85.  \nRoversi, G. C. “Ricerche sul patrimonio artistico persicetano alla fine del sec. XVIII”, *Strada maestra:* 3, 1970, p. 169.  \nRiccomini, E. “Devozione e celebrazione nella scultura emiliana*”*, *Emilia Romagna* (ed. R. Bacchelli), Milan, 1972, p. 360.  \nRiccomini, E. *Vaghezza e Furore*, Bologna, 1977, p. 50.","workshop":"Barocchetto Bolognese","copyright":"Copyright image: Ufficio Beni culturali ecclesiastici della diocesi di Bologna.","copy_editor":"Antonella Mampieri","translation_copy_editor":"Lisa Kelman","keywords":["Adoration of the Sheperds","Angelo Gabriello Piò","Baroque Sculpture","bas-relief","Christian themes","religious object","Terracotta"],"materials":["Terracotta"]},"27f79699-e917-57d4-9288-b307d6f5229b":{"name":"*Mahbes* floral bowl","description":"This bowl, *mahbes*, has a *tawq* (collar) and lotus flower design. It is intended for washing, salted meat preparation, bread dough, or couscous. Beginning in the 18th century, workshops in Qallaline, Tunisia, reached an apogee, marked by a mastery of colour and a variety of compositions.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museum of the Arab World Institute","initial_owner":"Alain and Dalila Loviconi","dates":"Hegira 11th-12th century / AD 17th century","location":"Paris","dimensions":"Height: 23cm, Diameter base: 26cm, Diameter maximum: 39cm","provenance":"Qallaline, Tunisia","obtention":"Gift from Alain and Dalila Loviconi in 1994.","bibliography":"Daoulatli, A., *Poteries et Céramiques tunisiennes*, Tunis: Institut National d'Archéologie et d'Art, 1979: 69, Fig. 29.  \n  \nDelpont, E., et al., *Album du musée*, Paris: Somogy éditions d'art, 2012: p. 294.  \n  \nHarbi-Riahi, M., *30 ans au service du patrimoine : XXVIII centenaire de Carthage, 814 av. J. C. - 1986: de la Carthage des Phéniciens à la Carthage de Bourguiba*, Tunis: Institut National d'Archéologie et d'Art, 1986: 306, Fig. V.47.  \n  \nLoviconi, A. and Loviconi D., *Faïences de Tunisie : Qallaline et Nabeul*, Aix-en-Provence: Edisud, 1994: 46, 74.  \n  \nMouliérac, J., et al., *Céramiques du monde musulman : collections de l'Institut du monde arabe et de J.P. et F. Croisier* , Paris: Institut du monde arabe, 1999: 150.","translator":"Judy Harter","materials":["Clay","design painted under glaze"]},"27f89076-7ab0-561d-a64d-238a0e99fb26":{"name":"Bottle with bulbous neck","description":"This ceramic bottle with a long neck with ovoid spout has a shallow moulded and incised decoration under glaze. A gadroon frieze (ornamental series of convex forms) belts the shoulder.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museum of the Arab word Institute","dates":"Hegira end of 7th century - beginning of 8th century / AD end of 13th century - beginning of 14th century","location":"Paris","dimensions":"Height: 34.5cm, Diameter: 20.5cm","provenance":"Iran","obtention":"Purchased at auction on advice from François de Ricqlès, 1998.","bibliography":"Moulierac, Jeanne, et al., Céramiques du monde musulman: collections de l'Institut du monde arabe et de J.P. et F. Croisier, Paris: Institut du monde arabe, Paris, 1999: p. 21.  \n  \nDelpont, E. (et al.), *Album du musée*. Paris: Somogy éditions d'art, Paris, 2012:, p. 343.","translator":"Judy Harter","materials":["moulded design under monochrome glaze","Siliceous clay"]},"27f9e871-3369-55e0-b6a2-de1d5b3a2fec":{"name":"Vase.","description":"A vase with a wide neck, bulbous body, and low flaring foot. A narrow collar around the neck, decorated with a braided rope design, divides the vase into two areas of decoration. Both are filled with floral motifs in red, green, and blue. These include carnations, tulips, and hyacinths, all of which are shown blossoming at the ends of gently undulating green stems. The use of a brilliant emerald green is characteristic of Iznik ceramics at their peak of quality, in the 1570s. Shortly thereafter, slackening patronage and other factors led the Ottoman ceramic industry to economic and aesthetic decline. This vase, then, is a splendid token of the high point of 16th-century Ottoman ceramics.","short_description":"A bulbous vase decorated with floral motifs which, rather than functioning as mere repeat units, are freely rendered and almost naturalistic. The use of brilliant red and emerald-green indicates that this vase was made at the height of the classical Iznik pottery industry.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, Glazed painting","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum.","dates":"Around hegira 975 / AD 1575.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 31 cm, diameter 19.7 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stylistic comparison with other Iznik wares of the 1570s.","method_for_provenance":"Iznik was the centre of quality ceramic production in this period.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Purchased by the Museum in 1876.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, Istanbul/London, 1989, fig. 703.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Barry Wood","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["floral decoration","hyacinths","patronage"],"materials":["Painted and glazed ceramic."]},"2820e756-8db5-5af5-a547-f9d4acc23065":{"name":"Tile panel with inscription in *thuluth* script","short_description":"From the time of the construction of the great mosque complex of Süleyman in Istanbul (Hegira 957–964 / AD 1550–1557) onward, Iznik epigraphic tiles increasingly came to grace Ottoman religious monuments. Stencils were used to transfer the designs of both epigraphic and pictorial tile compositions; however, this inscription seems not to have been conceived by one of the many professional calligraphers who flourished under the Ottomans. Rather it may be the work of a highly proficient amateur. The Arabic text, “This world is the sowing ground of the next \\[world\\]\", appears to be an unsound *hadith*, probably a paraphrase of a verse from the Qur’an (al-Shura: 20). The inscription suggests that the panel was created for a religious context, but it does not tell us much more about its original location.","type":"Architectural Elements","holder":"Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)","dates":"Hegira second half of the 10th century / AD second half of the 16th century","location":"Los Angeles","dimensions":"74.9 x 134cm","method_for_datation":"Iznik tile panels of this type, underglaze-painted in red, blue and green on a white ground—a colour combination established in the Iznik potteries in the 1550s and 1560s—and decorated with a scrolling border of flowers and leaves, and a *thuluth* inscription, are roughly datable to the second half of the 16th century.","method_for_provenance":"The panel represents the classical type of Iznik ceramics, in which the palette is comprised of red, blue, green and white.","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","obtention":"Collection of Nasli M. Heeramaneck (1902-1971), New York, until 1973 (sold to); LACMA, The Nasli M. Heeramaneck collection, gift of Joan Palevsky.","bibliography":"Komaroff, Linda, *Lo Terrenal y lo divino: Arte islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Angeles*, Santiago, Chile: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015: 51, 63.  \nPal, Pratapaditya (ed), *Islamic Art: The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection*, Los Angeles: Museum Associates, 1973: 67.","author":"LACMA Staff","keywords":["calligraphy","ceramic","ephigraphic decoration","inscription","Iznik tiles","Thuluth","tilework"],"materials":["Fritware","underglaze-painted"]},"283e1f7c-b9ca-5499-bc9b-ce7e85ab773a":{"name":"Jug","short_description":"This jug is typical of silhouette ware: the decoration is carved completely through the black slip.","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira late 6th century / AD late 12th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Height 13.5 cm","provenance":"Iran","keywords":["Ceramic: pottery","Seljuq","silhouette"],"materials":["decoration carved through black slip","Frit body","turquoise glaze"]},"2879dbdc-ef5b-53f4-b8f7-d3ae618cfb30":{"name":"Rose sprinkle flask in Persian style","description":"Flask produced in Paris in Oriental style.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"MAK – Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art","dates":"Before 1867","location":"Vienna","provenance":"Paris","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega"},"28d76422-01a9-5e8c-8c76-2776985164f6":{"name":"Coping of a well.","description":"Cylindrical on the inside and hexagonal on the outside, this coping rests on a thick base forming a ridge and opens up with an outcurving rim, flat on the upper part and cut in eight vertical sections. A green glaze covers the stamped decoration. It is distributed in eight vertical panels, each one divided into five horizontal sections, three of which are decorated with friezes of poly-lobed arcatures. They are in turn separated by one section covered only by a green glaze and another with an inscription in cursive characters engraved on a green glaze. The inscription names the owner of the workshop and the date the coping was made. The inscription says: 'This was made in Haj Buluqin's house on the (…) day of the seventh of the month of *Rabi* II the last in the year five hundred eighty-six \\[AD 1190\\]'. The opening of the coping is crowned by several patterns, laid out in two superposed friezes. One is formed by squares filled with eight-pointed stars whereas the other is thinner and has a herringbone pattern.  \nDuring the Almohad period, this type of coping was widely used in both the Maghreb and al-Andalus. They were built with the purpose of protecting the wells in the middle of the courtyards in houses. They also served as decoration, and that is the reason why ceramicists built them with special care and were proud to sign their work.","short_description":"This type of decorated coping, bearing the date and name of the workshop, was equally common in the Maghreb and al-Andalus. They were used to protect wells sunk in the centre of interior domestic courtyards, and to enhance their beauty.","type":"Well, clay","holder":"Ethnographic Museum.","dates":"Hegira 586 / AD 1190.","location":"Tetouan.","dimensions":"Height 69 cm, diameter 52.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"The engraved inscription in cursive characters on the fourth section mentions the place of manufacture (the workshop of Haj Buluqin) and the date, the seventh day of the month *Rabi* II in the year 586 / 1190.","method_for_provenance":"Chance archaeological find in Sebta (Ceuta), at the place known as Llano de las Damas.","provenance":"Sebta (Ceuta).","obtention":"Archaeological deposit.","bibliography":"Bazzana,A., *Maroc, les trésors du Royaume*, catalogue, Paris, 1999.  \nCambazard-Amahan, C. and Erbati E., *6000 ans d'Art au Maroc*, catalogue, Paris, 1990.  \nTorres Balbás, L., *Arte almohade, arte nasarí, arte mudéjar*, Ars Hispanae, Vol. IV, Madrid, 1949.","workshop":"Al-Haj Buluqin workshop.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_MA_EN_001","author":"Naima El Khatib-Boujibar","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["architectural decoration","epigraphic decoration","geometric decoration","water"],"materials":["Fired clay","stamped and covered in a green glaze."]},"29500c62-a992-5094-94d4-fc5721242264":{"name":"Tankard.","description":"The tankard has a cylindrical body with a flat base and an angular handle. This characteristic shape found in a large number of mostly Iznik products attributed to the second half of the AH 10th / AD 16th century seems to be based on a leather or wooden original. The vessel is underglaze painted in two gradations of blue, diluted turquoise and opaque red on a white background. The decoration of the exterior shows a composition of elements used on Iznik ceramics and tiles throughout the AH 10th–11th / AD 16th–17th centuries: large oval medallions filled with rosettes alternate with shrubs of flowers in two rows. The edges of spirals reflect Chinese influence. The origin of this abstract pattern was the 'waves and rock' motif, which was very common on the rims of Iznik plates. The tankard is marked on the foot with a crescent and an asterisk.","short_description":"Tankard with a cylindrical body and an angular handle. This shape, characteristic of many mainly Iznik products, seems to be derived from a leather or wooden original. Its underglaze painted decoration consists of medallions filled with rosettes and flowering shrubs in two rows.","type":"Ceramic, glazed","holder":"Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities (Medelhavsmuseet).","owner":"National Museum of Fine Arts, Stockholm. In order to reorganise the expanding collections, the main part of the Islamic collection has been on permanent loan to the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities since 1982.","dates":"Hegira 13th century / AD 19th century.","location":"Stockholm","dimensions":"Height 21 cm, diameter of rim 10.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"Unlike Iznik wares of the 10th–11th / 16th–17th centuries, this tankard is marked under the foot. The object was dated according to similar marks, which are known from Ottoman ceramics of the 13th / 19th century, for example, from Istanbul.","method_for_provenance":"A vase housed in the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities also shows an imitation of Iznik pattern and a mark which is signed 'Istanbul' within a crescent. However, it was not possible to identify the workshop to which the mark of a crescent and asterisk on the bottom belongs.","provenance":"Probably Turkey.","obtention":"Purchased from the collection of F. R. Martin in 1898.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N. and Raby, J., *Iznik*: *The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989.  \nCarswell, J., *Iznik Pottery*, London, 1998.  \nLane, A., *Later Islamic Pottery*, London, 1971.  \nMüller-Wiener, M., *Türkisch-Osmanische Keramik*, Traunstein, 2004.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Friederike Voigt","copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","floral decoration","pottery"],"materials":["Ceramic","underglaze painted."]},"296685d2-89a9-5e81-bce8-4114d2e64c21":{"name":"Jug.","description":"A stone-paste (fritware) jug with a bulbous pear-shaped body, resting on a low, circular foot-ring. The neck is cylindrical and widens towards a rimless mouth. An S-shaped handle is attached to the lip and shoulder. Both the neck and the body are covered with alternating blue and green fish-scale patterning; each area separated from the other by sinuous split-palmette borders. A guilloche border runs below the lip and around the lower body; a narrow white collar with dotted detailing sits around the lower neck. The all-over textural covering of this jug is akin to the engraved (repoussé) decoration of contemporary metalwork, and it therefore illustrates the extent to which designs were transferred between different media during the Ottoman period.","short_description":"Iznik pieces with a curious overall scale design are attributed to AH 987–92 / AD 1580–5. Such scale patterns are akin to the engraved or repoussé decoration of contemporary Ottoman metalwork, a fact that illustrates well the extent to which designs were transferred between the media in Ottoman times.","type":"Ottoman ceramic, stone paste","holder":"National Museums of Scotland (NMS).","dates":"Hegira 987–92 / AD 1580–5.","location":"Edinburgh, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 24 cm, diameter (overall) 16.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"Iznik pieces with this characteristic overall fish-scale design are attributed to the period 987–92/ 1580–5.","method_for_provenance":"Ceramic wares of this style are known to have been produced in Iznik, Turkey during the period 987–92/ 1580–5.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Bought from the Castellani Collection in 1884.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989, figs. 731–3, 743–5 (for closely related pieces).  \n*Türkische Kunst und Kultur aus osmanischer Zeit*, exhibition catalogue, Recklinghausen, 1985, p.153, cat. nos. 2/30, 2/31.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Ulrike Al-Khamis","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Iznik","stone-paste (fritware)."],"materials":["black underglaze","Blue","bole-red underglaze slip","green","over which a clear glaze.","Stone-paste (fritware)"]},"29723c0f-a1c2-5bb3-aa6b-3b7ef63ed1af":{"name":"Ceramic vase","description":"Kütahya was the second most important ceramic production centre after İznik due to the rich clay deposits in the area. Although there was a decline in ceramic production at the beginning of the 19th century, in the last quarter of the same century production was revived and new designs inspired by İznik ceramics were produced. This is a Kütahya-produced vase whose body enlarges toward the top. It has a floral design on a blue base. The inner part of the notched mouth is white.","type":"Tile","holder":"Ethnography Museum","dates":"19th century","location":"Ankara","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega"},"29eaa974-bd2d-5ede-a8b9-1d1b993fec15":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"The thin-walled bowls with a decoration of blue stripes on white ground were revolutionary, formally and technically. It was the first time that the contrast of blue-and-white was employed as a stylistic means; also, firing technique was developed far enough so that the cobalt blue – applied before the glazing – stayed put and unfolded its full luminosity.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"MAK – Museum of Applied Arts","dates":"AD about 1300","location":"Vienna","dimensions":"Height: 10.5cm, Diameter: 20.5cm","provenance":"Iran, Kashan","obtention":"Purchase","bibliography":"Mrazek, Wilhelm (ed), *Kunst des Islam. Teppiche, Keramiken und Fayencen, Gläser und Moscheelampen, Metallarbeiten aus den Sammlungen des Österreichischen Museums für Angewandte Kunst*, Vienna: Museum of Applied Arts, 1977.","catalogue_holding_link":"https://sammlung.mak.at/sammlung_online?id=collect-46131","author":"Mio Wakita-Elis","keywords":["blue-and-white","bowl","ceramic","Iran"],"materials":["Ceramic with cobaltblue stripe decoration under the glaze"]},"29f83378-fe07-5531-90be-4912dbf80f0f":{"name":"Coffee Cup","description":"Tile red in colour and in the shape of a Bektashi headdress.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Ankara Ethnography Museum","owner":"The Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism","location":"Ankara","dimensions":"Height: 5cm, diameter: 5cm","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","materials":["Terracotta"]},"2aa1cd22-4d00-5e32-bd10-874404e856a3":{"name":"Tile panel.","description":"A panel of six wall-tiles, decorated with underglaze painting in the full colour range of the mature Iznik style. Wide green strips with meandering flowering vines form the side borders as well as a pointed-arch motif. The spandrels of the arch are filled with red and white arabesques on a dark-blue background, while the space beneath contains a masterful composition in which naturalistic flowers and large-scale arabesque motifs fill the brilliant white space without overcrowding it. The composition is abruptly cut off at the bottom, indicating that these six tiles formed the upper part of a larger tilework ensemble.","short_description":"A panel of six tiles, executed in the colour palette of the high Iznik style. The decoration features floral decoration beneath a pointed arch. This panel was the top section of a larger panel depicting a niche. It may have adorned an Ottoman palace.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, glazed painting","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum.","dates":"Late hegira 10th/AD 16th century.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 62 cm, width 102 cm, depth 3 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stylistic comparison: the use of green indicates that the tiles must date after the 1570s; while the high quality means they cannot be much later than the turn of the 17th century.","method_for_provenance":"Iznik was the centre of quality ceramic production in this period.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Purchased by the Museum in 1900.","bibliography":"Lane, A., *A Guide to the Collection of Tiles*, London, 1960, p.21.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Barry Wood","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["floral decoration","palatial architecture","tilework"],"materials":["Painted and glazed ceramic."]},"2ae3984e-4d68-5007-ab52-077d0d39f896":{"name":"Alhambra vase","description":"The Alhambra, the palace and fortress of the Moorish Kings of Granada, Spain, was founded in 1248 and largely completed by 1354. After three hundred years of neglect and destruction, restoration work began in 1828. Its sumptuous architecture excited a great deal of interest, dissemninated most notably by the *Plans, Details and Sections of the Alhambra* published by Owen Jones from 1836. Of the original furnishings of the Palace, some vases survive. The most famous was made before 1400 and is here copied relatively accurately by Deck. This vase was probably shown in the International Exhibition, London, 1862.","type":"Vase; ceramic; earthenware","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum","dates":"c.1862 (made)","location":"London","provenance":"France, Paris","author":"Victoria and Albert Museum"},"2b7cc6a3-d756-5b6c-ae2c-9f1c0902b308":{"name":"Bowl with fish design","short_description":"This slip-painted dish shows a broad band of six white and ochre fish 'swimming' anticlockwise around its inner walls. A large central interlace roundel in red and white and two borders with pseudo-*kufic* inscriptions complete the design, which may echo pre-Islamic customs and beliefs or astrological preoccupations.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation","dates":"Hegira 4th – 5th century / AD 10th – 11th century","location":"Sharjah","provenance":"Eastern Iran, Afghanistan or Central Asia","keywords":["animal decoration","bowl","calligraphy","ceramic","fish","kufic","pseudo inscriptions"]},"2bf07354-1d19-5067-a7fe-bfedc33b8380":{"name":"Small bowl with eagle.","description":"This poly-lobed bowl is decorated with the stylised figure of an eagle with its wings outstretched, painted in solid lustre with the exception of a few details left uncoloured, such as the eye and the neck. It is surrounded by small dotted panels and the edge is decorated with semi-circles.","short_description":"The shape and decoration of this bowl are influenced by a combination of different styles and traditions. Its shape is related to early Sassanid metalwork, while its decoration is reminiscent of a style used in late Abbasid figurative ceramics.","type":"Bowl, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”","dates":"Hegira 4th century / AD 10th century.","location":"Rome","dimensions":"Height 4.1 cm, length 12.5 cm, width 9.1 cm.","method_for_provenance":"The design of this piece derives from metallic prototypes of Sassanid origin via Chinese T’ang porcelain (618–906). The style used for the bird, however, is attributable to curvilinear stylisation typical of late Abbasid figurative ceramics.","provenance":"Iraq.","obtention":"Purchase.","bibliography":"Folsach, K. von, *Islamic Art: The David Collection*, Copenhagen, 1990.  \nGrube, E.J., *Cobalt and Lustre. The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery. The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art*, Vol. IX, London, 1994.  \nLane, A., *Early Islamic Pottery*, London, 1953.  \nScerrato, U., “Ceramica Irachena del IX–X Secolo”, *Serie Schede Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale* 2, Rome, 1968.","author":"Paola Torre","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramics","figurative decoration","lustre"],"materials":["Metallic lustre-painted ceramic."]},"2cc72222-bc92-577d-b037-11f94f619161":{"name":"Two fragments of wall-cladding.","description":"These two fragments of ceramic wall-cladding with a metallic sheen originally took the form of a cross.  \nThe geometric decoration consists of circles enclosing a motif that could be perceived as evoking either a fish or a flower on its stem, outlined in white with a paintbrush over an olive green background.  \nThe epigraphic decoration features the inscription '*al-yumn*' (prosperity), repeated several times, written in *kufic* characters and executed in white over a yellow background with a metallic sheen.  \nAccording to G. Marçais, 'this ceramic draws inspiration from the 'Abbasid east which, itself, borrows from old Semitic or Byzantine civilisations'.  \nIn general, these crosses were linked to other elements, such as eight-cornered stars or lozenges, in order to form wall-cladding.","short_description":"Fragments of lustre-painted ceramic wall-covering, one decorated with geometric patterns including a fish or flower motif brush-painted in white on a green background, while the other has the *kufic* inscription *'al-yumn*' (prosperity) repeated several times in white on a yellow base.","type":"Wall-cladding, ceramic","holder":"National Museum of Setif","dates":"Hegira 406–547 / AD 1015–1152.","location":"Setif","dimensions":"Element with geometric decoration: length 15 cm, width 14 cm ; element with epigraphic decoration: length 17 cm, width 15.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"Fragments found in the Dar al-Bahr of the Qal'at Bani Hammad, which dates from the 5th–6th / 11th –12th centuries, according to Kitab al-Istibsar: 'The Banu Hammad built some important constructions in the *qal'a* … including \\[the palace\\] known as Dar al-Bahr, at the centre of which was a vast basin'.","method_for_provenance":"From the report of the De Beylié excavation, 1909.","provenance":"Qal’at Bani Hammad, Algeria.","obtention":"Archaeological repository (De Beylié excavations, 1908).","bibliography":"Beylié, général de, *La Kalaa des Beni Hammad, une capitale berbère de l'Afrique du Nord au XIe siècle*, Paris, 1909.  \nGolvin, L., *Recherches archéologiques à la Qal'a des Banû Hammâd*, Paris, 1965.  \nMarçais, G*., L'architecture musulmane d'Occident*, Paris, 1954.","author":"Houria Cherid","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"Maria Vlotides","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","Cladding","Cross","Hammadid","metallic lustre","palatial architecture","star"],"materials":["Moulded and lustre-painted ceramic."]},"2cd70993-c8a3-50ff-9205-453f52ff7756":{"name":"Bowl.","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.  \nA 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.","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.","type":"Bowl, earthenware","holder":"National Museum of Damascus","dates":"Hegira late 5th–early 6th century / AD late 11th–early 12th century.","location":"Damascus","dimensions":"Height 12.2 cm, diameter 15.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"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.","method_for_provenance":"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.","provenance":"Syria; possibly Raqqa or Tel Minis.","obtention":"Purchased in 1959.","bibliography":"Abu al-Faraj al-Ush, M., *A Concise Guide to the National Museum of Damascus,* Damascus, 1969, p.157.  \nPorter, V., *Medieval Syrian Pottery*, Oxford, 1981.  \nPorter, V. and Watson, O., “'Tel Minis' Wares”, in *Syria and Iran: Three Studies in Medieval Ceramics*, Oxford, 1987, pp.173–248.  \nSeipel, W., *Schätze der Kalifen: Islamische Kunst zur Fatimidenzeit*, Wien, 1998, pp.107–8; fig. 58.  \n  \nWatson, O., *Ceramics from Islamic Lands*, London, 2004.","author":"Mona al-Moadin","translator":"Hilary Kalmbach (from the Arabic)","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Cairo","ceramics","earthenware","gold","metallic lustre","Raqqa","Tel Minis"],"materials":["Earthenware","painted with metallic lustre."]},"2e402c4d-0004-5e48-84c2-e6f4b24d7d3e":{"name":"Bowl with dark brown slip and white slip decoration","short_description":"This earthenware bowl was covered in a dark brown slip before receiving an as yet unread, white floriated *kufic* inscription – possibly containing blessings. The secondary motifs evoking a textured background and rim, may suggest that the bowl was inspired by a metal prototype. Vessels like this have been associated with Nishapur and Afrasiyab.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation","dates":"Hegira 4th century / AD 10th century","location":"Sharjah","provenance":"Iran, probably Nishapur","keywords":["bowl","calligraphy","ceramic","inscription","kufic"]},"2ee161bc-3657-5540-a52c-08980b1622cb":{"name":"Plate with lotus leaves.","description":"Plate with circular base and curved rim. The beige background is tin-glazed with no slip. The decoration is in green and yellow ochre with lively floral and geometric patterns. On the rim there are repeated sequences of two green and one ochre semi-circle. A similar juxtaposition of tones is used to great effect in the middle of the plate, where a central six-pointed star is surrounded by alternating spirals and lotus leaves.  \nThis striking combination of exuberance, richness and variety of ornamentation is rare in Oriental ceramics of this period. The colourful, stylised flora achieves a complex rhythmic effect.","short_description":"The floral and geometric decoration on this ring-based dish combines green and yellow ochre. The richness and variety of its ornamentation are typical of Aghlabid ceramics, with the colours, hues and stylised flora creating a very varied rhythmic effect.","type":"Plate, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art.","dates":"Hegira, last third of the 4th century or beginning of the 5th century / AD 10th–11th centuries.","location":"Raqqada., Kairouan.","dimensions":"Height 7 cm, diameter 27 cm; diameter (of base) 10 cm, thickness 0.6 cm.","method_for_datation":"Raqqada, the Aghlabid capital, was built in 263 / 876. Since the plate was discovered on the excavation site, this date must be a *terminus ante quem*. Moreover, the colours and decoration of the piece are typical of the Aghlabid period, which ends with the advent of the Fatimids in 296 / 909. So it is probable that the latter date is the *terminus post quem* for the plate, even though the same type of work may have continued into the early Fatimid era.","method_for_provenance":"The discovery of this plate, made and painted in the Ifriqiyan manner, on site at Raqqada appears to confirm that it was produced locally in the pottery workshops of Kairouan or Raqqada.","provenance":"Raqqada or Kairouan.","obtention":"The plate was among objects discovered on site during the 1960 excavations at Raqqada. Initially kept on site, the piece was put on display in 1986 at the Museum of Islamic Art at Raqqada.","bibliography":"*30 ans au service du patrimoine* (exhibition catalogue), 1986, p.251.  \n*Tunisie: du christianisme a l'islam* (exhibition catalogue), Lattes, 2001, p.184.  \n*Tunisie, terre de rencontres et de civilisation* (Seville exhibition catalogue), Tunis,  \n1992, p.274.  \n*Ifriqiya: Thirteen Centuries of Art and Architecture in Tunisia*, pp.173–4.","author":"Mourad Rammah","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"David Ash","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["calligraphy","floral decoration","geometric decoration"],"materials":["Glazed and decorated ceramic."]},"2f159199-c491-5bb7-b7b8-53c7b500249a":{"name":"Panel decorated with a mosque.","description":"An Ottoman mosque with its typical truncated-cone minarets is painted within a horseshoe arch spanning two lateral columns. In the lower panel is a complex arrangement of flowers and leaves in a small vase. Tulips, sunflowers and carnations are intermingled with scrolled palm- and vine-leaves. These are arranged symmetrically and the whole pattern is contained within a second horseshoe arch.  \nA broad selection of different foliated scrolls, leaves and flowers of all kinds decorate the lunettes, the arch-stones and the capitols. This great profusion of foliage is nonetheless cleverly organised.  \nThe main colours are the background beige (white lead or tin base), brown (manganese oxide base), yellow (antimony oxide base) green (copper oxide base) and blue (cobalt oxide base). Although the decoration is Ottoman-inspired the colours and techniques used in the production of this panel come from the Andalusian tradition. This combination of influences resulted in Tunisian ceramics taking on their unique character.","short_description":"The decoration, colours and manufacturing technique used in this panel are typical of Tunisian ceramics, where Andalusian traditions mixed with Ottoman influences. An Ottoman mosque is painted inside a horseshoe arch, and the lower panel is decorated with a small vase containing a spray of flowers.","holder":"Sidi Qasim al-Jalizi Museum.","dates":"Hegira 12th century / AD 18th century.","location":"Tunis.","dimensions":"Height 140 cm, width 80 cm.","method_for_datation":"The decoration, colours and manufacture of this panel are typical of the Qallaline workshops' production at Tunis during the 12th / 18th century.","method_for_provenance":"Stylistic analysis.","provenance":"The Qallaline workshop at Tunis.","obtention":"This piece comes from the Bardo Museum and was acquired by the Sidi Qasim al-Jalizi Museum at the time of its inauguration in 1978.","author":"Mourad Rammah","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"David Ash","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["ceramic","floral decoration","Qallaline","workshop"],"materials":["Polychrome ceramic."]},"2fd59a40-4424-5f9b-820e-ab69e9b0306f":{"name":"Jar","short_description":"Bulbous, wide-mouthed jar with thick walls, four single and eight double handles; applied rope decoration on the shoulder. The jar is covered with a bluish-green glaze with large iridescent areas. Features such as the rope motif, the multiple handles, the colour of the glaze and the thick walls highlight the archaic character of the jar, and allow us to date it back to the later years of the Sasanian rule and the rise of the Islamic empire. Muslims borrowed extensively from the cultural heritage of the peoples they conquered, gradually integrating local traditions within the larger framework of Islamic civilization.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"The National Museum of Art of Romania","dates":"Hegira 1st – 2nd century / AD 7th – 8th","location":"Bucharest","dimensions":"Height: 30cm, Diameter (of mouth): 19cm","method_for_datation":"Comparison with related works","method_for_provenance":"Comparison with related works","provenance":"Iran","obtention":"Purchased by a Romanian art collector in Paris  in 1926. Purchased by the Museum in 1960.","bibliography":"*Arta iraniană în colecţiile din Republica Socialistă România*, Bucharest: Muzeul de Artă al Republicii Socialiste România, 1971: 31, cat. no. 48, fig. 15.  \nDunca, M., *Islamic Art at the National Museum of Art of Romania*, Bucharest: National Museum of Art of Romania, 2015: 83, no. 30.  \nFehérvári, G., *Ceramics of the Islamic World in the Tareq Rajab Museum*, London / New York: I. B.Tauris, 2000.","author":"Mircea Dunca","keywords":["Storage jar"],"materials":["applied decoration","Glazed earthenware"]},"30241187-e18e-5731-96d9-ec8bc8d23e75":{"name":"Tile picture of a Cuenca carpet","description":"An unusual “carpet,” this panel consists of 484 underglaze-painted tiles which together form the picture of a Cuenca carpet. The panel was probably intended as flooring, a kind of al fresco carpet which, when set into the ground, would add colour, pattern, and interest to an outdoor setting. Tiles would be decidedly more durable in inclement weather than a wool or silk carpet.  \nIn shades of blue, yellow, green and manganese on a white ground, the panel has a shield at centre bounded by the phrase \"Ave Maria Gracia Plena Dominus Tecun.\" The shield is surrounded by a series of borders: the deepest interior border has mirrored, inverted, and repeated foliate scrolls; the outer borders feature patterned triangle, diamond, and oval motifs in a continuous repeat.  \nMade about 1921, the tile panel’s design derives from a genuine Spanish carpet probably made in the 17th century. It is not known if the tile maker worked from the historic carpet itself or a photographic reproduction of it. An extant black and white image of the original carpet confirms the tile picture closely resembles the source. It is unclear, however, if the colours mimic it. A comparison between the two reveals that the tile maker opted to standardize colour usage across the tiles, whereas the carpet was woven with more variation.  \nThe tile picture was one of two that made its way to Florida, where it later came into the hands of Berberyan Galleries. Each shows a Cuenca carpet, although not the same carpet. Doris Duke purchased both panels for her home Shangri La, in Honolulu. Neither was used as flooring, but instead were wall mounted similar to hanging textiles. Later, Duke had one panel shipped to her home Rough Point in Newport, Rhode Island where it remains today. Ceramic may be an unusual vehicle for the display of the Cuenca aesthetic, but it was an aesthetic Duke adored. She purchased several Cuenca carpets for her collection, including a massive 17th century one for Shangri La’s Living Room.","type":"Tile panel","holder":"Shangri La, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art","dates":"c. 1921","location":"Honolulu, Hawai'i","dimensions":"L: 300cm, W: 300cm","method_for_datation":"Archival documents","method_for_provenance":"Archival documents","provenance":"Spain","obtention":"Purchased by Doris Duke from Berberyan Galleries (Palm Beach), May 1937","author":"Sharon Tomlinson","keywords":["collector","geometric decoration","Spanish carpet","tile"],"materials":["Underglaze-painted earthenware"]},"30667b34-8461-5a17-8033-803fceee10dc":{"name":"Dish.","description":"The Iznik pottery dish decorated in cobalt-blue, thin pale green and relief red, with black outlines on a white background shows at the centre a dense floral design. The entire dish is treated as a single decorative surface. The flowers – red dotted tulips and carnations, a peony and a hyacinth spray falling across the centre of the plate – emerge from a leafy tuft and are adapted by curved and broken stems to suit the scale and surface of the dish. This style is called 'quatre fleurs' after the four principal types of flowers, the tulip, carnation, rose and hyacinth. It was promoted by the court painter Kara Memi in the second half of the AH 10th / AD 16th century and shows a greater realism in floral depiction than earlier styles. Feathered *saz* leaves combined with flowering sprays as can be seen next to the peony or with a simple leaf as above the tuft is a development of the last quarter of AH 10th / AD 16th century.  \nThe floral design at the centre of the dish is framed with a stylised Chinese wave-and-rock border on a flat sloping rim. The Chinese-influenced type of foliated rim, used together with the wave-and-rock motif, had been given up in the second half of the AH 10th / AD 16th century because of its costly freehand cutting.  \nOn the back the dish is painted with four blue-coloured spiral motifs alternating with four green trefoils on a white background. The transparent slightly turquoise glaze covers the back and bottom except for the foot-ring.","short_description":"Polychrome painted Iznik pottery dish. At the centre there is a dense floral design of various flowers of the so-called ‘quatre fleurs’ style emerging from a leafy tuft. The flat rim is decorated with a stylised Chinese wave-and-rock motif.","type":"Ottoman ceramics","holder":"Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities (Medelhavsmuseet).","owner":"National Museum of Fine Arts, Stockholm. In order to reorganise the expanding collections, the main part of the Islamic collection has been on permanent loan to the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities since 1982.","dates":"Hegira last quarter of 10th century / AD last quarter 16th century.","location":"Stockholm","dimensions":"Height 5.5 cm, diameter 30.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"The 'quatre fleurs' style was a development of the second half of the 10th / 16th century, and the feathered *saz* leaves combined with flowering sprays was a development of the last quarter of that century. The dish seems to be not later than the 10th / 16th century because of the careful painted design and the fine quality of its glaze and colours.","method_for_provenance":"The floral decoration and the shape are both specific for Iznik ceramics.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Purchased with government funds from the collection of F. R. Martin.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N. and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989.  \nCarswell, J., *Iznik Pottery*, London, 1998.  \nMüller-Wiener, M., *Türkisch-Osmanische Keramik*, Traunstein, 2004.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Friederike Voigt","copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","Dish","floral decoration","Plate"],"materials":["Ceramic","painted and glazed."]},"313aa86d-6ad7-502e-9d04-bd9dbded6167":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"The bowl shows a deer walking amongst flowering plants. Below its hooves are two fish decorated in blue. The lustre is light brown, enriched by blue underlinings.","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 6th–7th century / AD 12th–13th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Diameter max 15.5 cm","provenance":"Iran (Kashan)","keywords":["ceramic","lustre","pottery"],"materials":["Frit body","lustre decoration"]},"315f5403-c2b3-5aaf-8a31-139f4ec1548a":{"name":"*Reposadero* or vat-base","description":"It has a cylindrical, hollow body with a straight base and a square-shaped rim, featuring a hole that would have served as a conduit for drainage. Both the base and the rim are slightly concave, the latter also has a whitish colour that could be interpreted as calcareous remains.  \n  \nThe decoration is concentrated on the wall and consists of an epigraphic frieze between concave mouldings with marked edges. The central frieze is stamped with the inscription al-mulk with a six-pointed star positioned above the “m”.  \nFunctionally, the objects are known as *reposaderos* and served as supports for large water vats, which were both placed either in the courtyard or in domestic interiors. They preserved the water from impurities and kept it fresh, while also collecting any oozes liquid. By the spout of the *reposadero*, the water was transferred to basins or other vessels and could be used for washing hands or for human consumption. Furthermore, the stamped decoration, which repeats the word \"*al-mulk*\" or \"the power\", alludes to prophylactic practices of protection and praise of God.","type":"*Reposadero* or Vat-base","holder":"National Archaeological Museum","initial_owner":"Unknown","dates":"Second half of Hegira 6th century / AD 12th century","location":"Madrid","dimensions":"Height: 13cm, mouth diameter: 27cm, Base diameter: 23.5cm","place_of_production":"Al-Andalus","method_for_datation":"Art-historical and archaeological studies have demonstrated the proliferation of different types of *reposaderos* in the domestic environments of al-Andalus from the end of the Hegira 6th / AD 12th and beginning of the Hegira 7th / AD 13th centurycenturies, following oriental models (Navarro 1995). This coincides with the generalisation of stamped decoration on ceramics for everyday use.","provenance":"Málaga","obtention":"In the Museum's collection before 1980.","bibliography":"Fernández López, M. Á., “El ajuar cerámico andalusí de almacenamiento de agua en la región de Murcia”, in L. Cara Barrionuevo (ed), *El agua en zonas áridas. Arqueología e historia. Hidráulica tradicional de la provincia de Almería*, Instituto de Estudios Almerienses, 1989: 199-225.  \n  \nNavarro Palazón, J. and Jiménez Castillo, P., “Maquetas arquitectónicas en cerámica y su relación con la arquitectura andalusí”, in J. Navarro Palazón (ed.), *Casas y palacios en Al-Andalus: siglos XII-XIII*, Madrid: Lunweg, 1995: 287-230.","author":"Helena Lahoz Kopiske","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","keywords":["Conservation","Household goods","Prophylactic practices","Technology","water"],"materials":["Ceramic","firing","modelling","stamping"]},"3161f51d-fb30-50db-966e-808b130d86d6":{"name":"Glazed bowl.","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.","short_description":"Bowl 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.","type":"Bowl, ceramic","holder":"Mértola Museum.","dates":"Hegira second half of 6th century / AD second half of 12th century.","location":"Mértola., Beja.","dimensions":"Height 8.5 cm, diameter (of mouth) 29.2 cm, diameter (of base) 11 cm.","method_for_datation":"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).","method_for_provenance":"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.","provenance":"Almería or Málaga (Spain).","obtention":"Found in the archaeological excavations carried out by the Campo Arqueológico de Mértola in the citadel of the Castle of Mértola.","bibliography":"Gómez Martínez, S., “Catálogo da Cerâmica”, in *Museu de Mértola. Arte Islâmica*, ed. S. Macias, Mértola, 2001, p.127.  \nGrube, E., *Islamic Pottery of the Eighth to the Fifteenth Century in the Keir Collection*, London, 1976, no. 15.  \nTorres, C., “Um Lote Cerâmico da Mértola Islâmica*”*, in *I Congreso de Arqueología Medieval Española. Huesca, 1985*, Vol. IV, Saragossa, 1986, pp.193–228.  \nTorres, C. and Gómez, S., “Le Vert et Brun au Portugal”, in *Le Vert et le Brun de Kairouan à Avignon: Céramiques du Xe au XVe Siècle*,exhibition catalogue, Marseilles, 1995, pp.98–102.  \nTorres, C. and Macias, S. (eds.), *O Portugal Islâmico*, Lisbon, 1998, p.94.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_PT_EN_001","author":"Susana Gómez Martínez","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","cuerda seca","trade"],"materials":["and fired in an oxidising atmosphere","Ceramic made from a coarse-grained straw and paste mix","glazed and decorated using the cuerda seca technique throughout.","modelled on a potter’s wheel"]},"31ccdf1a-d093-5179-871e-3d968ae1f3b7":{"name":"Jugs from Tunis","description":"Purchased at the 1873 World's Fair in Vienna.","type":"Earthenware","holder":"MAK – Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art","dates":"1873","location":"Vienna","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega"},"32add590-3c53-51d7-af55-57212f399b39":{"name":"Equestrian figurine.","alternate_name":"Horseman of Raqqa.","description":"A figurine of a bearded horseman with Asian Turkoman facial features, long braided hair and a helmet. Around the right front hoof of the horse is a snake that is climbing towards the rider from his left. The snake is shown opening its mouth to bite the rider through his armour, but he repels it with his shield. He carries a straight sword lifted into the air, ready to strike. There is a grooved cylindrical column coming out of the stomach of the horse that probably supported the statue, keeping it upright. The horse wears blue reins that are executed in relief. The reins continue around the horse's mouth and hang in front of its neck, then, like a harness, run across the sides of the horse's body down to the lower part of its hind legs.  \nThe object is glazed in off-white and blue and, therefore, can be compared to the laqabi-style ware of Persia, also known to have been produced in Raqqa. Laqabi ware is often seen as luxury bowls and dishes with moulded decorations. Production probably centred on the city of Kashan in Persia. Raised areas were often coloured in bright- blue, yellow, green, purple and pink to differentiate them from the white or off-white background.","short_description":"Known as the 'Horseman of Raqqa', this masterpiece of Syrian polychrome underglaze sculptural ceramics clearly displays the influence of the Central Asian military elite on artistic taste and local production.","type":"Figurine, earthenware","holder":"National Museum of Damascus","dates":"Hegira 6th century / AD 12th century.","location":"Damascus","dimensions":"Height 46.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"The object is similar to wares produced in Persia during the Seljuq period in the 12th century; a period that saw significant trade activity and migration between Abbasid domains and those of the Seljuq and other Turkoman peoples.","method_for_provenance":"The provenance of this object is difficult to determine because there was substantial trade activity in ceramics between various centres of production and wealthy consumers. Therefore, it is impossible to determine whether it was made in Persia and imported to Raqqa, or made in Raqqa after exposure to wares from Seljuq Persia. Its “Eastern” features and its similarity to the *laqabi* wares reveals a strong Persian influence in either case.","provenance":"Possibly Raqqa region, Syria.","obtention":"Salim ‘Adil ‘Abd al-Haqq, Director General of Antiquities and Museums in the 1950s, referred to this figurine as the “Horseman of Raqqa” in the *Syrian Archaeological Annals*. It was found along with two others in a man-made pond during archaeological excavations in Raqqa. The pieces were then sold and taken to Paris where this figurine was deposited in a French bank. In 1949, after negotiations with the French government, the Horseman was returned to Syria and the National Museum of Damascus.","bibliography":"Abu al-Faraj al-Ush, M., *A Concise Guide to the National Museum of Damascus,* Damascus, 1969, p.161.  \nDelpont, E. (ed), *L'Orient de Saladin: l'art des Ayyoubides*, Paris, 2001, pp.56–8; fig. 53.  \nPapadopoulo, A., *Islam and Muslim Art*, New York, 1979, p.429; fig. 413.  \nRice, D. T., *Islamic Art*, London, 1965, p.131; fig. 131.  \nWatson, O., *Ceramics from Islamic Lands*, London, 2004, pp.56–9.","author":"Mona al-Moadin","translator":"Hilary Kalmbach (from the Arabic)","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Aleppo","ceramics","earthenware","horse","M. E. de Lorey","Paris","polychrome","Raqqa","Salim ‘Adil ‘Abd al-Haqq"],"materials":["Earthenware","polychrome painted."]},"32b27ca0-4dc2-5e4e-a170-389deebd271f":{"name":"Bowl with Design of Bird and Flowers","short_description":"A bowl made of reddish-buff clay, covered on the exterior, except for a few spots, with matt-white slip and, partially covering this, with glaze giving a creamy color. There are only traces of slip under the foot. The interior has the same cream-colored background, against which appears in profile a bird, having a green body and light brown beak, neck band, legs, and lower tail, decorated with dark brown spots, bands, and borders lightened with white dots. Additional decoration consists of three stylized flowers in the form of circular medallions, in brown and light brown with white dots as on the bird, as well as plant and tendril motifs in dark brown. This dark brown color has smeared over the background in several places. There is an incised circle around the interior of the bowl about one-third of the way up from the bottom. The bowl has been broken and mended, with some restoration in unimportant locations. Glaze and slip are missing from most of the rim.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Saint Louis Art Museum","dates":"Hegira Late 2nd to late 5th / AD 10th–11th century","location":"Saint Louis","dimensions":"Height: 7.9cm; Diameter of mouth: 20.3cm; Diameter of foot: 8.6cm","method_for_datation":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","method_for_provenance":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","provenance":"Sari or Gurgan, Iran, Asia","obtention":"Museum Purchase, 1954","keywords":["Asia","bowl","ceramics","earthenware","Fritware","Glazed","Gurgan","Iran","painted","Persian","Sari","slip"],"materials":["earthenware with white slip and polychrome slip decoration under transparent glaze","Sari ware"]},"32c00ce3-88f3-57c8-af19-222a4ef21303":{"name":"Jug","short_description":"The red slip - Armenian bole, introduced in workshops in Iznik in around 1560 – was used on this jug with a striking artistic force. The stylized tiger stripes – which together with the three spots comprise the classical chintamani pattern – hover all over the body of the jug like surrealistic lips. This pattern is found in variations on Turkish textiles and tiles.","type":"Armenian bole; Fritware, Ottoman ceramics","holder":"The David Collection","dates":"Hegira c. 980 / AD c. 1575","location":"Copenhagen","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","keywords":["16th Century Iznik ceramics","chintamani","cintamani","geometric patterns"],"materials":["Fritware","painted in black and blue and with a red slip under a transparent glaze"]},"331c01a3-c119-5130-89aa-cbfe4030819b":{"name":"Dish","short_description":"This deep dish features a spectacular centrally developed composition with four cusped medallions, stylized flowers, leaves and *çintamani* motifs. In combination with a restrained, yet impressive colour palette of dark blue, olive green and purple tones under transparent smoothly glittering glaze the décor can be considered as representing the so-called \"Damascus\" style in Iznik production, known for the first half and middle of the 16th century.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"The Khanenko Museum","dates":"First half–mid AD 16th century","location":"Kyiv","dimensions":"Height: 6.5cm, Diameter: 28cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis by Yu. Miller (publication, 1972, date, origin).","method_for_provenance":"According to the entry in the old Museum Inventory Register (1925-1946).","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey","obtention":"Purchased by Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko. Donated by Varvara Khanenko in 1918, nationalized by Bolshevik regime in 1919.","bibliography":"Carswell, John, *Iznik Pottery*, London: British Museum Press, 1998.  \nDenny, W. B., *Iznik: the Artistry of Ottoman Ceramics*, London: Thames and Hudson, 2004.  \nMiller, Yu, *Art of Turkish Ceramics*, Leningrad: Aurora Publishing House, 1972.  \nRudyk, Hanna, \"Ottoman Collection in The Khanenko Museum\", *Chronicles-2000*, 1: 95 (2013): 479-495.  \nVyazmitina, M. (ed), *Mystetstvo krain islamu (Art from Islamic Countries)*, catalogue, VUAN Museum of Art, Kyiv: All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, 1930.","author":"Antonina Makarevych","copy_editor":"Janice Medina","keywords":["ceramics","Dish","Iznik","Ottoman","stonepaste","Turkey"],"materials":["polychrome painted under transparent glaze","Stonepaste"]},"3370d63a-72ba-5b91-9038-50aa7d903914":{"name":"Hookah bottle","short_description":"The new resurgence of lustre décor in Iranian ceramics took place in AD 17th century as a part of a general revival of culture and arts in the Safavid Iran. The patronage of the Iranian elite, who were fascinated with the splendour of Seljuq and Ilkhanid luxurious tableware, played a key role in the new renaissance of the tradition. The 17th century brought innovations to both the technology and the style of Iranian lustre painting. The stonepaste body became significantly whiter and denser in texture. The composition and quality of glaze also improved. Applied freely and richly on the surfaces of ceramic ware the lustre décor resembled in style the ornamentation on margins of books or album folios. In the repertoire of motifs, human figures have given way to floral patterns and landscapes, sometimes including animals. The garden, as a place of bodily solace and spiritual meditation, and a reminder of the heavenly Paradise promised by the Qur'an, became the key topic of the day. This small hookah bottle in a form of a gourd is a fine example of a new style of lustre painting. In its lower part birds and antelopes enliven favourite Safavid garden and flower motifs.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"The Khanenko Museum","dates":"AD 17th century","location":"Kyiv","dimensions":"Height: 14.5cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis by I. Rapoport (examination, 1966, date, origin), H. Rudyk (publication, 2017, date specified).","method_for_provenance":"According to the entry in the old Museum Inventory Register (1925-1946).","provenance":"Iran","obtention":"Purchased by Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko. Donated by Varvara Khanenko in 1918, nationalized by Bolshevik regime in 1919.","bibliography":"Bilenko, H. and Rudyck (Rudyk), H., *Oriental Collection*, guidebook, Kyiv: The Khanenko Museum, 2005.  \nFehérvári, G., *Ceramics of the Islamic World in the Tareq Rajab Museum*, London: I. B. Tauris, 2000.  \nGolombek, L. and Mason, R. B., et al, *Persian Pottery in the First Global Age: The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries*, Leiden: Brill, 2013.  \nRudyk, H. (ed), *Charisma of Iran. Persian art of 12th–19th centuries from museum collections of Ukraine*, Kyiv: The Khanenko Museum, 2017.  \nWatson, O., *Persian Lustre Ware*, London: Faber and Faber, 1985.","author":"Antonina Makarevych","copy_editor":"Janice Medina","keywords":["ceramics","Iran","lustre","Safavid","stonepaste"],"materials":["painted in brown lustre on opaque white glaze","Stonepaste"]},"342ee59b-7d81-5295-82a8-47424a4bc175":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"The bowl is decorated in a golden brown lustre. Four seated figures are divided by a cross decorated with floral motif. The bowl is an example of the monumental style of Kashan.","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 6th–7th century / AD 12th–13th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Diameter max 15.7 cm","provenance":"Iran (Kashan)","keywords":["ceramic","lustre","pottery"],"materials":["Frit body","lustre decoration"]},"343d8541-3a84-5139-8263-7b4033cb1128":{"name":"Footed dish","short_description":"Attributed to the “Gurgan hoard” in the past, this rimmed flat dish rests on three feet shaped as crowned sphinxes. The central field shows the depiction of an elephant carrying a palanchin (*hawda*) with a veiled figure, most likely a lady. Such theme is not unusual, and speaks of the intense political and cultural contacts with South Asia at that time. It may be an allusion to the story of Bahram Gur and Sapinud, his Indian bride, from the *Shahnameh*.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira 611 / AD 1214","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Height: 8.8 cm, width: 20.6 cm, depth: 20.6 cm","provenance":"Iran, Kashan","obtention":"Gurgan excavations, Iran 1940s; Maximo Etchecopar Collection, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Jacques O. Matossian Collection, Cairo,  \nEgypt; Bonhams London, 2004, Private Sale; sold to Qatar Museums","bibliography":"Al Khemir, Sabiha, *From Cordoba To Samarqand, Masterpieces from the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha*, Milan: Musée du Louvre Editions, 2006.  \n  \nGonnella, Julia, et al., *Museum of Islamic Art: The Collection,* London: Thames & Hudson, 2022.  \n  \nSeipel, Joseph H., *God is Beautiful and Loves Beauty: The object in Islamic Art and Culture*, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013.  \n  \nWatson, Oliver, *Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar*, Munich: Prestel Verlag, 2008.","author":"Nicoletta Fazio","keywords":["calligraphy","ceramics","Dish","figural motifs","human representation","inscription","Kashan","Muhammad ibn Abi Tahir","Women depiction"],"materials":["Fritware","Glaze","Glazing","Lustre","Lustre Painting","Modeled"]},"34b7383a-e91d-5809-bda8-eee33a4a76ad":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"Earthenware bowl with straight flaring walls and flat base covered with a white engobe inscribed in black *kufic* script on the interior wall: \"Generosity is a virtue of the Dwellers of Paradise.\"","type":"Vessels & receptacles, earthenware","holder":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah","dates":"Hegira 5th century / AD 11th century","location":"Kuwait City","provenance":"East Iranian World","keywords":["calligraphy","earthenware","Engobe","inscription","kufic"]},"35b02f89-4d68-5272-8b1d-532de4511f6a":{"name":"Pottery coffee-cup from Saudi Arabia","description":"Cups like these were used predominantly to serve both *qishr* a drink made from the outer shells of coffee beans flavoured with cardamom or cinnamon as well as coffee made from toasted and ground coffee beans. They were frequently glazed in shades of green and yellow. Earthenware cups such as these were gradually replaced by finer porcelain cups during the middle and later parts of the 20th century.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"The British Museum","dates":"1900–1930","location":"London","provenance":"Saudi Arabia."},"35db2984-a03d-5306-8b35-2d8015d48fc3":{"name":"Dish.","description":"A shallow, footed, stone-paste (fritware) dish belonging to the group of so-called 'Iznik'-style ceramics although its place of production was Damascus in Syria. The pale apple-green colouring – not the emerald-green of Iznik – is one of the distinctive features of this group of Damascus-produced 'Iznik' ceramics. This shallow dish is mounted on a cylindrical foot that flares slightly at the base. Both the underside of the dish and the surface of the foot are decorated. The pattern comprises a free naturalistic spray of pale aubergine-purple carnations, with pale apple-green stems and blue leaves. Two simple and very thin geometric bands surround the rim of the dish. The underside is decorated with four blue and green flower sprays, and the foot of the dish is decorated with a band of alternating blue flowers with green leaves.  \n  \nOttoman architectural projects in Syria during the AH 950s / AD 1550s encouraged the establishment or an Iznik-offshoot ceramic-tiles industry in Damascus. Ceramic tiles were produced to decorate the Sulaymaniya Mosque, the Selimiye Madrasa, the Darwishiya Mosque and Shrine, the Sinaniye Mosque, and the Zawiya of Sa'd al-Din. These same tile-manufacturing workshops soon began to make tablewares too. It is thought that the potters recruited to decorate the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (completed in AH 963 / AD 1556), remained in Syria and played a role in the development of this local Syrian style of 'Iznik' ceramics.","short_description":"When the Ottomans embarked on architectural projects in Syria, they set up potteries in Damascus to produced ceramic tiles for these monuments. The potters were resettled in Damascus for this purpose. In addition to tiles, a whole range of vessels including this dish was produced in the Iznik style.","type":"Ottoman ceramic, stonepaste","holder":"Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira 950–55 / AD 1545–50.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"Diameter 30 cm, height 12 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis: the pale apple-green colour is a distinctive feature of 'Iznik'-style ceramics made in Damascus during the 950s / 1550s.","method_for_provenance":"The pale apple-green colour is a distinctive feature of 'Iznik'-style ceramics made in Damascus during the 950s / 1550s.","provenance":"Damascus, Syria.","obtention":"Donated to the Museum in 1903.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N. and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1994.  \nLane, A., *Later Islamic Pottery: Persia, Syria, Egypt, Turkey*, London, 1971.  \nRosser-Owen, *A Web-Based Teaching Course on Islamic Ceramics*, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, 2002.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["domestic pottery","floral decoration"],"materials":["green and purple under a transparent glaze.","Stone-paste (fritware) painted blue"]},"3618877a-1f1a-5330-864f-53d4725fe233":{"name":"*Mokhfia* conical dish","description":"This *mokhfia*, a conical dish on a short pedestal, is polychrome earthenware, with a design known as “turtle”. The example is characteristic of Moroccan ceramics in its shape and decoration.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museum of the Arab World Institute","initial_owner":"Catherine Dolla","dates":"Hegira 2nd quarter of 14th century / AD first quarter of the 20th century","location":"Paris","dimensions":"Dimension: 30cm","provenance":"Fes, Morocco","obtention":"Gift of Catherine Dolla.","translator":"Judy Harter","materials":["Clay","design painted under glaze"]},"36296e8f-2a4c-530e-a3d7-17c1732ee3a5":{"name":"Jug.","description":"The body of this jug is elaborately decorated with a fish-scale patterned background upon which are arranged large white flowers with rosettes. The colourful palette of green, red, white and blue with black outlines on the outside of the jug, is contrasted by the plain white interior. The jug has an 'S-shaped' handle, and the neck of the jug is framed with two bands of geometrical ribbons. The jug can be specifically dated to the last quarter of the AH 10th / 16th century due to its colouring and style: the bright emerald green was used extensively from AH 977/ AD 1570; and the use of white highlights on the tips of the fish-scales was another common convention during the period. The use of fish-scales in decorating Iznik ceramics was a local innovation, first appearing on the fish motif in around AH 926/ AD 1520, and then subsequently used as background decoration and to fill-in other decorative objects such as pomegranates, clouds, and some floral shapes. The jug belongs to the so-called third phase of production (about AH 956–1111/ AD 1550–1700), when there were some 300 potters engaged in the manufacture of Iznik vessels and tiles.","short_description":"The ingenious fish-scale pattern on this jug is a local innovation by Iznik potters, which first appeared around AH 926 / AD 1520 on a ceramic fish motif, and was then used as background decoration or to fill in the surfaces of a variety of patterns including pomegranates, clouds and flowers.","type":"Ottoman ceramic, fritware","holder":"Burrell Collection, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira last quarter of the 10th century / AD last quarter of the 16th century.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 26.6 cm.","method_for_datation":"Artistic analysis: the jug can be specifically dated to the last quarter of the 10th / 16th century due to its colouring and style. For example the bright emerald- green was used extensively from 977 / 1570, while the use of a white highlight on the tip of the fish-scale pattern was another common convention during this period.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Part of the collection given to the City of Glasgow by Sir William and Lady Burrell in 1944.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1994.  \n  \nCarswell, J., *Iznik Pottery*, London, 1998.  \n  \nLane, A., *Later Islamic Pottery, Persia, Syria, Egypt, Turkey*, London, 1971.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Domestic wares","floral decoration","water"],"materials":["Lead-glazed fritware covered with slip and polychrome colours."]},"36b1f585-6689-57a6-af25-716c209224fe":{"name":"Funerary stele ‘with ears’.","description":"Fired-clay moulded funerary stele with a rectangular lower and rounded upper part and two appendages. It has been treated with an opaque, shiny tin glaze on to which the geometrical decoration and inscription in *kufic* characters has been applied using the metallic highlighting technique.  \nThe piece may have been mounted on the cresting of a funerary monument or fixed directly into the ground at the head of a grave.  \nIn al-Andalus, in accordance with Islam's sense of equality, tombs were characterised by their great simplicity. Nonetheless, we still find different types of burial. The most modest graves were usually marked with a single rough, unworked headstone, while stelae of a different type were used for people of higher social standing.  \nPieces of glazed and gilded clay were also produced for burials. Some are simple rectangular bricks, but the most important are the ones known as 'stelae with ears', which are made up of a rectangular part, the unglazed base of which was fixed into the ground, and a rounded part with two appendages, or 'ears', on top, hence the name. Some are tin glazed with an inscription in gold or cobalt on the front and a plant motif or 'hand of Fatima' (*hamza*) on the back.","short_description":"Funerary stele typical of the Kingdom of Granada said to have ‘ears’ due to the two appendages sticking out of the upper part. Sadly, some of its rich lustre decoration on a white base has been lost.","type":"Funerary stele, ceramic","holder":"National Archaeological Museum.","dates":"Hegira 9th century / AD 15th century.","location":"Madrid","dimensions":"Height 30 cm, width 14 cm, depth 5 cm.","method_for_datation":"Parallels with similar pieces, kept in Huelva and the Institute of Valencia de Don Juan (Madrid), catalogued by Martínez Caviro as Nasrid from the 9th / 15th century.","method_for_provenance":"The piece is from Gibralfaro (Malaga), whose castle, built in the 8th / 14th century by Yusuf I (r. 734–55 / 1333–54), was built on top of an existing building erected by Badis al-Muzaffar (reign AH ?–465 / AD ?–1073) of the Zirid dynasty of Granada. From the 7th / 13th century, Malaga is mentioned in Arab sources as an important centre for the production of gold highlights.","provenance":"Gibralfaro, Malaga, Spain.","obtention":"The piece was donated to the National Archaeological Museum in 1894.","bibliography":"Camps Cazorla, E., *Cerámica Hispanomusulmana*, Madrid, 1936, p.26.  \n*Creencias y Ritos Funerarios*, Guías Didácticas del Museo Arqueológico Nacional coord. A. García Blanco and C. Padilla Montoya.Serie Temas 1, Madrid, 1995, p.26.  \nMartínez Caviró, B., *Cerámica Hispanomusulmana Andalusí y Mudéjar*, Madrid, 1991, p.82.","author":"Margarita Sánchez Llorente","copy_editor":"Rosalía Aller","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","funerary inscription","funerary object","funerary stele","Gibralfaro","Glaze","gold highlights","gravestone","Malaga","Nasrids","tomb"],"materials":["Ceramic","Glazing","gold highlights.","moulding"]},"370c5dcb-5b24-584f-9109-fe182b74b751":{"name":"Long-necked amphora","description":"This long-necked terracotta amphora from 19th-century Algeria is a prime example of impressive Kabyle pottery. These large terracotta amphorae are distinguished by their elongated necks, multilinear decorations, and distinctive horned handles.  \nEven today, Kabyle women continue the tradition of coil-building and mould pattern techniques, decorating pottery with intricate geometric designs for household use.  \nSkilled artisans create vessels of diverse sizes and shapes for storing water, milk, and oil, and for cooking and dining. The amphora’s decorative motifs, in black and brick red on a yellow slip, under a glaze, bear profound symbolic significance within Amazigh culture. These patterns, deeply ingrained in the Kabyle tradition, include a distinctive U-shaped design at the centre of the vessel that corresponds to the letter \"ⵓ\" in the Amazigh language, pronounced \"oo\" as in \"moo\". This symbolises either the moon, representing female fertility, or a horseshoe, symbolising fidelity.
The firing process not only ensures the vessel’s durability, but also enhances the vibrant colours of the glazes, showcasing the exceptional skill and craftsmanship of Kabyle artisans. These artefacts speak to the cultural heritage and linguistic richness of the Amazigh people.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum","owner":"His Excellency Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani","dates":"Hegira 13th century / AD 19th century","location":"Doha, Qatar","dimensions":"Height: 40cm, length: 20cm","place_of_production":"Algeria","method_for_datation":"The date and origin were established in research-based comparison from an examination of material, techniques, style and analogies.","method_for_provenance":"Provenance was established in research-based comparison from an examination of material, techniques, style and analogies.","provenance":"Algeria","obtention":"Purchased","author":"Mahmoud Saber","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","keywords":["Algeria","Amazigh","amphora","ceramic","Glaze","Kabylie","pottery","Terracotta"],"materials":["Glazed","painted","Terracotta"]},"37eeebe2-30b7-5a11-b819-7445bc61c961":{"name":"Tile","description":"Large rectangular ceramic plaque in a vertical arrangement. Its outer surface is completely covered with a symmetrical decoration based on scrolls twisted around themselves, from which different types of leaves emerge. The coat of arms of the Banda, characteristic of the Nasrid monarchy, is also found throughout the composition, flanked on all occasions by a pair of wading birds. The upper part and the right-hand side are framed by a gold herringbone motif, and the fact that the left-hand and lower sides do not have this border suggests that it was part of a larger ensemble. All the decoration on the tile is in blue, yellow and gold on a white background, although due to a manufacturing defect, the blue has run on part of the surface.  \n  \nWithin this cultural context, water plays a prominent role in Andalusian architecture, often serving as a common thread. Present in numerous texts of Islamic sacred literature, it is presented as a symbol of life itself, thus reflecting the architectural design of the palace. We see it in ponds, fountains and irrigation channels with a practical, symbolic and aesthetic function, intertwining with the vegetation and evoking paradise. In this case, we are looking at a tile that was possibly used for a door jamb or a window frame, in which water is present indirectly, but its evocation is still clear: wading birds, vegetation and bluish tones contribute to an iconographic programme that revolves around this element.","type":"Architectural ceramic","holder":"National Archaeological Museum","owner":"Spanish State","initial_owner":"Private collection","dates":"AH 9th / AD 15th century.","location":"Madrid","dimensions":"Length: 114cm, width: 57cm, depth: 4.8cm","place_of_production":"Al-Andalus","method_for_datation":"Comparative study with other similar pieces and iconographic analysis.","method_for_provenance":"Formal parallels, historical-artistic study.","provenance":"Jaén","obtention":"Acquired in 1949 by Alejandro Navarro.","bibliography":"BERMÚDEZ LÓPEZ, J., ‘El marco histórico del Emirato Nazarí’, en *Cerámica Nazarí. Contextos y proyección*, Granada: Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife, 2024: 34, fig.5, 291.  \n  \nFRANCO MATA, A. ‘Azulejo’, en *Los jarrones de la Alhambra: simbología y poder*, Granada: Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife, 2006: 208-209.  \n  \nGALVÁN, Mª L., ‘Azulejo hispanoárabe’, *Memorias de los Museos Provinciales*, Vol. XV: 60-62, Lam. XXXVI-XXXVII (1954).","workshop":"Unknown","author":"Paula Pagés Alonso","translator":"Dept. of Medieval Antiquities of the MAN","translation_copy_editor":"Judy Harter","keywords":["azulejo","Cerámica arquitectónica","Escudo de la Banda."],"materials":["Tin-glazed pottery decorated with metallic sheen and cobalt blue"]},"384dcfe8-dbaa-5658-9b1b-12f3a00fa9a4":{"name":"Frieze tile","short_description":"The tile modelled in the form of a rectangle (almost a square) is adorned with a large cobalt-blue inscription in Persian standing out against a background of dense lustre-painted decor of floral curls, leaves, arabesques, birds and hares. At the top runs a border of relief palmette-patterned band. The tile once formed a part of a gorgeous frieze on walls of some early 14th century Ilkhanid palace. The art of lustre painting on ceramics was mastered by Iranian potters of Kashan in late 12th century. The technique involved application of metal-based pigment over already glazed and fired vessel.","type":"Tile; Ceramics","holder":"The Khanenko Museum","owner":"The Khanenko Museum","dates":"AD early 14th century","location":"Kyiv","dimensions":"Length: 34cm, Width: 35.5cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis by H. Rudyk (publication, 2006, date, origin).","method_for_provenance":"Publication of Vera Krachkovskaya (1927). Old Museum Inventory Register (1925-1946).","provenance":"Kashan, Iran","obtention":"Purchased by Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko. Donated by Varvara Khanenko in 1918, nationalised by Bolshevik regime in 1919.","bibliography":"Bilenko, H. and Rudyck (Rudyk), H., *Oriental Collection*, guidebook, Kyiv: The Khanenko Museum, 2005.  \nKrachkovskaya, V., \"Musulmsnskoye iskusstvo v sobranii Khanenko (Muslim Art from the Khanenkos' Collection)\", in Bartold V.V. (ed), *Zapyski Kollegii Vostokovedov (Notes of the College of Orientalists)* at Asian Museum of USSR Academy of Sciences, Vol II, Leningrad: USSR Academy of Sciences, 1927.  \nKomaroff, L. and Carboni, S., (eds), *The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256–1353*, New York: The Metropolitan Museum, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002.  \nMason, R., *Shine Like the Sun: Lustre-Painted and Associated Pottery from the Medieval Middle East*, Biblioteca Iranica: Islamic Art and Architecture Series 12, Costa Mesa: Mazda Pub, 2004.  \nRudyk, Hanna, \"Lustrovana keramika Iranu 12-14 stolit z kolektsii muzeu Hanenkiv\" (\"12th-14th century Lustre ceramics of Iran in the Khanenko Museum Collection\"), *Oriental World (Shidnyi svit)*, 1 (2006): 135-136.","author":"Antonina Makarevych","copy_editor":"Janice Medina","keywords":["ceramics","Ilkhanid","Iran","lustre","tile"],"materials":["in-glaze painted in blue and turquoise","modelled","over-glaze lustre-painted","Stonepaste"]},"3863e32d-5905-504c-b6f3-2271051d2c51":{"name":"Dish with imaginary animal.","description":"The dish, with curved sides, an out-curving brim and a ring-base, is decorated with a large, winged, imaginary animal with a bird’s head. It is notable that the motif of the imaginary animal is extremely frequent in the different manifestations of Islamic art, being associated with magic and apotropaism.  \nA band adorned with peacock eyes runs along the length of the body, a motif that covers practically the entire surface of the huge wing, suggesting feathers. On the base there are small *kufic* inscriptions of the *baraka* (blessing) and *lisahibihi* ‘to the owner’) type. Large lance-shaped leaves masked from the unbroken lustre base decorate the brim of the dish. An inscription containing the word *baraka* can be read below the foot.","short_description":"This plate, decorated with animal motifs and *kufic* inscriptions on the bottom, includes a type of inscription uncommon in this sort of object.","type":"Dish, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”","dates":"Hegira 4th century / AD 10th century.","location":"Rome","dimensions":"Height 6 cm, diameter 26.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"The dish is an excellent example of Iraqi production of monochrome lusterware from the 4th / 10th century.","provenance":"Iraq.","obtention":"Purchase.","bibliography":"Lane, A., *Early Islamic Pottery*, London, 1953.  \nPhilon, H., *Early Islamic Ceramics*, London, 1980.  \nScerrato, U., “Ceramica Irachena del IX–X Secolo”, *Serie Schede Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale* 2, Rome, 1968.","author":"Paola Torre","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["figurative decoration","imaginary animal","Iraqi ceramics","lustre","Plate","zoomorphic imagery"],"materials":["Ceramic painted with metallic lustre."]},"38793766-f653-5775-9feb-93b915baf247":{"name":"Ewer","description":"A ceramic ewer with a transparent turquoise glaze, painted in black and blue, in the form of a rooster. Composed of a base, body, neck, spout and handle, it is decorated with vegetal motifs. The circular base, which is smaller than the body, is glazed and undecorated. The body is pear-shaped, and adorned with vegetal motifs in black. The decoration begins at the lower body with a three-petaled leaf surmounted by a wide band, while the rest of the surface is adorned with vegetal designs composed of twisting branches sprouting bud-shaped leaves and half-palmettes. A plain band separates the body from the neck, which is short, cylindrical and decorated with impressed dots. Above it rises the spout in the form of a rooster’s head, featuring a comb, beak and circular eyes.","type":"Ewer","holder":"Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum FBQ Museum","dates":"AH 7th century / AD 13th century","location":"Ash-Shahaniyah, Qatar","dimensions":"Diameter: 45cm, length: 28cm","provenance":"Kashakn, Iran","copy_editor":"Zeina Al Amad","keywords":["ceramic","ewer","water"],"materials":["Ceramic/Mold-formed","with underglaze decoration in black beneath a turquoise glaze"]},"3879f402-ef45-5009-af10-a145fd162aa2":{"name":"Bowl.","description":"A bowl on a high foot-ring, painted in lustre on a white clay slip. The interior is decorated with a bold design of a robed and hooded figure, traditionally thought to be a Coptic priest, carrying a lamp or censer. Beside him stands an object often thought to be a cypress tree, but sometimes interpreted as an *ankh* or ‘key of life’ cross, an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic sign which the Copts adapted for Christian use. The priest’s robe, his lamp, and the tree are all decorated with thin white lines scratched through the lustre to create spirals and other motifs. On the outside of the bowl, the word ‘Sa‘d’’ is written twice in *kufic* script. Oddly, the word is written in reverse, i.e. beginning with the last letter. It is unclear whether the word is a blessing (‘good luck, good fortune’) or whether it is the name of a particular craftsman or workshop. It appears on a group of similar Fatimid ceramics over a number of decades during the reign of the Caliph al-Mustansir (AH 427–87 / AD 1035–94).","short_description":"A footed bowl painted in lustre with a picture of a robed and hooded figure holding a lamp or censer. He is a Coptic Christian priest, and his presence on such a fine object suggests the importance of this community in Fatimid Egypt.","type":"Painted glazed ceramic","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum.","dates":"About hegira 427–87/ AD 1035–94.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 9.8 cm, diameter 22.1 cm.","method_for_datation":"This bowl belongs to a group of objects which all have the word ‘Sa‘d’ painted on them. These have been assigned to the reign of the Fatimid Caliph al-Mustansir based on comparisons with other media such as textiles.","method_for_provenance":"Cairo was the Fatimid capital and thus the likeliest place that an object of such quality would have been made.","provenance":"Probably Cairo, Egypt.","obtention":"In 1910 the art collector Dikran Garabed Kelekian placed his collection of Islamic ceramics on loan to the V&A.  Fifteen of the finest pieces, including this bowl, were purchased by the Museum (with the assistance of the National Art Collections Fund) after Kelekian’s death.","bibliography":"Caiger-Smith, A., Tin-Glaze Pottery in Europe and the Islamic World, London, 1973, p.37 and plate B.  \n  \nContadini, A., Fatimid Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1998, p.86.  \n  \nJenkins, M. \"Sa‘d: Content and Context,\" Content and Context of the Visual Arts in the Islamic World (ed. P. Soucek), Pennsylvania and London, 1988, pp.67–75 and fig. 6.  \n  \nSoustiel, J., La céramique islamique, Fribourg, 1985, p.133 no. 148.  \n  \nStanley, T., with Rosser-Owen, M. and Vernoit, S., Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Middle East, London, 2004, pp.118–22.","author":"Barry Wood","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Christian themes","figurative decoration"],"materials":["Painted glazed ceramic."]},"3952b5cc-0d6e-5e06-abfd-90c66456d559":{"name":"Bowl with a throne scene","short_description":"The bowl is decorated in the *mina´i* technique, a term from the word meaning enamel. It features a seated figure on a throne surrounded by courtiers on horseback on a turquoise background. The *mina´i* technique flourished in Iran during the period before the Mongol invasion. Themes on such pottery are reminiscent of manuscript paintings.","type":"Bowl, Seljuq ceramics, fritware","holder":"Benaki Museum","dates":"Hegira 6th-7th century / AD 12th-13th century","location":"Athens","dimensions":"Diameter 19.5 cm","provenance":"Iran","keywords":["bowl","figural motifs","Fritware","Iran","Minai"],"materials":["Frit ware with enamel decoration"]},"397a2148-9a53-51ba-993d-0df58995eb61":{"name":"Tile","short_description":"In 1517, when Syria became part of the Ottoman empire, the great history of ceramics was over. But domestic and architectural ceramics arose, strongly influenced by Iznik, and much needed for numerous new buildings and renovations.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"MAK – Museum of Applied Arts","dates":"16th century","location":"Vienna","dimensions":"Diameter: 20.2cm","provenance":"Syria, Damascus","obtention":"Assumption","bibliography":"Noever, Peter (ed), *Global:Lab: Kunst als Botschaft. Asien und Europa 1500-1700, Exh. cat. Museum of Applied Arts Vienna*, Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2009.","catalogue_holding_link":"https://sammlung.mak.at/sammlung_online?id=collect-46294","author":"Mio Wakita-Elis","keywords":["ceramic","Iznik","Syria","tile"],"materials":["Ceramic with painting in cobalt blue under the glaze"]},"39ef25b0-8d27-55d5-b4e9-761de510e7f7":{"name":"Bath scraper","description":"This object has been associated with a series of bath scrapers and pumice stones attributed to the Middle East of the AH 5th–6th / AD 11th–12th centuries. They were moulded in a variety of geometric shapes displaying animals in profile or facing each other.  \n  \nThis piece shows two birds symmetrically placed around a central axis created by their almost-touching beaks, wings, and tails, along with decorative drop-shape motifs. Their bodies and legs face outward, creating a dynamic composition.  \n  \nThis piece is left untreated to allow its abrasive surface to act as an exfoliating tool used in hammam rituals of purification of the skin.","type":"Ceramic object","holder":"Institute of the Arab World","dates":"AH 5th-6th  / AD 11th - 12th century","location":"Paris","dimensions":"10.5cm","place_of_production":"Middle East","obtention":"Gift, 1994","bibliography":"Boghanim, H. and Carayon, A., *Parfums d'Orient*, Paros: Skira, 2023: p.123.","author":"Dounia Handis","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","keywords":["bath scraper","Hammam","water"],"materials":["Unglazed clay with modeled decoration and slip"]},"3a31c191-2d71-5f90-af12-d4c3fb392a26":{"name":"Glazed bowl with cobalt-blue and green decoration","description":"This high-walled straight bowl has a painted cobalt-blue and green decoration on a white opaque glaze. It has a repeated geometric pattern of alternating blue vertical lines and green shapes. The shape of this bowl and the colours used are highly typical of early Abbasid decorated glazed wares and were originally inspired by AH 2nd-3d / AD 7th–8th-century Chinese ceramics.","type":"Container","holder":"National Museum of Qatar","owner":"National Museum of Qatar","initial_owner":"Qatar Museums","dates":"AH late 2nd to late 3rd century / AD late 8th to late 9th century","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Height: 11.5cm, diameter: 17.5cm","place_of_production":"Iraq/Iran","method_for_datation":"Stratigraphy/scientific analysis.","method_for_provenance":"Stratigraphy/scientific and laboratory analysis.","provenance":"Murwab, Qatar","obtention":"Archaeological excavation.","bibliography":"Carvajal Lopez, J., Guerin, A., and Georgakopoulou, M., \"Petrographic analysis of ceramics of Murwab, an early islamic site in Qatar\", Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 51 (2022): 55–70.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Preliminary pottery study: Murwab horizon in progress, ninth century AD, Qatar\", in Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 40 (2010): 17–34.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Territory and settlement patterns during the Abbasid period (ninth century AD): the village of Murwab (Qatar)\", Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 39 (2009): 181–196.  \n  \nHardy-Guilbert, Cl., \"Fouilles archéologiques a Murwab, Qatar\", in R. Boucharlat et J.-F. Salles (eds.), Arabie Orientale, Mésopotamie et Iran méridional: De l’Age du Fer au début de la période islamique, Paris: ERC 37, 1984: 169–188.  \n  \nKnuth, E., \"An Early Islamic fort and settlement at Murwab”, in F. Hojlund (ed.), Danish Archaeological Investigations in Qatar 1956–1974, Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 97 (2017): 83–98.","author":"Alexandrine Guerin","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","keywords":["blue cobalt glaze","bowl","earthenware","Tableware"],"materials":["Glazed earthenware"]},"3a53b8ae-2e60-593a-a1f3-818f2f859a44":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"When Iraqi potters discovered the white-glazed pottery, later known as faience, they also began to use the luster technique. Luster consists of metal oxides applied to pottery that has already been fired. The piece is re-fired at a lower temperature in a reduced-oxygen atmosphere, and the thin decoration takes on a metallic look ranging from copper to gold.","type":"Bowl, earthenware","holder":"The David Collection","dates":"Hegira 3rd–4th century / AD 9th–10th century","location":"Copenhagen","provenance":"Iraq","keywords":["bowl","earthenware"],"materials":["Earthenware","painted in luster over an opaque","white glaze"]},"3ad498e2-1308-50b9-a3f2-b018a5be7ea1":{"name":"Vase","short_description":"This small vase is an example of the elaborate production developed in the Eastern Iranian world. The vase has an elegant *kufic* character inscription – incomplete probably due to a restoration intervention – which bears, in its final part, a wish \"In the name of God (for the) Blessing of its owner\".","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 4th century / AD 10th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Height 19 cm, diameter max 19 cm","provenance":"Iran (Nishapur)","keywords":["ceramic","earthenware","kufic","Samanid","slip"],"materials":["black decoration under a transparent glaze","Earthenware","white slip"]},"3b5f2dc7-2856-5500-bdbd-60cb4110286c":{"name":"Oil lamp.","description":"This lamp is composed of a cubic oil compartment without a base, perforated on the side by a large hole that extends into a wide spout. The upper surface is pierced to form a filter composed of three triangular orifices through which the oil was poured. The lamp is equipped with an annular handle that is turned upwards.  \nA mesh that absorbed oil would have emerged from the spout. This lamp would have formed part of rural daily home-wares and was used to light up houses.","short_description":"A rural domestic object, this lamp consists of a cubic reservoir with a large hole in one side that extends into a wide spout. The oil was poured in through the top, which is decorated with openwork, and the ring handle faces upwards. An oil-soaked wick would have been placed in the spout.","type":"Lamp, earthenware","holder":"National Museum of Antiquities and Islamic Arts","dates":"Hegira 405–547 / AD 1015–1152.","location":"Algiers","dimensions":"Height 4 cm, sides 4 x 5 cm, width of the spout 4.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"The lamp was found on the Hammadid site (405–547 / 1015–1152) and has characteristics of Hammadid lamps: a long spout and an annular handle turned upwards.","method_for_provenance":"The lamp was found in the Qal'at Bani Hammad.","provenance":"Qal’at Bani Hammad, Algeria.","bibliography":"Institut du Monde Arabe, *L'Algérie en héritage*, *art et histoire*, catalogue, Paris, 2003.","author":"Houria Cherid","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"Maria Vlotides","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["annular handle","Candles","Cubic oil compartment","Daily life","furnishing","Hammadid","Lamp","light","lighting","pottery","rural","rural daily-home wares","triangular orifices"],"materials":["Hand-moulded earthenware","then assembled."]},"3ba92e2d-8f97-58d9-9877-59445c525719":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"Earthenware hemispherical bowl covered with yellow engobe features a quatrefoil enclosed in a roundel (probably a blazon) and just below the rim seven evenly spaced titulatory inscriptions in *thuluth* script: \"that which was made by order the revered, the magnificent, the respected, the well-served, the honoured 'ya aysa'\".","type":"Vessels & receptacles, earthenware","holder":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah","dates":"Hegira 8th century / AD 14th century","location":"Kuwait City","provenance":"Egypt","keywords":["calligraphy","ceramic","earthenware","Engobe","inscription","Thuluth"]},"3c4c41c9-f28c-54d5-b61f-8b68bcc06432":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"This clay bowl is decorated with *kufi* calligraphy on the inner neck edge. While in Islamic pottery, one may expect an abundance of floral or geometric patterns, *kufic* ceramics feature a band of letters creating a central void.  \n  \n*Kufi* script originates from Mecca and Medina (625 AD) as one of the earliest forms of calligraphy in Islam, with its letters stretching to resemble one another.  \n  \nThis plate originates from Iran and embodies a two-fold function. At first sight, the abstract script appears as a decorative design. The second sight reveals a hidden message to decode. The inscription on this bowl would read: “Planning before work protects you from regret; prosperity and peace.”","type":"Domestic tools","holder":"FBQ Museum","owner":"Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani","dates":"12th century","location":"Shahaniya","dimensions":"Height: 9cm, Diameter: 25cm","method_for_datation":"The date and origin were derived from an examination of material, technique and calligraphy style in a research comparison with similar pottery.","method_for_provenance":"The date and origin were derived from an examination of material, technique and calligraphy style in a research comparison with similar pottery.","provenance":"Iran","obtention":"Purchase","bibliography":"Flury, S., \"The Kufic Inscriptions of Kisimkazi Mosque, Zanzibar, 500 H. (A.D. 1107)\", *Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland*, 54 : 2 (1922): 257-264.  \nPedone, S. and Cantone, V., \"The Pseudo-Kufic Ornament and the Problem of Cross-Cultural Relationships Between Byzantium and Islam\", *Opuscula Historiae Atrium*, 62 (2013): 120-136.  \nVolov, Lisa, \"Plaited Kufic on Samanid Epigraphic Pottery\", *Ars Orientalis*, 6 (1966): 107-133.","author":"Sarah Schroeder","copy_editor":"Janice Medina","keywords":["ceramic","kufic","pottery"],"materials":["Ceramic","Glazing"]},"3d81aec6-b59f-5b48-b482-d6cde0cf5bda":{"name":"Blue-and-white dish based on a Chinese model","short_description":"Chinese pottery had found its way into the Middle East before Islam, but its impact took on new importance shortly after the founding of the Abbasid Empire in 750 and the move of the capital from Syria to Iraq. Chinese shapes appeared in the 9th-century products of the kilns at Basra, Iraq, and potters emulated the white body by increasing the opacity of their glazes by adding tin. The impact of Chinese goods was especially felt during the Mongol period, when the Ilkhanids (1256–1353)—relatives of the Mongol rulers of China (Yuan dynasty 1279–1368)—ruled Iran. However, nothing compares with the overwhelming influence of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain imports on Persian pottery. From around 1600, a new boost to the porcelain trade came from the founding of the Dutch and English East Indies companies. Large quantities of porcelain, on its way to Europe from the Far East in their ships, were off-loaded in the ports of Iran. In response to this influx of Chinese porcelain, Persian potters made great efforts to simulate it.","type":"Dish","holder":"Aga Khan Museum","dates":"ca. 1640","location":"Toronto, Ontario","dimensions":"Diameter: 46.6cm","provenance":"Iran, Kerman","obtention":"Purchased at auction","workshop":"Black square potter’s mark on base","keywords":["blue","blue-and-white","chinese","Dish","Porcelain","pottery","stonepaste","underglaze","white"],"materials":["Stonepaste body","underglaze-painted with cobalt and thin black lines"]},"3e22b1c1-3e48-51e8-aa1f-07a2f91c99b3":{"name":"Star-shaped tiles.","description":"These star-shaped tiles belong to a type probably developed around the end of the AH 7th–8th / AD 13th–14th centuries commonly known as *kashi* from the most famous production centre: Kashan in central northern Iran. These tiles, used as an architectural finish, almost ‘dematerialise’ buildings with their vibrant luminosity and polychromy.  \nThe decoration is based on central animals (felines, hares, elephants, etc.) above a background entirely covered with leafy bushes. Various epigraphic motifs run along the edge, and the hare tile bears a Qur’anic inscription that reproduces Sura 110 almost in full: ‘In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful / When triumph comes from God, and victory / You will see the people embracing God’s religion in throngs / You shall glorify and praise your Lord, and implore Him for forgiveness. He is the Redeemer’ while another, decorated with an elephant and a phoenix in flight and bearing the date AH 691 (AD 1291–2), includes a quotation from Firdausi’s Shahnama about the return of Isfandiyar of Gushtasp. The inscription reads: ‘Now we must drink joyfully / As from the river comes a smell of musk / The air is full of loud cries and the land is angry / Happy is he who is content to drink’.","short_description":"These star-shaped tiles, known as *kashi* after their most important centre of production (Kashan), were combined with cross-shaped pieces and used as a luxurious wall covering in palaces.","type":"Tile, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”","dates":"Hegira 7th–8th / AD 13th–14th centuries.","location":"Rome","dimensions":"Width 21cm.","method_for_datation":"Date inscribed on one of the pieces.","method_for_provenance":"Tiles of this type were commonly produced in Kashan in Iran.","provenance":"Iran.","obtention":"Purchase.","bibliography":"Curatola, G., *Eredità dell’Islam: Arte Islamica in Italia*, Cinisello Balsamo, 1993.  \nFèhervari, G., *La Ceramica Islamica*, Milan, 1985.  \nFolsach, K. von, *Islamic Art: The David Collection*, Copenhagen, 1990.  \nGrube, E.J., *Cobalt and Lustre. The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery – The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art*, Vol. IX, London, 1994.  \nLane, A., *Early Islamic Pottery*, London, 1953.","author":"Paola Torre","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["animaldecoration","calligraphy","ceramic","figurative decoration","imaginary animal","lustre","Phoenix","tilework","zoomorphic imagery"],"materials":["Ceramic painted with metallic lustre and blue."]},"3f7c4ad7-b574-57b6-896b-0082aa3240da":{"name":"Utensils made from clay","alternate_name":"মাটির তৈজসপত্র","description":"Potters in Bangladesh traditionally craft utensils using clay, which is a readily available resource. They are widely used in traditional Bangladeshi culinary settings for eating and drinking.","type":"Kitchenware","holder":"Water Museum","dates":"21st century","location":"Pakhimara, Kuakata District, Barishal Division, Barishal","author":"ActionAid Bangladesh","copy_editor":"Zeina Al Amad","keywords":["clay","Plate","utensils","water"],"materials":["Clay"]},"3fb68c28-e2b3-5087-9283-6b67b63e3936":{"name":"Wellhead","description":"Wellhead in the shape of an external octagonal and internal semicircular prism, made of sifted reddish clay on which various decorative motifs have been stamped and complemented with green glaze. On a circular and smooth base, a prismatic shape rises, which is reinforced by the moldings that vertically decorate each of the walls, ending at the top with lobed modillions. Two decorative motifs alternate on its eight fronts. The first consists of a decoration of quadrilobed flowers included in a rhomboidal pattern, in the manner of the sebka network, all glazed in green and bordering its contours with manganese oxide. The second has a trilobed arch, whose central lobe is a sharp pointed horseshoe arch, and which houses a decoration with a mirror pseudoepigraphic motif ending in palmettes that end in a twisted stem. It ends, under the mouth of the border, with two borders: the lower one with a stamped seven-point star decoration, on which three bands with incised zig-zag lines and a central one with knife-corded thread, and the upper one contains a inscription in florid Kufic, transcribed by Sahwki Zayed (2015) as *at-tawfiq*, \"The Providence\", repeated five times on each side of the octagon. The presence of this inscription is confirmed in numerous Almohad works, and is common in the Merinid and Mudéjar works, but not in the Nasrid works. Its upper edge, thickened on the outside and rectangular in profile, is octagonal and smooth.  \n  \nSuch wellheads can be understood within the broader development of water management systems in al-Andalus. Methods and objects were introduced and disseminated to optimise the water usage, an essential resource that significantly shaped everyday life. As part of these innovations, systems for water collection, distribution, and storage were devised. Among these, wells played a key role in accessing underground water, and wellheads such as this one were installed both in public spaces and in domestic courtyards.","type":"Wellhead","holder":"National Archaeological Museum","owner":"Spanish State","initial_owner":"Unknown / Daniel Aguilera Camacho (owner of the Córdoba house)","dates":"Hegira 6th–7th century / AD 12th–13th century","location":"Madrid","dimensions":"Height: 70cm, inside diameter: 55cm, outside diameter: 70cm","place_of_production":"Córdoba (attributed)","method_for_datation":"The techniques of stamping and the *cuerda seca* technique (original and innovative technique, created in al-Andalus at the end of the 10th century that will continue to be used in later centuries), become widespread and reach their best expression in the AH 6th - 7th / AD 12th–13th centuries. Decorative motifs such as stars are frequent in pieces from the Almohad, Mudejar and Nasrid periods, throughout the AH 6th - 8th / 12th–14th centuries.","method_for_provenance":"The stamping and the dry rope techniques (which were created in al-Andalus at the end of the 10th century and would continue to be used long afterwards) became widespread and reached their best expression in the Hegira 6th–7th / AD 12th–13th centuries. Decorative motifs such as stars are frequent in pieces from the Almohad, Mudéjar and Nasrid periods throughout the Hegira 6th–8th / AD 12th–14th centuries.","provenance":"House No. 6, Ambrosio de Morales Street, Córdoba.","obtention":"Bought from the antique dealer Apolinar Sánchez Villalba in 1943.","bibliography":"Galván, M. L., “Brocal de pozo morisco”, in *Adquisiciones del Museo Arqueológico Nacional (1940-1945)*. Madrid: Aldus, S.A. Imp., 1947: 168.  \n  \nSantos Gener, S., “Nuevos brocales de pozo hispano-mahometanos”, *Boletín de la Real Academia de Ciencias Bellas Letras y Nobles Artes de Córdoba*, Año XV: No. 49 (1944): 71-86.  \n  \nBernus-Taylor, M., “Brocal de pozo”, en Marte Bernus-Taylor (Com), *Las Andalucías. De Córdoba a Damasco.* Exposition presented in the Institut du Monde Arabe from 28 November 2000 to 15 April 2001, Paris: Ed. Hazan-IMA-Fundación El Legado Andalusí, 2000: 148.  \n  \nArias Sánchez, I., “Brocal” en Félix Jiménez Villalba (Dir.), *España, encrucijada de civilizaciones*. México. Madrid: Lundwerg Editores, 2007: 221.  \n  \nShawky Sayed, Z., *Brocales de pozo y aljibes andalusíes y mudéjares*. Doctoral thesis. Univesidad Complutense de Madrid, 2015: 135-137. \\[Date accessed: 3 January 2024 https://produccioncientifica.ucm.es/documentos/5d1df62d29995204f76639e1\\]","author":"Beatriz Campderá Gutiérrez","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","translator":"Dept. of Medieval Antiquities of the MAN","keywords":["cuerda seca technique","dwelling","stamped decoration","water"],"materials":["Clay","Engraving","firing","kaolin","metal oxide","partial dry rope","stamping"]},"3fd8e824-1cbd-5b49-8dbd-ed37954052b0":{"name":"Wall tile.","description":"A colourful wall tile decorated with a geometric interlace pattern in white, honey-brown, dark-brown, and light copper-green glazes that are separated by unglazed well-defined borders, using a technique known as *cuerda seca*, meaning 'dry cord' in Spanish; the 'cord' referring to the unglazed borders separating the masses of coloured shapes making up the pattern. The *cuerda seca* technique involves pressing a patterned mould gently onto the surface of the clay; the outlines and boarders of the pattern are then coated with a mixture of manganese-oxide and grease to prevent the different coloured glazes from running into each other. After completing the application of the greasy substance and the coloured lead-based glazes, the tile is fired. While the coloured glazes fuse themselves to the body of the tile and harden, the greasy mixture burns away leaving a clearly defined unglazed outline, 'cord', round all the compartments that make up the design.  \n  \nToledo was re-conquered by the Christians in AH 477 / AD 1085, but Mudéjar geometric designs remained popular, and continued to be made and used decoratively in a number of contexts in both secular and religious architecture right up to the beginning of the 10th century / 16th century.","short_description":"This colourful wall tile from Toledo is decorated using a technique known as *cuerda seca*, where the outlines of the embossed pattern are coated in a greasy substance to stop the paints of the different shapes from flowing over each other while being fired in the potter’s kiln.","type":"Earthenware, glazed ceramics","holder":"Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira 9th century / AD 15th century.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"10.5 cm x 10.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"Artistic analysis: the reddish earthenware body of this tile and its thick multicolour glazing indicate that it was made in the 9th century / 15th century in Toledo, where some similar examples still survive in historical buildings.","method_for_provenance":"The reddish earthenware body of this tile and its thick multicolour glazing suggest it was produced in Toledo, where some similar examples still survive in historical buildings.","provenance":"Toledo, Spain.","obtention":"Purchased by Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in 1883.","bibliography":"Ray, A., *Spanish Pottery 1248–1898,* with a catalogue of the collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2000.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_ES_EN_001","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["cuerda seca","geometric decoration","palatial architecture"],"materials":["Glazed fritware with cuerda seca decoration."]},"3fe11ec6-e560-5324-87a0-13f62820c8e3":{"name":"Dish.","description":"A shallow dish with an upturned edge, painted under the glaze. The dish is adorned with a spray of flowers, painted in light- and dark-blue, sage-green, and greyish purple; they include tulips, lilies-of-the-valley, and hyacinths. The three largest flowers bear sinuous cloud-bands in their blossoms, which are reflected in the smaller cloud-bands flanking the base of the bouquet. As with the best of Iznik wares the artist has enlivened the composition by depicting the flowers swaying gently, thus avoiding a rigid and deadening symmetry.","short_description":"A shallow dish with an upturned edge, adorned with a spray of flowers including tulips and hyacinths. The distinctive cloud-band motif in each of the three largest flowers lets us relate this plate to several other wares made by the circle of an artist named Musli.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, glazed painting","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum.","dates":"About hegira 957 / AD 1550.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 4.5 cm, diameter 33.6 cm.","method_for_datation":"Details like the cloud-bands in the three largest flowers and the particular shade of sage-green allow us to link this dish to a group of wares associated with the circle of an artist named Musli, who also signed a mosque lamp dated 1549.","method_for_provenance":"Iznik was the centre of quality ceramic production in this period.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Bequest of George Salting in 1910.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, Istanbul/London, 1989, pp.246–7.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Barry Wood","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["floral decoration","hyacinths"],"materials":["Painted and glazed ceramic."]},"40152862-7ac2-51ab-a591-e95b3acc0ced":{"name":"Jug with Design of Five Sphinxes and a Standing Figure","short_description":"A biconical jug with handle and buff-colored composite body, wheel thrown with painted decoration and gilded highlights over white glaze. A straight collar rim sits on the large truncated biconical body on a small flared unglazed foot, a vertical strap handle with an applied flat disc thumb rest. There is a dark blue-gray scalloped band on the lip. The rim has a frieze of gray-blue rectangles outlined above and below in black and divided by vertical red lines; each panel is filled with delicate black arabesque patterns and a small square gold leaf central highlight.  \nA red and black line defines the carination between neck and shoulder. The shoulder contains five spotted sphinxes with hats and collars, each a different color (blue, red, green, blue, red) walking to the viewer's left toward a vine or sprig with alternating red and blue buds. A figure in a long patterned blue robe and brown conical cap stands at the back of the procession. Gold leaf highlights the figure's shoulders, three areas on the body of each sphinx and the circular elements between them. A series of stylized buds in black and red sit below the top of the register and a second set rests on the decorative baseline. This decorative band is light green and filled with a pattern of red four-petaled rosettes drawn in black with white centers and blue dots above and below, separated by vertical blue lozenges. Some centers still preserve square gold foil elements.  \nThe bottom half of the body is undecorated except for a series of simple floral elements painted in black just under the band; a similar design is applied below the rim interior. The handle has a black *Kufic* inscription with blue highlights on the sides, the thumb rest is red. The glaze is badly cracked overall; six major areas of loss are in-filled and painted.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Saint Louis Art Museum","dates":"Hegira c. 544-699 / AD c. 1150–1300","location":"Saint Louis","dimensions":"Height: 13.7cm; Diameter of mouth: 8.3cm; Diameter of body: 14cm; Diameter of foot: 5.4cm","method_for_datation":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","method_for_provenance":"During the 12th and 13th centuries, the Persian city of Rayy was an important political, economic, and cultural center. It produced a variety of pottery, of which the most costly were called Minai wares.  These thin-walled vessels were first glazed with an ivory or white ground, although some have a turquoise or blue underglaze.  They are usually embellished with figural decoration not unlike contemporary manuscript painting.","provenance":"Rayy, Iran, Asia","obtention":"Museum Purchase, William K. Bixby Trust for Asian Art, 1952","bibliography":"Al Khemir, Sabiha, *Beauty and Belief: Crossing Bridges with the Arts of Islamic Culture*, Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Museum of Art, 2012.","keywords":["Asia","ceramics","Enamel","Fritware","Glazed","Iran","Jug","Overglaze","painting","Persian","Rayy","underglaze"],"materials":["Glazed fritware with underglaze painting and overglaze enamel"]},"40153d07-6252-5b57-89aa-964009f142c0":{"name":"Bowl with horseman.","description":"The main decoration of the bowl consists of a large figure of a horseman, whose face clearly shows some Mongol features, on a background filled with plant shoots in relief.  \nThe decoration is characterised by a particularly delicate and elegant design painted in polychrome, with each colour requiring a separate firing.  \nThis piece belongs to a type known as *mina’i*’, in Persian ‘*haftrang*’(‘seven colours’). This technique effectively uses seven colours (red, blue, green, yellow, gold, white and black) applied on top of the glaze and occasionally, as in this case, with some details worked in relief and gilded.","short_description":"This piece belongs to a type of ceramic known as *mina’i*, recognisable through the use of seven colours in its decoration. In antiquity, the main centre of production for *mina’i* ceramics was Kashan in central northern Iran.","type":"Bowl, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”","dates":"Hegira 6th–7th / AD 12th–13th centuries.","location":"Rome","dimensions":"Height 9.2 cm, diameter 21.8 cm.","method_for_provenance":"*Mina’i* ceramics were mainly produced in Kashan (central northern Iran) and in all probability would have been made by the illuminators of the manuscripts produced at that time that were lost with the Mongol invasion of 1220. Consequently, they are an important historical document for the study of illuminations of that time.","provenance":"Iran.","obtention":"Purchase.","bibliography":"Allan, J.W. , “‘Abûl Qâsim’s Treatise on Ceramics”, *Iran* XI, 1973, pp.111–20.  \nFèhervari, G., *La Ceramica Islamica*, Milan, 1985.  \nFolsach, K. von, *Islamic Art: The David Collection*, Copenhagen, 1990.  \nGrube, E.J., *Cobalt and Lustre. The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery. The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art*, Vol. IX, London, 1994.  \nLane, A., *Early Islamic Pottery*, London, 1953.","author":"Paola Torre","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramics","figurative decoration","Minai"],"materials":["Glazed ceramic (mina'i)"]},"4159a293-3ddf-5001-9a68-0994c000b7d3":{"name":"Tile","short_description":"This tile belongs to the period of Timurid rule in Iran and Central Asia (Hegira 771-913/1370–1507 AD). The last great dynasty to emerge from the Central Asian steppe, the Timurids sponsored buildings that were often constructed on an enormous scale and sheathed in an elaborate decorative skin of brilliant glazed tile. Since the primary structural material was dun-colored baked brick, glazed tiles provided colorful embellishment. Elements of the floral design of this tile were cut from glazed tiles of different colors and assembled as a mosaic; it was set in place on the exterior of a building, where it joined others as part of a larger, more complicated design. Indeed, there are several nearly identical or related tiles in other museum collections in Berlin (MIA), Chicago (AIC), and Paris (MdL).","type":"Architectural Elements","holder":"Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)","dates":"Hegira 9th century / AD 15th century","location":"Los Angeles","dimensions":"59.7 x 3.8cm","method_for_datation":"The decoration, color scheme and technique closely relate to tiles still in situ in Timurid buildings, as for example, the mosque and madrassa complex of Gawhar Shad, Herat, Hegira 820-841/ AD 1417-38.","method_for_provenance":"The technique of tile mosaic, a form of architectural decoration in which pieces of glazed ceramic of different shapes and sizes are assembled to generate a multicolored revetment, is especially associated with Iranian lands.","provenance":"Iran or Central Asia","obtention":"Formerly in a 19th-century style wood frame, suggesting it had left its place of origin by then. Collection of C. Edward Wells (d. late 20th century), Connecticut, until 1977 (sale, Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, February 1977, sale 3948, lot 72, sold to); Collection of Maan Z. Madina (1926-2013), New York, until 2002 (sold to); LACMA, The Madina Collection of Islamic Art, gift of Camilla Chandler Frost.","bibliography":"Komaroff, Linda, *Islamic Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art*, Los Angeles: Museum Associates, 2005: 35.  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Lo Terrenal y lo Divino: Arte Islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Ángeles*, Santiago: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015: 96, 210, 217.  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Beauty and Identity: Islamic Art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art*, Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2016: 166-167, cat. no. 84.  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Collecting Islamic Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art: A Curatorial Perspective*, Los Angeles: Art Catalogues; LACMA, 2017: 32-33.","author":"LACMA Staff","keywords":["architectural element","ceramics","floral motifs","Fritware","galzed","glazed tiles","mosaic","tile","Timurid"],"materials":["and assembled as mosaic","cut to shape","Fritware","Glazed"]},"41a3ec4b-1e2e-5b41-a889-b733678cd8fd":{"name":"Pear-shaped bottle.","description":"This piece is distinguished by its fine decoration painted in white, red and black with gold leafing on a blue background (*lajvard* in Persian, ‘lapis lazuli’) consisting of tiny stylised spiral motifs, large gold-leaf poly-lobed medallions and geometric decoration.  \nUnlike *mina’i* ceramics, the decoration on lajvardina ceramics is mostly non-figurative and is characterised by the presence of floral, calligraphy and geometric motifs. This type of ceramic was used to produce elegant long-neck vases, polygon-sided recipients, cylindrical containers and diamond- or cross-shaped tiles.","short_description":"This bottle is recognisable as an example of the type known as ‘lajvardina’ by its white, red and black paint with gold leaf on a blue base. This latter gives the style its name, as *lajvard* mean lapis lazuli in Persian.","type":"Bottle, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”","dates":"Hegira 7th–8th / AD 13th–14th centuries.","location":"Rome","dimensions":"Height 35 cm.","method_for_datation":"Lajvardina work has been dated using the famous treatise of the techniques of Islamic ceramicists written by Abûl Qâsim of Kashan in 1301. By that time, the *mina’i* ceramic technique was no longer in use, with Kashan ceramicists appearing to prefer the lajvardina technique. Production of these ceramics must therefore have started before 1301, as suggested by archeological finds at Takht-i Sulayman in northwest Persia from the excavations recently carried out in the Palace of Abaka-Khan (1265–81).","provenance":"Iran.","obtention":"Purchase.","bibliography":"Allan, J.W., “ ‘Abûl Qâsim’s Treatise on Ceramics”, *Iran* XI, 1973, pp.111–20.  \nFèhervari, G., *La Ceramica Islamica*, Milan, 1985.  \nFolsach, K. von, *Islamic Art: The David Collection*, Copenhagen, 1990.  \nLane, A., *Early Islamic Pottery*, London, 1953.  \nTorre, P., *Le Mille e una Notte: Ceramiche Persiane, Turche e Ispano-Moresche*, Faenza, 1990.","author":"Paola Torre","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["bottle","ceramic","floral decoration","geometric decoration","Glazed"],"materials":["Glazed ceramic (lajvardina technique)"]},"41fe926a-f305-50a0-a6f2-3d275bd31f08":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"Kashan type fritware bowl covered with an opaque white glaze and painted in monochrome luster and cobalt blue. The interior is decorated with a large roundel bordered by bands of *naskhi* script giving the date in Arabic Shawwal 614 AH. The two Arabic verses are attributed to the Imam al-Shafi\\`i: \"Acquire learning, for Man is not born learned, the learned and the ignorant are of a different breed, a Man of the highest rank who reveals his ignorance loses his status.\" The exterior is occupied by a large benedictory *kufic* inscription.","type":"Vessels & receptacles, fritware ceramic","holder":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah","dates":"Hegira Shawwal 614 / AD January 1218","location":"Kuwait City","provenance":"Iranian World, Kashan","keywords":["calligraphy","Glaze","inscription","kufic","Luster","nashki"]},"42311da9-1496-5d35-a0ea-56b7ce7ff0f7":{"name":"Water pot.","description":"Water pot with everted rim with quadrangular lip, circular mouth, neck in the shape of an inverted truncated cone, globular body with two wing-form handles with an upper protuberance on the shoulder and a convex base. The neck and body are covered in a green glaze and profusely decorated with finger and nail impressions, and stamped with protective signs based on plants (rosettes, palmettes), calligraphic and architectural motifs (horseshoe and trefoil arches). The object has been restored.","short_description":"Almohad pitcher used to store water. The care taken to protect the content of the pitcher is evident from the profusion of prophylactic symbols stamped on it. It includes plant (rosettes and palmettes), calligraphic and architectural (horseshoe and trilobed arches) motifs.","type":"Pot, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Mértola.","dates":"Hegira second half of 6th or early 7th century / AD second half of 12th or early 13th century.","location":"Mértola., Beja.","dimensions":"Height 70.5 cm, width 59 cm, diameter (of mouth) 28 cm.","method_for_datation":"It was dated to the Almohad period on the basis of stratigraphy, since it was found in the abandoned levels of one of the Almohad houses vacated after the Christian conquest of Mértola in AH 635–36 / AD 1238. This dating has been confirmed by comparison with similar decorative features on a water jar from Tetuan (Morocco) with an inscription dating it to AH 585 / AD 1190.","method_for_provenance":"Stamps used to decorate this type of water jar have been found in Mértola.","provenance":"Mértola.","obtention":"Found in the archaeological excavations carried out by the Campo Arqueológico de Mértola in the citadel of the Castle of Mértola.","bibliography":"Gómez Martínez, S., “Catálogo da Cerâmica”, in *Museu de Mértola. Arte Islâmica*, ed. S. Macias, Mértola, 2001, p.163.  \nTorres, C. and Macias, S. (eds.), *O Portugal Islâmico*, Lisbon, 1998, p.150.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_PT_EN_001","author":"Susana Gómez Martínez","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","Daily life","protective signs","water"],"materials":["and made using a combination of coil technique for the lower part and thrown on a wheel for the upper part. It has a stamped decoration and is partially glazed.","Ceramic made from compact greyish straw and paste mix"]},"4285852d-bdc9-521a-a814-ba8b902153a3":{"name":"*Mihrab* (prayer niche)","short_description":"This mihrab, nearly 12 feet tall and dated 663/1265, is the masterpiece of the DDFIA collection. It is one of six surviving luster mihrabs made during the Ilkhanid period of rule in Iran (1256–1353) and one of only two of its type outside of Iran. Originally, it was located in the Imamzada Yahya, a tomb of a descendant of a Shi‘ite imam in Veramin, Iran. In the tomb’s prayer sanctuary, the mihrab was located on the qibla wall—the one indicating the direction of Mecca.","type":"Islamic, Indian & Southeast Asian works of art; tilework; ceramic","holder":"Shangri La, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art","dates":"Dated hegira Sha'ban 663 / AD May 1265","location":"Honolulu, Hawai'i","dimensions":"Overall: 384.5 x 228.6 x 21.6 cm","provenance":"Iran, Kashan","keywords":["'Ali b. Muhammad b. Abu Tahir","arabesque","cobalt","Ilkhanid","Imamzadeh Yahya","inscription","Iran","Kashan","lustre","Mosque interior decoration","moulded","overglaze-painted","painted","Qur'an","stonepaste","underglaze","Veramin"],"materials":["molded","overglaze-painted in luster","Stonepaste","underglaze-painted in cobalt and turquoise"]},"42efdee4-d0a0-588e-8606-1ebc9cb0a6cb":{"name":"Jar with green glaze","description":"This jar is covered with a green glaze on the outside and inside. The jar has an annular base and two small handles attached to the base of the short neck. The clay used is red. This vessel would have been used to store liquids and food.","type":"Container","holder":"National Museum of Qatar","owner":"National Museum of Qatar","initial_owner":"Qatar Museums","dates":"AH 12th–13th century / AD 18th–19th century","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Height: 28cm, body diameter: 23.5, rim diameter: 1.8cm","place_of_production":"Iraq / Iran","method_for_datation":"Stratigraphy/scientific analysis.","method_for_provenance":"Stratigraphy/scientific and laboratory analysis.","provenance":"Al Zubarah, Qatar","obtention":"Archaeological excavation.","bibliography":"Hansman, J., *Julfar: an Arabian port : its settlement and Far Eastern ceramic trade from the 14th to the 18th centuries*., London: Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1985.  \n  \nKennet, D., *Sasanian and Islamic Pottery from Ras al-Khaimah.: Classification, chronology and analysis of trade in the Western Indian Ocean*., BAR International Series, Oxford: Archaeopress, 2004  \n  \nQIAH, University of Copenhagen, Unpublished report Qatar Museums, 2013–2014","author":"Alexandrine Guerin","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","keywords":["earthenware","green glaze","kitchenware"],"materials":["Earthenware","green glaze"]},"42f89df0-5a8b-5150-b126-94c092d264a5":{"name":"Tile.","description":"This moulded square tile of a hard yellowish paste shows a geometrical polychrome decoration of pinkish white interlacing bands forming green or pale blue glazed stars and dark brown or tan polygons in *cuenca o arista* technique. The central motif of the tile is a green eight-pointed star set in the middle of a cross composed of four opaque brown polygons. The latter divides the surface of the tile into four square compartments representing stellar and polygonal shapes. As the four green half-stars and brown half-polygons on the edges show, this tile was part of a repetitive design used in wall decorations.  \nThe *cuenca o arista* technique imitates tile mosaic. While the pattern of tile mosaic is made by cutting and assembling polychrome glazed tiles, the design of tiles worked in *cuenca o arista* technique is made by filling small pattern fields formed by thin strips of clay with different glazes. Where the glaze flowed over the frame, the design does not stand out clearly.  \nThe star and cross motif is one of the most common Islamic geometric decorative patterns continued in Mudéjar art.","short_description":"Moulded square tile with a geometrical polychrome decoration. Interlacing bands form green and pale blue glazed stars and brown polygons. Coloured glazes fill small pattern fields formed by thin strips of clay. This technique is called *cuenca o arista* and imitates tile mosaic.","type":"Tile, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities (Medelhavsmuseet).","owner":"National Museum of Fine Arts, Stockholm. In order to reorganise the expanding collections, the main part of the Islamic collection has been on permanent loan to the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities since 1982.","dates":"Hegira end of 9th–beginning of 10th century / AD end of 15th–beginning of 16th century.","location":"Stockholm","dimensions":"Height 15.0 cm, width 15.0 cm, depth approx. 1.9 cm.","method_for_datation":"Tiles similar in technique and design have been documented in buildings in Toledo dating from the end of the 9th / 15th century and the beginning of the 10th / 16th century, for example, in the monastery of San Clemente.","method_for_provenance":"Tiles similar in technique and design have been documented in buildings in Toledo, for example, in the monastery of San Clemente.","provenance":"Spain, possibly Toledo.","obtention":"The tile was purchased by the Museum of Cultural History in Lund, Sweden, from the Forrer collection in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in 1922.","bibliography":"Martínez Caviró, B., *Cerámica Hispanomusulmana Andalusi y Mudéjar*, Madrid, 1991, 305–25.  \nRay, A., *Spanish Pottery, 1248–1898*, London, 2000.  \nTerrasse, H., *L'Art Hispano-Mauresque*, Paris, 1932.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_ES_EN_001","author":"Friederike Voigt","copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["cuenca o arista","geometric decoration","tile"],"materials":["Ceramic","Cuenca o arista.","polychrome glaze"]},"43631319-af52-5666-9856-e67b0498dfba":{"name":"Tile Fragment","short_description":"The ancient city of Qalhat, known as the Twin of Hormuz, was the main port of northern Oman from the 7th to 9th centuries AH / 13th to 15th centuries AD. The Great Mosque was its most famous edifice. The mosque was built around 699 AH / 1300 AD by Bibi Maryam, the wife of Bahauddin Ayaz, King of Hormuz and Ruler of Qalhat. The Moroccan geographer Ibn Battuta visited Qalhat during his travels in the 8th century AH / 14th century AD and wrote a vivid description of the Great Mosque shortly after its completion:  \n  \n\"Qalhat has fine bazaars and an exceedingly beautiful mosque, the walls of which are decorated with elaborate tile work.\"  \n  \nThese fragments of opaque, turquoise-glazed *‘lajvardina’* (lapis lazuli) tiles were found on the surface of the mosque area. The tiles featured moulded *naskhi*\\-style calligraphy under a raised band with interlacing arabesque patterns and were arranged in inscriptional friezes.","type":"Architectural Artefact; Tiles","holder":"National Museum Oman","dates":"Circa 668–710 AH / 1270–1310 AD","location":"Muscat","dimensions":"Length: 17 cm, Width:15.5 cm, Thickness: 2.7cm","provenance":"The Great Mosque, Qalhat (Oman). Origin: Kashan, Persia (Iran)","obtention":"Ministry of Heritage and Culture Collection","copy_editor":"Valerie Pulsifer","keywords":["arabesque","Hormuz","Lajvardina","Lapis Lazuli","Qalhat","tiles"],"materials":["Glazed earthenware"]},"43c5ab5f-241d-5114-a0de-5364612ff8df":{"name":"Jug with turqoise blue and brown glaze","description":"This small jar was discovered during an excavation in a house in Murwab, northwest Qatar in AH 1402 / AD 1981. The jar was in fragments, but it was possible to piece together the top part and restore it. It has a slightly flared rim with a rounded end and a small straight neck. The jar widens into a rounded shape with two small handles that have brown spots of paint. The jar is painted in turquoise blue with drips inside and outside and is covered with an opaque glaze. The jar is made from beige earthenware and may have been made by potters in Basra or Samarra in Iraq or Susa in Iran during the early Abbasid period.","type":"Container","holder":"National Museum of Qatar","owner":"National Museum of Qatar","initial_owner":"Qatar Museums","dates":"AH late 2nd to late 3rd century / AD late 8th to late 9th century","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Height: 6.3cm, body diameter: 13cm, rim diameter: 6.5cm","place_of_production":"Basra, Iraq","method_for_datation":"Stratigraphy/scientific analysis.","method_for_provenance":"Stratigraphy/scientific and laboratory analysis.","provenance":"Murwab, Qatar","obtention":"Archaeological excavation.","bibliography":"Carvajal Lopez, J., Guerin, A., and Georgakopoulou, M., \"Petrographic analysis of ceramics of Murwab, an early islamic site in Qatar\", *Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies*, 51 (2022): 55–70.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Preliminary pottery study: Murwab horizon in progress, ninth century AD, Qatar\", in *Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies*, 40 (2010): 17–34.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Territory and settlement patterns during the Abbasid period (ninth century AD): the village of Murwab (Qatar)\", *Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies*, 39 (2009): 181–196.  \n  \nHardy-Guilbert, Cl., \"Fouilles archéologiques a Murwab, Qatar\", in R. Boucharlat et J.-F. Salles (eds.), *Arabie Orientale, Mésopotamie et Iran méridional: De l’Age du Fer au début de la période islamique*, Paris: ERC 37, 1984: 169–188.  \n  \nKnuth, E., \"An Early Islamic fort and settlement at Murwab”, in F. Hojlund (ed.), *Danish Archaeological Investigations in Qatar 1956–1974*, Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 97 (2017): 83–98.","author":"Alexandrine Guerin","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","keywords":["earthenware","splash","table jar"],"materials":["Glazed earthenware"]},"447ccade-689a-515e-9fad-173781b00ddb":{"name":"Jug filter","short_description":"Pierced prior to firing and affixed to the truncated-cone neck of jugs, filters were designed to remove impurities, mostly insects. Alongside functional perforations, pierced decoration and purely ornamental incisions were used in geometric or animal compositions: here, a finely incised profile silhouette of a gazelle and its young, whose presence is merely suggested. The exquisitely elegant composition, which betrays a firm hand, is reminiscent of the design on a filter at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (inv. no. M.83.251.15), and is almost identical to that on a filter at the Museum of Mediterranean Antiquities (Medelhavsmuseet) in Stockholm (inv. no. NM00428/1921).","type":"Ceramics","holder":"The National Museum of Art of Romania","dates":"Hegira 5th century / AD 11th century","location":"Bucharest","dimensions":"Diameter: 8.5cm","place_of_production":"Fustat, Egypt","method_for_datation":"Comparison with related objects","method_for_provenance":"Comparison with related objects","provenance":"Cairo, Egypt","obtention":"In 1932 the Arab Museum in Cairo donated a collection of ceramic sherds to the Toma Stelian Museum in Bucharest, whose holdings were transferred to the National Museum of Art of Romania in 1949.","bibliography":"Dunca, M., *Islamic Art at the National Museum of Art of Romania*, Bucharest: National Museum of Art of Romania, 2015: 84, no. 31a.  \nWatson, O., *Ceramics from Islamic Lands*, New York: Thames & Hudson, 2005.","author":"Mircea Dunca","keywords":["Filter"],"materials":["Earthenware","pierced decoration"]},"45800acc-3f5e-5c55-89cc-238c62a3bdf9":{"name":"Tile (*azulejo*).","description":"Tile glazed in blue on a white background with vegetal decoration of the 'independent flower' type. The flower is seen from the front with its petals rounded, open and completely separated. The whole is derived from the simple division of the circumference into eight parts by two perpendicular centre lines and the lines that bisect the resulting angles. The flower model belongs in turn to a subgroup of tiles whose centre, the corolla, appears divided into eight parts by diagonals and axes joined together with arches. In this case, the outlines have been retained and each space has been filled with an unattached blue petal, which makes the flower extremely stylised. The four stems that shoot from the flower point towards the corners of the tile. Floral decoration was very prestigious in tile manufacturing, and some very simple examples, without separating lines between petals and corners decorated with small circles or entirely smooth flowers in white on a blue background, have survived. Tiles of this type are also held at other institutions, such as the National Museum of Ceramics and Sumptuary Arts González Martí in Valencia.","short_description":"A number of different series of Mudéjar ceramics were produced in the Valencia region, and this tile glazed in blue on a white background belongs to the type known as ‘independent flower’ from the flower on its front, with its wide-open, completely separate, rounded petals.","type":"Tile, clay, ceramic","holder":"National Archaeological Museum.","dates":"First half of the 15th century.","location":"Madrid","dimensions":"Height 5.5 cm, width 5.6 cm, depth 1.7 cm.","method_for_datation":"From the style and from parallels with other similar tiles kept in Valencia.","method_for_provenance":"Its origin is included in its file, and confirmed by the features described in detail above.","provenance":"Manises, Valencia, Spain.","obtention":"The piece was purchased for the National Archaeological Museum from Apolinar Sánchez Villalba on 28 February 1933.","bibliography":"González Martí, Manuel, *Cerámica del Levante Español. Siglos Medievales*, *Vol*. *II: Alicatados y Azulejos*, Madrid, 1952, p.409","linkcatalogs":"IAM_ES_EN_001","author":"Ángela Franco","copy_editor":"Rosalía Aller","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["azulejo.","clay","firing","Glazed","Manises","Mudéjar","tile","Valencia"],"materials":["Clay","firing","glazing."]},"458f12d6-11aa-5aa1-8e81-ad3731f1366c":{"name":"Panel of six tiles","short_description":"The panel depicts the holy sanctuary of the mosque at Mecca. Within the compound the Ka\\`ba is shown in the centre among other sites such as the *minbar*, the well Zamzam and the structures of the different religious schools, all identified by their names.  \nSuch topographical works, with a votive or commemorative function, are typical of the Iznik workshops of the 17th century and follow analogous illustrations in manuscripts from the 16th century onwards.","type":"Ottoman ceramic, fritware with polychrome underglaze decoration","holder":"Benaki Museum","dates":"Hegira 11th century / AD 17th century","location":"Athens","dimensions":"73 cm X 49.5 cm","provenance":"Turkey","keywords":["Mosque interior decoration"],"materials":["Fritware with polychrome underglaze decoration"]},"45a31a2f-a589-5ebe-9521-9d4fb116c2ab":{"name":"Tile","short_description":"This square tile is decorated with a black star-like shaped framed by decorative white lines. A star-like shape with yellow in the middle bears resemblance to a flower. The Victoria and Albert Museum holds identical tiles which were made in Toledo.","type":"Architecture fragment","holder":"MKG Museum for Applied Arts","dates":"Hegira 8th century / AD 14th century","location":"Hamburg","dimensions":"Length: 9cm x Width: 9cm","method_for_datation":"By comparison with similar objects e. g. Victoria and Albert Museum (see Ray 2000, p. 331).","method_for_provenance":"Purchased from J. Krauth, Frankfurt.","provenance":"Spain, Toledo","obtention":"Purchased in 1884.","bibliography":"Ray, A., *Spanish Pottery 1248-1898. With a Catalogue of the collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum*, London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2000.","copy_editor":"Caitlin Link","keywords":["Spanish","tile"],"materials":["Glazed ceramic"]},"460f4b40-8466-573e-89cc-49b512d4d70b":{"name":"Bowl with wing-shaped palmettes.","description":"The bowl, painted in brown and yellow-brown lustre, is decorated with two large wings filled with thin lines, which enclose an oval motif surrounded by vegetal elements. On the outside, there are four brown medallions with drop motifs. The decoration on the inside appears to be a variant on the tree of life consisting of wing-shaped palmettes, a Sassanid tradition.","short_description":"The decoration on this bowl is particularly interesting, with a traditional palmette motif, in this case in the form of wings, on the inside. This motif can be interpreted as a variant on the tree of life, a Sassanid tradition.","type":"Bowl, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”","dates":"Hegira second half of 3rd century / AD second half of 9th century.","location":"Rome","dimensions":"Height 6.8 cm, diameter 22.2 cm.","method_for_datation":"The determination of the date and provenance of the piece is based on the analysis of the decoration of the bowl, which is characteristic of this type of 3rd / 9th century Iraqi ceramic painted with two-tone metallic lustre.","provenance":"Iraq.","obtention":"Purchase.","bibliography":"Lane, A., *Early Islamic Pottery*, London, 1953. Philon, H., *Early Islamic Ceramics*, London, 1980. Scerrato, U., “Ceramica Irachena del IX–X Secolo”, *Serie Schede Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale* 2, Rome, 1968.","author":"Paola Torre","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["floral decoration","lustre"],"materials":["Lustre-painted ceramic."]},"464d0c1e-ebf9-5c06-9946-277e345c0740":{"name":"Tile","short_description":"Square tile with cobalt blue and turquoise blue decoration. Painted with a lozenge-shaped compartment which contains eight lotus palmettes enclosing a central rosette; the corners of the tile are decorated with Chinese cloud motifs on a cobalt blue ground. The tile is illustrative of a stage preceding the floral style traditionally associated with Iznik pottery. The lotus motif and particularly the white clouds in the corners recall the long-standing influence of Chinese art. Turquoise was adopted by the Iznik potters in the first quarter of the sixteenth century; its presence here, associated with cobalt blue, has made possible a more accurate dating of the tile.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"The National Museum of Art of Romania","dates":"Hegira 931 – 957 / AD 1525 – 1550","location":"Bucharest","dimensions":"Length: 24cm, Width: 24cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis","method_for_provenance":"Stylistic analysis","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey","obtention":"Purchased by the Museum in 1979.","bibliography":"Dunca, M., *Islamic Art at the National Museum of Art of Romania*, Bucharest: National Museum of Art of Romania, 2015: 102, no. 45.","author":"Mircea Dunca","keywords":["Chinese cloud","lotus"],"materials":["Fritware","underglaze painting"]},"4696d99f-fdbb-59ee-b765-d6c4a02eba6f":{"name":"Dish.","description":"This Iznik pottery dish is underglaze painted in bright green, which dominates the composition, pale red and blue with black for the outlines, on a white background. The floral design at the centre is composed of tulips and roses on curved stems, all springing from a leafy tuft and a serrated *saz* leaf falling across the centre of the plate. A tulip on a curved *saz* leaf was one of the few stylistic developments in the traditional floral decoration of Iznik pottery in the last quarter of the AH 10th / AD 16th century. On the slightly curved rim, there are alternating blossoms of tulips and simple rosettes. The back of the dish is painted with ten green dots and transparent glazed. The glaze is heavily crackled. The foot-ring is pierced once for suspension.  \nIznik pottery of the AH 11th / AD 17th century is characterised by the increasingly inferior quality of colours and glaze as well as simplified and standardised designs, repeated in numerous examples of dishes. The artistic decline is due to the decline of Ottoman political and economic power. On the one hand the potters had to increase the production of vessels for the open market and on the other hand they had to make a profit by cutting costs.","short_description":"Iznik pottery dish with polychrome underglaze painted floral decoration. The tulips and roses in the centre emerge from a leafy tuft. A serrated *saz* leaf falls across the centre of the plate. Alternating blossoms of tulips and rosettes decorate the rim.","type":"Silk, metal thread, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities (Medelhavsmuseet).","owner":"Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm. Since 1982 the main part of the Islamic collection has been on permanent loan to the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities.","dates":"Hegira first half of the 11th century / AD first half of the 17th century.","location":"Stockholm","dimensions":"Height 4.5 cm, diameter 26 cm.","method_for_datation":"The 'quatre fleurs' style and the feathered *saz* leaves in combination with sprays of flowers occurred from the second half of the 10th / 16th century. However, the dish seems to be later because of the carelessly painted design and the green colour running into the glaze. These are significant features of polychrome underglaze painted ceramics of the 11th / 17th century produced for an increasing open market.","method_for_provenance":"According to the floral decoration and the shape that are both specific for Iznik ceramics.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"On loan from the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N. and Raby, J., *Iznik*: *The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989.  \nCarswell, J., *Iznik Pottery*. London, 1998.  \nMüller-Wiener, M., *Türkisch-Osmanische Keramik*, Traunstein, 2004.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Friederike Voigt","copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","Dish","floral decoration","Plate","pottery"],"materials":["Ceramic","painted and glazed."]},"46cbec75-25a9-5fc1-8bab-1ae4fe10c861":{"name":"Panel of *azulejos* with a carpet composition","description":"Like many other examples, these *azulejos* testify to the affinity between textiles and *azulejos* in Portugal during the 17th century. Such was the case with the embroidered Arraiolos rugs made in the Alentejo region where the same sort of patterns and even palette can be recognised.  \nThis pattern was relatively common in the *azulejos* used in Portugal during the first half of the 17th century. Because this is a 2 x 2 composition, four *azulejos* are required to make a pattern that can be repeated to infinity. Use of this sort of *azulejos* was mainly in the lower areas of architecture to allow viewers to approach the decoration more directly. In it, we can perceive a cross-like composition that is achieved by a much-intertwined element with a dense blue background, at the centre of which is an acanthus leaf motif. This rope-like cross composition is placed against a yellow background; here, a distinctive eight-point motif, which has its origins in leather- or metalwork, can be traced by the presence of nail marks left in all four of its extremities. The beautiful frame that can be seen in one of its borders is known in Portuguese as *rendas* or lacework, inspired by actual works.  \nSome studies have shown that prints of these lace motifs could be made by the immersion of real lace in the pigments, which were then juxtaposed in the *azulejos*, or that these were painted using similar gestures as those used to make the real lace. This has not been the case for the motifs that decorate these *azulejos*, but nevertheless the elegance of this decoration gives a new and more regal understanding to this pattern type.","type":"Tile; *azulejo*","holder":"National Tile Museum","dates":"1630‒1650","location":"Lisbon","dimensions":"H: 75cm, L: 70cm, W: 1.4cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis: 17th-century production of *azulejos* in Lisbon can easily be identified by the intense blue and yellow of the palette.","method_for_provenance":"The National Tile Museum holds a large number of *azulejos* of unknown origin, many gathered during the period of the destruction of the convents and palaces in the late 19th century, in the aftermath of the abolition of the religious orders in 1834.","provenance":"Portugal, unknown location","obtention":"Probably salvaged during demolition of an unknown building where they had once been applied","bibliography":"Matos, Maria Antónia Pinto (ed.), *Um gosto português, O uso do azulejo no século XVII*, exhib. cat., Lisbon: Museu Nacional do Azulejo/Athena, 2012.  \nMeco, José, *O Azulejo em Portugal*, Lisbon: Publicações Alfa, 1989.  \nSimões, João Miguel dos Santos, *Azulejaria em Portugal no século XVII*, 2 vols, Lisbon: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 1971.","workshop":"Lisbon, Portugal","author":"Alexandre Pais","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["17th century","azulejos","Faience","pattern"],"materials":["Ceramic: faience"]},"4774c55a-a1aa-5860-91ed-a7105da0298d":{"name":"Water bottle","short_description":"This polychrome Iznik water bottle, *orsürahi*, is decorated with striking, stylised vegetal and arabesque motifs. The decoration was sketched out into the surface of the slip with a sharp instrument before the colours were applied, giving the artist a template from which to work but also allowing him to add additional painted details as he wished. The unusually large size of this bottle, and the spirited quality of its decoration, make it a particularly fine example of its genre.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira c.967-987 / AD c.1560-1580","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Height: 47.3cm, Diameter: 22.9cm","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","obtention":"Christie's London, Islamic Art and Manuscripts, 29 April 2003, Sale 6713, Lot 162 to Qatar Museums","bibliography":"Al Khemir, Sabiha, *From Cordoba To Samarqand, Masterpieces from the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha*, Milan: Musée du Louvre Editions, 2006.","author":"Reem Aboughazala","keywords":["ceramics","floral","Iznik","Turkey"],"materials":["Fritware","Glaze","painting","pigment","Underglaze"]},"47fcbd3c-bf49-59d2-b9ac-7634939dbb18":{"name":"Islamic pottery from Ephesus","description":"Excavated by John Turtle Wood, an architect and surveyor. He was employed by the Ottoman Railway Company from 1858. Between 1863–1874 he excavated on behalf of the British Museum at ancient Ephesus, where he discovered the Temple of Artemis.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"The British Museum","dates":"Excavated 1870; 14-15th century","location":"London","provenance":"Turkey"},"4890b1d8-3761-58e4-b21f-16c8c6e5cc7e":{"name":"*Albarello* (pharmaceutical jar).","description":"Albarello with a pedestal base, a slightly concave cylindrical body and a long neck with an out-turned brim. Its surface is decorated with motifs in gold highlights on a tin white background. From top to bottom there is a band with geometrical decoration made up of rhomboids, a second band with flowers and volutes on white, and a lower band with vertical stripes and parallel, diagonal lines in blue and gold. In addition to its stylistic classification as a Manises product by the researchers mentioned below, recent analyses of the metals used in the decoration, essentially the cobalt that gives it its blue colour, have provided evidence of its Valencian origin. The intense blue tone, unlike the much lighter tone found in Malaga, is typical of this region.  \nThese types of object were used to store pharmaceutical products, hence their also being known as pharmaceutical pots or jars, a field in which Muslims excelled.","short_description":"This Mudéjar imitation of the beautiful lustre-ware jars of the Nasrids differs from them in the greater intensity of the cobalt-blue typical of the potteries of Manises (Valencia).","type":"Albarello, clay, ceramic","holder":"National Archaeological Museum.","dates":"15th century.","location":"Madrid","dimensions":"Height 29.4 cm, diameter of the mouth 10.7 cm, diameter of the base 10 cm, max. diameter 14 cm.","method_for_datation":"Parallels with other objects, such as dish no. 51129 in the National Archaeological Museum, as well as other examples in the Institute of Valencia de Don Juan (Madrid).","method_for_provenance":"Camps Cazorla places its origin in Manises, as does Martínez Caviró. Chemical analysis of the cobalt-blue confirms this hypothesis.","provenance":"Manises, Valencia, Spain.","obtention":"The piece was purchased for the National Archaeological  Museum from Antonio Hidalgo in September 1882.","bibliography":"Camps Cazorla, E., *Catálogo Sumario del Museo Arqueológico Nacional. Cerámica Española (Nuevas Instalaciones)*, Madrid, 1936, pp.30–1.  \nFernández-Puertas, A., “Cuatro Tarros Nazaríes”, in *Miscelánea de Estudios árabes y Hebraicos*, 49, Granada, 2000, pp.371–94.  \nLlubia, L., *Cerámica Medieval Española*, Barcelona, 2nd edition, 1973, fig. 164.  \nMartínez Caviró, B., *Cerámica Hispanomusulmana*, Madrid, 1991, pp.141–2, figs. 134–7.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_ES_EN_001","author":"Ángela Franco","copy_editor":"Rosalía Aller","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["Albarello","clay","Glazed","highlight","Malaga","Manises","medicine","Mudéjar","Nasrids"],"materials":["Clay","firing","Glazing","kaolin","metallic highlights.","throwing"]},"48af79f5-d145-59da-885f-a674a6c49de2":{"name":"Dish","short_description":"The Iznik potters’ enthusiasm for nature inspired them to develop new designs and to increase the colour palette. After being inspired by Chinese blue and white, Iznik potters introduced the Baba Nakkash style. Following the Chinese tradition of blue on white, it was also sometimes reversed. The designs consisted of stylised lobed leaves with curly tips. Initially these were in different shades of blue; small touches of turquoise were added as the style developed.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia","dates":"c. Hegira 940-950 / c.  AD 1540-50","location":"Kuala Lumpur","dimensions":"Diameter: 33cm","provenance":"Turkey","bibliography":"Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, *The Essence of Iznik*, Kuala Lumpur: IAMM Publications, 2011: 51-53.","materials":["Underglazed painted fritware"]},"49103ef0-90f2-547a-8043-173577467243":{"name":"Dates group","description":"As a sign of hospitality guests are given *fuala* (light refreshments). Coffee, dates, *betheetha* (a sweet made of dates and fired flour), *khabees* (a sweet made of saffron, ghee and fried flour), leavened bread, and *dibs* (date molasses) were served on a *saroud* (palm mat) and covered with a *mechabeh* (palm food cover) to protect the food from dirt and insects.  \nWhen guest finished eating they were offered a *ghasool* (a bowl of water) or a *maghsal al yad* (pitcher and vessel) to wash their hands. At the end of a visit, guests were perfumed with a *merash* (perfume sprinkler) filled with rose water and other fragrances. Guest were also perfumed with '*oud* incense'.","holder":"Sharjah Heritage Museum","initial_owner":"Sharjah Heritage Museum","dates":"Hegira mid 14th century/AD mid 20th century","location":"Sharjah, United Arab Emirates","obtention":"Purchased","author":"Amanda Snyder","copy_editor":"Judy Harter"},"493fd5de-9ad8-584b-b87f-0c109a23012d":{"name":"Tile Plate","description":"The plate is coated with white clay and slip decorated with shades of grey and blue beneath a transparent colourless glaze. The plate’s scalloped, rimmed interior is adorned with a large medallion featuring flowers and leafy curling branches. The body is divided vertically into thirteen sections separated by grooves, each section decorated with a floral bouquet. The wide rim is encircled by a curving vine of alternating large and small flowers and leaves. The back of the plate is embellished with floral bouquets. The motifs are delineated in dark cobalt blue. Examples of this technique can be observed in the dull grey-blue flowers used in Chinese-influenced Iznik ceramics and pointed leaves seen on late 15th-century Ming porcelain. The production of plates in this style continued until the second half of the 16th century. In form and decoration these plates resemble Chinese porcelain of the Early Ming, Hsuan-te period (1426–1435).","type":"Utensil","holder":"Istanbul Archaeological Museums (The Tiled Kiosk)","dates":"Hegira second quarter of the 10th century / AD first quarter of the 16th century","location":"Istanbul","dimensions":"Diameter: 36.6cm, height: 9.4cm","place_of_production":"İznik/Bursa","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","materials":["Glazed terracotta/Tile"]},"49ded692-84c0-5d04-b7b4-81eacbbca188":{"name":"Ceramic fragment, base of a bowl","short_description":"This sharp is part of a Kashan-style work which was found in Fustat, Cairo. The bright glaze of the ground shows an eight-rayed, blue star enclosed in a blue circle. Spiral decorations in brown lustre painting fill the blank spaces around and in the star, and the star’s outline is also traced in brown. On the back is a simple, wheel-like ornament with nine spokes in brown lustre painting.","type":"Ceramic fragment, shard","holder":"MKG Museum for Applied Arts","dates":"Hegira 6th-7th century / AD 12th-13th century","location":"Hamburg","dimensions":"Height: 7cm, Width: 6.5cm","method_for_datation":"Excavation find in Fustat.","method_for_provenance":"Purchased from Hans Buschmann, Hamburg.","provenance":"Egypt, Fustat","obtention":"Purchased 15.08.1934.","bibliography":"Watson, O., *Ceramics from Islamic Lands*, London: Thames & Hudson, 2004.","copy_editor":"Caitlin Link","keywords":["Fustat","Kashan-style","shard"],"materials":["Pottery"]},"49f03f3b-5c62-50a6-af56-a99b7f0fe737":{"name":"Niche tile with pair of lovers","description":"The open-work niche tile with its green-glazed surface shows a pair of lovers in contemporary costume (Tracht). The young man with the curly hair is evidently a falconer, which indicates that the couple belongs to courtly society. The tile is one of the pottery masterpieces from 15th century Zurich. In addition to animal motifs and Christian symbols, courtly love of the late Middle Ages, with its main themes of love, faithfulness and adoration, was a popular topic. Hunting with falcons, a leisure pursuit exclusive to the nobility, also fell into this category and reflected the social status of the stove’s owner. Stove-tiles thus make an important contribution to cultural history and provide information on mediaeval costumes, hairstyles and accessories. Until the 16th century, potters did not sign their works. The names of many masters and the locations of the potteries are known thanks to documents and account books. In large towns such as Zurich and Basle, potters joined guilds.","type":"Tile","holder":"Swiss National Museum","owner":"Swiss Confederation","dates":"Around 1430","location":"Zurich","dimensions":"H: 30.5cm, W: 20.5cm, D: 11cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis","provenance":"Effretikon, Canton of Zurich, Switzerland","obtention":"Found in an excavation at «Moosburg» Effretikon 1953","keywords":["Effretikon","Falconer","Lovers","Moosburg","nobility","tile","Zurich"],"materials":["ceramics","engobed white","glazed green"]},"4a14838f-3d68-55e8-8f84-cac452161836":{"name":"Bowl with pod-shaped decoration.","description":"The dish, painted in brown lustre on a cream background, is deep with vertical sides and a reasonably wide brim, decorated with pod-shaped swirls in relief. The decoration consists of tiny spike-shaped elements and small daisies that alternate with bands of solid and grid-pattern lustre. The centre of the boss is decorated with an animal, probably a hare. The inside bears a highly stylised epigraphic motif. On the outside, in the centre, there is a 16-point radial motif surrounded by a series of medallions with stylised fern leaves.","short_description":"This bowl is an example of the metallic lustre-painted ceramics produced in Valencia. Zoomorphic and phytomorphic motifs, along with geometric elements, decorate the surface of the piece.","type":"Bowl, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”","dates":"Hegira 10th century / AD 16th century.","location":"Rome","dimensions":"Height 6.5 cm, diameter 40 cm.","method_for_provenance":"The dish belongs to a broad group of items that first appeared in Valencia towards the end of the 9th / 15th century and were extensively influenced by Renaissance metalwork.","provenance":"Spain, Valencian workshop.","obtention":"Purchase.","bibliography":"Ainaud De Lasarte, J., *Cèramica y Vidrio*, Ars Hispaniae, Vol. 10, Madrid, 1952.  \nFronthingham, A. W., *Lustreware of Spain*, New York, 1951.  \nTorre, P., “Maioliche a Lustro Ispano-Moresche”, *Serie Schede Museo Nazionale d'Arte Orientale*, 7, Rome, 1987.  \nTorre, P., *Le Mille e una Notte: Ceramiche Persiane, Turche e Ispano-Moresche, Faenza*, 1990.  \nTorre, P., “Techniques Journeying from East to West at the Time of the Crusades”, *Crusades: Myth and Realities*, Nicosia, 2004.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_ES_EN_001","author":"Paola Torre","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["bowl","lustre","Mudéjar art"],"materials":["Lustre-painted ceramic."]},"4a348cc6-05a3-5e8a-8b61-a980db3a8b21":{"name":"Plate.","description":"A deep dish with an underglaze-painted design showing a European-style sailing ship at sea, its sails billowing as it rides the cresting waves. Three tadpole-like fish are seen swimming below. In the rim of the dish, groups of simply drawn spirals, ultimately descended from the Chinese 'wave-and-rock' border pattern, reflect the oceanic theme. This dish is one of a number of similar pieces depicting sailing ships of either European or North African build. They were produced around the second quarter of the 17th century, when the Iznik ceramic industry had declined from its heyday of 50 or so years previous. Yet this plate retains considerable charm, especially the jaunty air the artist has given the ship.","short_description":"A deep dish with a representation of a ship at sea. Similar depictions of European and North African ships appear on a number of Iznik wares from the second quarter of the AH 11th / AD 17th century. Although the industry was in economic and artistic decline, examples like this retain a considerable charm.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, Glazed painting","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum.","dates":"Around hegira 1031–56 / AD 1625–50.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 4.9 cm, diameter 31.2 cm.","method_for_datation":"Comparison with similar pieces of the same period.","method_for_provenance":"Iznik was the centre of quality ceramic production in this period.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Purchased by the Museum in 1867.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, Istanbul/London, 1989, p.280.  \n  \nLane, A., Later Islamic Pottery: Persia, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, London, 1957, pp.57–8.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Barry Wood","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","materials":["Painted and glazed ceramic."]},"4a6e15bc-4e38-588d-8b7d-a1f2cb76b79c":{"name":"Dish","short_description":"This dish is one of the finest known examples of the celebrated black-and-white wares, often referred to as \"Nishapur ware\". The inscriptions illustrate the social and literary interests of the dishes' owners. The text here is a proverb attributed to Yahya ibn Ziyad: \"He who is unable to have an opinion will lose his chance\". The inscription is revealed as the contents are eaten - providing an exemplary 'conversation piece' with which to conclude a social gathering of scholars.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira 4th century / AD 10th century","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Diameter: 42.5 cm, depth 5.3 cm","provenance":"Iran or Central Asia","obtention":"Forughi Collection, Iran; Private Collection, Geneva sometime before the Islamic Revolution, where it remained until it was formally acquired by the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha in 1999 from London Art Market","bibliography":"Gonnella, Julia, et al., *Museum of Islamic Art: The Guide* London: Thames & Hudson, 2022.  \n  \nSeipel, Joseph H., *God is Beautiful and Loves Beauty: The Object in Islamic Art and Culture*, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013.  \n  \nSoueif, Ahdaf, *Reflections on Islamic Art*, Doha: Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing, 2011.  \n  \nWatson, Oliver, *Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar*, Munich: Prestel Verlag, 2008.","author":"Tara Desjardins","keywords":["calligraphy","Central Asia","ceramics","Dish","Iran","Samanid","Yahya ibn Ziyad"],"materials":["Earthenware","Glaze","slip","Slip Painting"]},"4a7d2384-96d3-5574-ba51-84cb41cd1805":{"name":"*Madkhan* (Incense burner)","description":"The burning of incense is part of the routine for welcoming a guest. A *Mmadkhan* (incense burner) is used to hold a smouldering piece of charcoal on which incense is placed. The heat causes incense to burn thus, releasing its scent. The *madkhan* is passed around from person to person to share and perfume their clothing.","type":"Incense","holder":"Sharjah Heritage Museum","owner":"Sharjah Museums Authority","dates":"Hegira mid 14th century / AD mid 20th century","location":"Sharjah, United Arab Emirates","dimensions":"Height: 125mm, width: 120mm, diameter: 117mm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis","method_for_provenance":"Stylistic analysis","provenance":"Arabian Peninsula","obtention":"Purchased","author":"Amanda Snyder","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","keywords":["ceramic","Incense","Incense burner"],"materials":["Ceramic"]},"4b5af6a4-7de4-5e18-87de-8bf5e62763db":{"name":"Dish","alternate_name":"Plato","description":"The Orientalism or Neo-Mudéjar style gave new light to old techniques such as ceramic with lustre decoration; the Manises workshops begun again to use lustre decorations and shapes from the Middle Age period.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"National Museum of Decorative Arts","dates":"1876–1925","location":"Madrid","provenance":"Manises","author":"Manuel Alonso","copy_editor":"Anne Dowell"},"4b6b4cd7-723b-5fc1-9d39-214740318d2a":{"name":"Panel","description":"William De Morgan designed and produced pictorial tile panels. The smaller versions were sometimes framed for display as pictures, or used in fireplaces. Larger panels, would have been used in architectural settings, grander fireplaces, bathroom walls, and for the decoration of smoking rooms on ocean liners of the P&O company.  \nDe Morgan had a great interest in Islamic tilework, much of which was thought to be Persian in the 19th century. The Islamic-inspired patterns and the dominant range of colours (turquoise, blue, green, purple), were also often termed 'Persian'. They were in fact more closely related to the tilework of Syria and Turkey. The different regional types of Islamic tile were little understood, despite the acquisition of large quantities of Islamic tiles by European collectors.","type":"Ceramic; tilework","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum","dates":"1888-1897","location":"London","author":"Victoria and Albert Museum"},"4be93273-e1ba-5539-89c5-b15b9bf3f2d5":{"name":"Ceramic tile.","description":"A rectangular ceramic, glazed tile that was made during the restoration of the Dome of the Rock in AH 1233 / AD 1817 and with the name of one of the tile-makers inscribed on it. The inscription is composed within a 2.5 cm-wide frame of turquoise, undulating with an extremely light-green pigment, which is adjacent to another frame in dark-blue. The text, written in green and black against a pale-green background, reads: “Trust in God 1233 \\[1817\\] Mustafa Ali Effendi”. It is known that a number of tile-makers who worked on the restoration at the Dome of the Rock immortalised their names in a similar way, fixing the tiles in various places. The Museum has acquired another tile made by the same tile-maker, which reads: “Reckon with the One God and That is Enough, Mustafa Ali Effendi, 1233 \\[1817\\]”. The tiles are very alike; there is only a slight difference in the colour scheme in that the text and the “frame” of the second tile is decorated in dark-blue while the background takes on a very light-blue. There is a third tile by the same maker which was produced after those already discussed. This tile bears the text: “If you ask, Ask God 1234 \\[1818\\] Mustafa”. This inscription is written in light-blue against dark-blue.  \nIt is possible that these tiles formed the penultimate stage in the six stages of tile restoration at the Dome of the Rock, the final stage taking place in the 1970s. Despite the tireless attempts of the tile-maker to copy the tiles of former stages while replacing damaged tiles with new ones, one can still distinguish the different stages of restoration by means of the detailed workmanship, the colouration, glazing and in other artistic aspects, all of which help in ascertaining the dates of the restoration process. During the process of restoration a large number of tiles were made in Jerusalem; a number of them have been acquired by the Islamic Museum. However, some of the tiles required for the restoration were imported from Kütahya, or from Iznik in Turkey.","short_description":"A glazed ceramic tile which (like similar ones) records the name of the craftsman who contributed to the renovation of the Dome of the Rock in AH 1233 / AD 1817.  It is painted in a turquoise colour mixed with a light green. The name is written in green and black.","type":"Ottoman ceramics","holder":"Islamic Museum, al-Aqsa Mosque / al-Haram al-Sharif.","initial_owner":"Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem.","dates":"Hegira 1233 / AD 1817.","location":"Jerusalem","dimensions":"Length 36.5 cm, width 27 cm, depth 3 cm.","method_for_datation":"The tile inscription states the date of production.","method_for_provenance":"It is thought that kilns and ceramic workshops were set up at the Haram al-Sharif. However, the tile ceramicists would most likely have been from Damascus, for the names of a number of them repeatedly state the agnomen, “al-Dimashqi”, meaning “from Damascus”.","provenance":"Jerusalem.","obtention":"The piece was transferred from the Dome of the Rock to the Islamic Museum during the restoration works of 1966.","bibliography":"Al-'Arif, 'A., *Tarikh Qubbat al-Sakhra wa al-Masjid al-Aqsa \\[The History of the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque\\],* Jerusalem, 1955.  \nLaurent, B., “The Dome of the Rock: Restorations and Significance”, in S. Auld, and R. Hillenbrand (eds), *Ottoman Jerusalem*, London, 2000.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Nazmi Al-Ju'beh","copy_editor":"Majd Musa","translator":"Amal Sachedina (from the Arabic).","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["ceramic","ceramic tile","Faience","Glaze","glazed tile"],"materials":["Fired clay with underglaze decoration."]},"4c1c6011-7e32-57c2-ac90-5672e32a2457":{"name":"Ewer","short_description":"The small ewer displays carved decoration under a thick cobalt blue glaze.","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 6th–7th century / AD 12th–13th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Height 15.4 cm","provenance":"Iran","keywords":["carved","ceramic","pottery"],"materials":["carved decoration under turquoise glaze","Frit body"]},"4c1d7376-2dba-5edb-8c50-24e7e3030900":{"name":"Dish","short_description":"The dish is so-called \"Sari\" ware (production probably local to the town of Sari). Sari pottery's characteristic decoration is the figure of a big bird and \"lollipop\" flowers.","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 4th–5th century / AD 10th–11th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Height 7.5 cm, diameter max 37.5 cm","provenance":"Northern Iran","keywords":["ceramic"],"materials":["Earthenware","underglaze polychrome decoration","white slip"]},"4c2706b3-1aef-5df4-b5b2-4acc99b47143":{"name":"Jar","description":"This transport jar was handmade and has a typical kitchenware profile. Its high neck with a wide rim allowed it to be covered with a lid (ceramic, wood, textile). Its ovoid body supports a single handle. The entire body is covered with a cream-coloured slip and geometric decoration painted in brown in a series of panels across the body.  \n  \nAlthough it was found in Al Zubara, in north-western Qatar, the characteristic grainy clay, as well as the manufacturing technique, shape and decoration, identify it as Julfar pottery. This type of pottery was made in Ras al-Khaymah (in the modern United Arab Emirates) and exported throughout the Gulf, particularly from the AH 12th-13th / AD 18th to the mid-20th century.","type":"Container","holder":"National Museum of Qatar","owner":"National Museum of Qatar","initial_owner":"Qatar Museums","dates":"AH 12th–13th century / AD 18th–19th century","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Height: 21cm, rim diameter: 10cm, body diameter: 23cm","place_of_production":"Julfar, Ras al-Khaymah Emirate, United Arab Emirates","method_for_datation":"Stratigraphy/scientific analysis.","method_for_provenance":"Stratigraphy/scientific and laboratory analysis.","provenance":"Al Zubarah, Qatar","obtention":"Archaeological excavation.","bibliography":"Hansman, J, *Julfar: an Arabian port : its settlement and Far Eastern ceramic trade from the 14th to the 18th centuries*., London: Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1985.  \n  \nKennet, D., *Sasanian and Islamic Pottery from Ras al-Khaimah.: Classification, chronology and analysis of trade in the Western Indian Ocean*., BAR International Series, Oxford: Archaeopress, 2004.  \n  \nQIAH, University of Copenhagen, Unpublished report Qatar Museums, 2013–2014.","author":"Alexandrine Guerin","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","keywords":["earthenware","kitchenware","storage","Transportation"],"materials":["Earthenware"]},"4c9c682b-e3ff-589b-807b-5e22f9819c18":{"name":"Tankard","description":"A cylindrical tankard with one handle. The body is decorated with a series of white flowers with a blue centre and green leaves on a red ground. On the top and bottom there is a band in the form of a chain. The handle is decorated in blue and white.","type":"Tankard","holder":"Benaki Museum","dates":"AH 983 / c. AD 1575","location":"Athens","dimensions":"Diameter of base: 13.8cm, height: 22.7cm","place_of_production":"Iznik","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis","provenance":"Turkey","obtention":"Donation","bibliography":"Carswell, J., Gibson, M. (ed.), and Moraitou , M., *Iznik Ceramics at the Benaki Museum*, London: Gingko, and Athens: Benaki Museum, 2023: cat. no. 58, p. 112.","author":"Mina Moraitou","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","materials":["Glazed ceramic"]},"4d271fb9-86f6-54f6-8ff7-b1f5b8365eb6":{"name":"Plate","description":"White clay and slip, decorated in yellow, green, blue, red and manganese purple tones under transparent glaze. The motifs are outlined in black. On the plate’s surface a female figure is seen from the front in a garden. She is wearing a yellow robe and blue and white striped shalwar. The shalwar, a garment of traditional Turkish origin, was made from the fabric called *selimiye*, which was widely worn in the Ottoman Empire during the second half of the 18th century. Figures depicted on Kütahya ceramics sometimes are presented in a schematic manner in traditional Ottoman attire. Female figures on these plates, which were mainly produced for export in the late 18th century, were sometimes referred to as concubines. In the years following the proclamation of the Republic, these plates, colloquially referred to as *kızlı tabak*, were included in the dowries of girls who were about to be married.","type":"Ustensil","holder":"Istanbul Archaeological Museums (The Tiled Kiosk)","dates":"Hegira second half of the 12th century / AD Second half of the 18th century","location":"Istanbul","dimensions":"Diameter: 15.7cm, height: 3.7cm","place_of_production":"Kütahya","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","materials":["Glazed terracotta"]},"4d52d723-2eaf-5fc7-ba06-13ce4807735a":{"name":"Deep glazed bowl with pseudo-epigraphic inscription","description":"This bowl was discovered on the site of a house during the Qatari-French archaeological mission in 2009. The bowl itself dates to the 9th century. It is covered in an off-white opaque glaze with a wide band of turquoise glaze or paint around the upper part. The black-brown paint around the outside resembles Arabic script, but it is unclear whether real words were intended or this is simply a design. This kind of stylised painting is known as 'pseudo-epigraphic' decoration and is particularly associated with workshops in Samarkand and Nishapur (present-day Uzbekistan and Iran, respectively). These types of wares illustrate the influence of Islamic design and Arabic script throughout the Muslim world during the early Islamic period.","type":"Container","holder":"National Museum of Qatar","owner":"National Museum of Qatar","initial_owner":"Qatar Museums","dates":"AH late 2nd to late 3rd century / AD late 8th to late 9th century","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Height: 11cm, body diameter: 14cm, base diameter: 10cm, weight: 340.86g","method_for_datation":"Stratigraphy/scientific analysis.","method_for_provenance":"Stratigraphy/scientific and laboratory analysis.","provenance":"Murwab","obtention":"Archaeological excavation.","bibliography":"Guerin, A. and Na'imi, F., ‘Preliminary pottery study: Murwab horizon in progress, ninth century AD, Qatar’, in *Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies*, vol. 40 (2010): 17–34.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Territory and settlement patterns during the Abbasid period (ninth century AD): the village of Murwab (Qatar)\", *Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies*, 39 (2009): 181–196.  \n  \nHardy-Guilbert, Cl., \"Fouilles archéologiques a Murwab, Qatar\", in R. Boucharlat et J.-F. Salles (eds.), *Arabie Orientale, Mésopotamie et Iran méridional: De l’Age du Fer au début de la période islamique*, 1984, pp. 169–188.  \n  \nLopez, J., Guerin, A., and Georgakopoulou, M., \"Petrographic analysis of ceramics of Murwab, an early islamic site in Qatar\", *Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies*, 51 (2022): 55–70.  \n  \nKnuth, E., \"An Early Islamic fort and settlement at Murwab”, in F. Hojlund (ed.), *Danish Archaeological Investigations in Qatar 1956–1974*, Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 97 (2017): 83–98.","author":"Alexandrine Guerin","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","materials":["Glazed earthenware"]},"4dca8e78-1b75-504e-8688-364ab7e1d7f0":{"name":"Bottle.","description":"A pear-shaped bottle made of stone-paste with a tall elegant neck and flaring mouth. The body of the vessel is covered in a spiral pattern of tightly coiled floral stems, painted in cobalt-blue and turquoise. The same floral scrolls run horizontally around the neck. Placed throughout the design are diamond-shaped medallions. The break between the design on the neck and body may have been intended to make room for a gold mount. The distinctive spiral pattern can also be found on Ottoman manuscript illuminations, particularly as a background for the *tughra*, the sultan's official monogram. The shape of this bottle echoes a common Venetian glass form. Its exact function is unknown.","short_description":"An elegant ceramic bottle with blue and turquoise underglaze. While the shape may have derived from Venetian glass, the spiral pattern recalls Italian *tondino* ceramic dishes. There are also parallels between the tightly coiled floral stems and Ottoman manuscript illumination.","type":"Stone paste blue and turquoise painting","holder":"The British Museum.","dates":"About hegira 936/ AD 1530","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 43 cm.","method_for_datation":"This bottle can be dated to about 936 / 1530 due to its design which is similar to that of a cut-down bottle in the British Museum, with the same spiral pattern, bearing the date 935 (1529).","method_for_provenance":"This type of spiral decoration is known as 'Golden Horn' ware, so called because of the number of sherds decorated in this style that were dug up at Sirkeci on the southern shore of the Golden Horn estuary in Istanbul. However, this bottle was probably made in Iznik, the main centre of production for ceramics in Ottoman Turkey in the 10th / 16th century.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Part of the John Henderson bequest to the British Museum in 1878.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989, no. 147.  \n  \nCarswell, J., *Iznik Pottery*, London, 1998, pp.48–51, plate 26.  \n  \nRogers, J. M., and Ward, R., *Suleyman the Magnificent*, London, 1988, p.195, cat. no. 136.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Emily Shovelton","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Italian influence","Venetian glass"],"materials":["Stone-paste with blue and turquoise painting under the glaze."]},"4eddb93b-3a9e-5dab-9508-a1c433de3f4b":{"name":"Bottle vase","short_description":"In the second half of the eighteenth century the neighbourhood of Tophane in Istanbul saw the establishment of the pipe makers’ guild. Most of the then existing sixty workshops produced a wide variety of objects such as coffee cups, writing sets, goblets, decanters, carafes, trays, etc. The high-quality red pottery manufactured here was often decorated with silver and gold highlights. Some of the dark brown vessels, such as the present one, had silver-inlaid decoration. The surface of this long-neck bottle vase is divided into sixteen vertical compartments filled with silver-inlaid vegetal and floral motifs. Incised vertical grooves bordered by rows of stamped circular motifs separate the compartments. The stamped motifs as well as the precious silver inlays recall the elaborate decoration of metal vessels and jewels.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"The National Museum of Art of Romania","dates":"Hegira 13th century / AD 19th century","location":"Bucharest","dimensions":"Height: 26.5cm","place_of_production":"Tophane workshops","method_for_datation":"Stylistic comparison with Tophane wares from the Medelhavsmuseet in Stockholm donated to the Museum after the 1873 Vienna World Fair.","method_for_provenance":"Stylistic analysis","provenance":"Istanbul, Turkey","obtention":"Transferred in 1949 from the National Museum Carol I in Bucharest.","bibliography":"Dunca, M., *Islamic Art at the National Museum of Art of Romania*, Bucharest: National Museum of Art of Romania, 2015: 108, no. 49.","author":"Mircea Dunca","materials":["dark brown slip","Earthenware","silver inlays"]},"4ee050c8-f860-5f8e-afca-7d0c987f64b7":{"name":"Fragment of a dish","short_description":"Fragment of a ceramic dish featuring a musician playing the lute (*\\`ud*), surrounded by a jar and ewers with flowers and leaves. The musician’s garment is adorned with palmettes and his sleeves bear *tiraz* bands. Fatimid ceramics, such as this, often depict scenes from courtly life and provide valuable information on the painting tradition of the period.","type":"Dish, earthenware","holder":"Benaki Museum","dates":"Hegira 5th century / AD 11th century","location":"Athens","dimensions":"Diameter 38 cm","provenance":"Egypt","keywords":["Dish","earthenware","Fatimid","tiraz"],"materials":["Earthenware lustre painted"]},"4ef4f4cf-3d12-58c3-8cc2-6c635b02100f":{"name":"Plate","description":"Plain inverted rim, shallow body, ring base. Light brown paste, white slip, transparent glaze. Under glaze decoration in cobalt blue, turquoise, dark green, yellow, red and black with black outlines. At the centre of a scalloped sun-shaped medallion formed by intertwined *rumi* and palmette motifs is a star and crescent motif, itself at the centre of a scalloped nine-petal medallion. The remaining surface is covered with a geometric design composed of eight-pointed stars, and the rim is decorated with a wide border of rumi-palmette motifs. The reverse of the plate bears the inscription, *Kütahya Azim Çini Fabrikası Mamulatı* (Product of the Kütahya azim Tie Factory).","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Pera Museum","dates":"First half of the 20th century","location":"Istanbul","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega"},"4ef96a03-7d8c-53f4-abe0-2c7f030b251f":{"name":"Dish.","description":"A white dish with a foliate rim, painted under the glaze with a floral composition. Blue tulips, some with red dots and red rosettes sprout from emerald-green stems which grow out of a blue-and-green 'shrub' at the bottom of the composition. The outer rim of the dish is filled with tightly coiled black spirals surrounded with blue and enlivened here and there with green, a pattern descended from the Chinese wave-and-rock pattern. The freely designed, quasi-naturalistic floral spray relates this dish to a number of similar wares thought to date from the early years of the reign of Sultan Murad III (AH 982–1003 / AD 1574–95).","short_description":"A white dish decorated with freely rendered floral motifs, including tulips and rosebuds, in the brilliant colours associated with the peak of the Ottoman ceramic industry at Iznik.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, glazed painting","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum.","dates":"Around hegira 982–987 / AD 1575–80.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 6.2 cm, diameter 30.2 cm.","method_for_datation":"Comparison with similar objects of the period.","method_for_provenance":"Iznik was the centre of quality ceramic production in this period.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Purchased by the Museum in 1893.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, Istanbul/London, 1989, pp.246–7.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Barry Wood","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["floral decoration"],"materials":["Painted and glazed ceramic."]},"4f35a232-fd44-5945-a2d3-5c34f4b1ae6a":{"name":"Incense burner","description":"Incense burners like this are usually made of clay mixed with water and kneaded until it forms a mixture that can then be shaped. The burner is then adorned with engravings, intricate drawings, and different colors. The incense burners are then fired in a kiln, after which they are ready for use. Note the handle; it makes the burner safe to carry from room to room. Incense occupies a central place in Omani life, as the passing of a fragrant burner at the end of a visit is customary in every region of the country.","type":"Ceramic, earthenware, natural dye (ochre)","holder":"The National Museum - Sultanate of Oman","dates":"Hegira early 15th/AD early 21st century","location":"Muscat, Sultanate of Oman","dimensions":"Height: 12cm, diameter (bowl): 12.3cm, diameter (base): 10cm","provenance":"Musandam Governorate","author":"Noora Al Balushi","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","materials":["Earthenware","natural dye (ochre)"]},"4f4aebf4-ad51-596f-8d75-02d79f90d769":{"name":"Sphinx","short_description":"This sphinx was found in Rafiqa, Raqqa’s twin city, in 1924 together with the cock in the David Collection and the figure of a horseman in Syria’s National Museum. As ceramic sculptures, they are unique not only in Syria, but also in the rest of the Islamic world. They are fountain figures, and all have pipes to carry water up to the figures’ heads.","type":"Fountain figure","holder":"The David Collection","dates":"Hegira 2nd half of the 6th century / AD 2nd half of the 12th century","location":"Copenhagen","provenance":"Syria, Raqqa","keywords":["Fritware","imaginary animal","Syria","zangids","zoomirphic imagery"],"materials":["and carved fritware painted in an opaque white and a turquoise glaze","cast","modelled"]},"50179dc4-4e0f-5796-85ea-539270a46a71":{"name":"Cooking pot","description":"This kitchen utensil was discovered at the al Wakra site during excavations carried out in 2011.  \nIt is a cooking pot that was made in Julfar (in the Emirate of Ras al-Khaymah) and used for storing and preparing foodstuffs and liquids. With a globular body and a flat base, this pot bears a grey slip, and some of the specific decoration painted in red from the Julfar production workshop can be discerned on the upper part of the body, neck and shoulder. This bears witness to the import of pottery and to Qatar's commercial links and activities.","type":"Container","holder":"National Museum of Qatar","owner":"National Museum of Qatar","initial_owner":"Qatar Museums","dates":"AH 12th–13th century / AD 18th–19th century","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Height: 23.5, body diameter: 28.5cm, rim diameter: 2.1cm","place_of_production":"Julfar, Ras al-Khaymah Emirate, United Arab Emirates","method_for_datation":"Stratigraphy/scientific analysis.","method_for_provenance":"Stratigraphy/scientific and laboratory analysis.","provenance":"Al-Wakra, Qatar","obtention":"Archaeological excavation.","bibliography":"Hansman, J, *Julfar: an Arabian port : its settlement and Far Eastern ceramic trade from the 14th to the 18th centuries*., London: Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1985.  \n  \nKennet, D., *Sasanian and Islamic Pottery from Ras al-Khaimah.: Classification, chronology and analysis of trade in the Western Indian Ocean*., BAR International Series, Oxford: Archaeopress, 2004.  \n  \nQIAH, University of Copenhagen, Unpublished report Qatar Museums, 2013–2014.","author":"Alexandrine Guerin","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","keywords":["earthenware","kitchenware","storage","Transportation"],"materials":["Earthenware"]},"5032bffe-ba78-553b-bd60-df9e0091fb80":{"name":"Dish","short_description":"In Turkey, underglaze-painted pottery, produced for the Ottoman court and wealthy patrons, is renowned for its unique style of motifs and colours, once again widely admired in Europe. Mostly fashioned into dishes, bowls and drinking vessels, these Iznik wares were another major influence on Western ceramic production. This Iznik dish with composite floral motifs is painted in underglaze cobalt blue, sage green, manganese and outlined in black is dated AD c. 1540.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia","dates":"c. Hegira 940 / c. AD 1540","location":"Kuala Lumpur","dimensions":"Diameter: 26.7cm","provenance":"Turkey","bibliography":"*Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia*, Volume 2, Kuala Lumpur: IAMM Publications, 2009: 155.","materials":["Underglazed painted fritware"]},"507c8e53-6414-5d53-af15-cbb3861a2b67":{"name":"Plate","short_description":"During the last third of the 16th century, a type of floral decoration emerged in Iznik ceramics known as “bouquets with bent flowers”. Blue tulips, red carnations and a blue blossom spray nestle in asymmetrical arrangement around the plate. The graphic quality in the rendering of the blossom spray is admirably enhanced against the white background. Stylized wave motifs in the border pattern have almost lost touch with their Chinese source.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"MAK – Museum of Applied Arts","dates":"AD end of the 16th century","location":"Vienna","dimensions":"Diameter: 31.2cm, Height: 6cm","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","obtention":"Purchase","bibliography":"Noever, Peter (ed), *Global:Lab: Kunst als Botschaft. Asien und Europa 1500-1700, Exh. cat. Museum of Applied Arts Vienna*, Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2009.","catalogue_holding_link":"https://sammlung.mak.at/sammlung_online?id=collect-46520","author":"Mio Wakita-Elis","keywords":["ceramic","floral decoration","Iznik style"],"materials":["decoration: underglaze painting and so-called tomato red","Quartz frit ceramic"]},"5124bb70-6aff-5029-9ff0-37a4fe33e513":{"name":"‘Miletus ware’ bowls.","description":"Inv. no. 3161: A bowl, the centre of which is framed by a circular band. Within it, dark-blue triangles are painted on a white ground. The points of the triangles meet, creating hexagons in the white space between them. These hexagons have dark-blue circles at their centres. The border is decorated with wave-and-rock motifs.  \n  \nInv. no. 3174: A bowl; on a white ground, within dark-blue frames, stylised palmettes emerge from stalks, their centres filled with spirals. In the border, interlaced white motifs appear on a dark-blue ground. The outside is decorated with green spiralling tendrils.","short_description":"These two ceramic bowls have red paste, white slip and blue-and-white decoration. They are early examples of a ceramic group known as 'Miletus ware', which as a result of excavations at Iznik tile kilns is now known to have been produced at Iznik.","type":"Ottoman ceramics","holder":"Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts.","dates":"Hegira 8th –9th centuries / AD 14th –15th centuries.","location":"Sultanahmet, Istanbul","dimensions":"Inv. no. 3161: Height 14 cm, diameter 27 cm; Inv. no. 3174: Height 14 cm, diameter 34 cm.","method_for_datation":"As a result of the archaeological excavations at the Iznik kilns, many objects were found related to production of ceramics. These finds showed that ceramics variously classified as 'Miletus', 'Rhodian', and so forth were actually produced in Iznik, and they make it possible to establish a single classification and dating system for such wares.","method_for_provenance":"The bowls were found during the course of archaeological excavations at the Iznik kilns.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"The bowls were found during archaeological excavations at Iznik and brought to the Museum on 10 February 1967.","bibliography":"ölçer, N. *et al, Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art*, Istanbul, 2002, pp.244–5.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Cihat Soyhan","translator":"Barry Wood","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["ceramics","Iznik"],"materials":["a type known as ‘Miletus ware’.","Red paste with white slip and blue-and-white decoration"]},"512cb99c-ea37-501f-9c8b-da383856d20e":{"name":"Moulded bowl with *kufic* inscription","short_description":"This moulded, facetted bowl of fritware shows a large benedictory *kufic* inscription enhanced by rabbits, birds and a large crowned sphinx. Cobalt blue streaks accentuate the decoration in the well and around the outside. The delicate body material was intended to imitate Chinese porcelain. The bowl’s shape may imitate a contemporary metal vessel.","type":"Moulded bowl","holder":"Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation","dates":"Hegira late 6th century / AD late 12th century","location":"Sharjah","provenance":"Iran, possibly Kashan","keywords":["animal decoration","bird","bowl","calligraphy","ceramic","Fritware","imaginary animal","inscription","kufic"]},"525fce2f-a859-5439-8cdd-d1b640752ea5":{"name":"*Ghotar* plate","description":"In Morocco, the *ghotar* is a large dish for the presentation of food, such as *pastilla* (chicken cooked in pastry), or fruit.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museum of the Arab World Institute","initial_owner":"Bernard Aubert","dates":"Hegira end of 12th century - beginning 13th century / AD end of 18th century","location":"Paris","dimensions":"Height: 10cm, Diameter: 46.4cm, Base diameter:  24.4cm","provenance":"Fes, Morocco","obtention":"Purchased from Bernard Aubert, 1989.","bibliography":"Boukobza, A., *Poteries et céramiques marocaines*, Casablanca: Alpha, 1974: 38-39, 115-116, 143-144.  \n  \nDelpont, E., et al., *Album du musée*, Paris: Somogy éditions d'art, 2012: 372, 386-387.  \n  \nMoulierac, J., et al., *Céramiques du monde musulman: collections de l'Institut du monde arabe et de J.P. et F. Croisier* , Paris: Institut du monde arabe, Paris, 1999: 149.  \n  \nSoustiel, J., *La Céramique islamique*, Fribourg: Office du Livre, 1985.","translator":"Judy Harter","materials":["Clay","painted decoration on glaze"]},"5280813d-cdb9-576e-8876-874404acb331":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"While the motifs on figurative bowls painted in luster in Abbasid Iraq were stylized, a number of quite naturalistic depictions of courtiers, dancers, wrestlers, etc. are known from Fatimid Egypt.  \nThere are many figurative elements in Fatimid art, something that should perhaps be seen in the context of the region’s Coptic Christian tradition.","type":"Bowl, earthenware, ceramic","holder":"The David Collection","dates":"Hegira 5th century / AD 11th century","location":"Copenhagen","provenance":"Egypt","keywords":["bowl","Eartnenware","Fatimid"],"materials":["Earthenware","painted in luster over a white glaze"]},"5319542a-7b08-534a-801f-e2b18cb78aef":{"name":"Hemispherical plate.","description":"A fragment corresponding to a section of the body including part of the rim and the complete base. The rim has a lip semi-circular in cross-section and the base has a high foot-ring. It is made from pinkish beige paste. Both surfaces are coated in white enamel with a slight sheen. The interior surface has a motif of intersecting lines, painted green, creating eight equidistant spokes radiating from the centre. The quality and fine grain of the paste of this flattened hemispherical plate reflects the sophistication of domestic articles used in Silves in this period.","short_description":"Hemispherical bowl from the Almohad period. It is decorated with a star painted in green consisting of eight evenly spaced spokes radiating from the centre. The quality and finesse of this piece suggest a refined environment and probable domestic use in the town on Silves during that time.","type":"Plate, ceramic","holder":"Silves Municipal Archaeology Museum.","dates":"Hegira 6th–7th  century / AD 12th–13th century.","location":"Silves., Faro.","dimensions":"Height 6.4 cm, diameter (of rim) 22.6 cm, diameter (of foot) 7.6 cm.","method_for_datation":"From its archaeological context, stratigraphy and style.","method_for_provenance":"Excavation carried out in the castle at Silves directed by Rosa Varela Gomes. Inventory number: Cast. Q 110/C3-3.","provenance":"Castelo de Silves.","obtention":"It has been housed in the museum since the excavation carried out in the 1980s.","bibliography":"Gomes, R. V., *Palácio Almóada da Alcáçova de Silves*, Lisbon, 2001, p.62.  \nGomes, R. V., *Silves (Xelb): Uma Cidade do Gharb Al-Andalus, Arqueologia e História (Séculos VIII–XIII),* Lisbon, 1999.  \nGomes, R. V., 'Silves (Xelb): Uma Cidade do Gharb Al-Andalus: A Alcáçova', *Cadernos do Instituto Portuguès de Arqueologia*, Lisbon, 2004, p.402.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_PT_EN_001","author":"Maria da Conceição Amaral","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["trade"],"materials":["Enamelled and glazed ceramic with decoration of intersecting lines in a star."]},"538cb9d0-c759-560a-9e30-62d63b7ae0a5":{"name":"Footed bowl.","description":"A footed circular bowl with steep, curved sides that taper towards a flattened rim which projects towards the inside of the bowl. Underneath a clear turquoise glaze that stops short of the foot, the bowl is decorated extensively with black underglaze as seen for example on the rim: a succession of broad, black stripes. Around the interior wall of the bowl is a band that is defined only by borders composed of three fine lines above and below; individual lozenges have been disposed within this band at regular intervals. The wide base of the bowl is occupied by a roundel containing a large cursive inscription, set against a stylised scrolling background and enhanced by densely placed dots. The inscription reads: ‘*al-‘afiyah*’ (‘Good Health’). On the outside of the bowl there are short illegible cursive inscriptions.  \nOther than Iran, the City of Raqqa was the centre for high-quality ceramics producing a sizeable quantity of artistically inventive and technically varied ceramic vessels and tiles during the late 5th–early 6th / late 12th–mid-13th centuries. The black-and-turquoise ware exemplified by this dish is typical of ceramics from Raqqa during this period. This group is characterised by a rather coarse and grainy stone-paste with a glaze that tends to deteriorate and, as a result, often shows varying degrees of iridescence.","short_description":"Syria was an important centre for the production of artistically inventive and technically varied ceramics during the AH late 5th–early 6th / AD late 12th and mid 13th centuries. Many pieces show black decoration under a turquoise glaze, often incorporating wishes for good health or blessings.","type":"Fritware, stonework, ceramic","holder":"National Museums of Scotland (NMS).","dates":"Hegira late 5th–early 6th century / AD late 12th–early 13th century.","location":"Edinburgh, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 10.4 cm, diameter 22 cm.","method_for_datation":"The bowl belongs to a well-defined group of late 5th–early 6th / late 12th–mid-13th-century Syrian pottery.","method_for_provenance":"Ceramic wares executed using this technique are currently attributed to late 5th–early 6th / late 12th –mid-13th-century Syria, with an active centre for the production of such wares attributed to Raqqa in Syria.","provenance":"Raqqa, Syria.","obtention":"Purchased by NMS in 1976 from Bluett and Sons Ltd in London, the item was had been on loan to the Royal Museum since 1960 from the Sir Eldred Hitchcock Collection, also based in London. During that time, the item was registered under loan number L.421.31. It was eventually bought by NMS in 1976 from Bluett and Son acting on behalf of the son of the owner.","bibliography":"Lane, A., *Islamic Pottery from the Ninth to the Fourteenth Centuries A.D. in the Collection of Sir Eldred Hitchcock,* London 1956, fig. 32, cat. no. 68.","author":"Ulrike Al-Khamis","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Fritware","naskhi script","Raqqa","stone-paste"],"materials":["Stone-paste (fritware) with black underglaze and clear turquoise alkaline glaze."]},"54153ed8-09be-518c-8b1b-5c34eb3644e6":{"name":"Tile from ceramic inscription panel of the Dome of the Rock.","description":"A tile forming part of a ceramic inscription panel that once decorated the exterior octagonal pinnacle of the Dome of the Rock. Sultan Sulayman the Magnificent (r. AH 926–73 / AD 1520–66) commissioned the panel while renovation work of the Dome of the Rock was being carried out, in around AH 969 / AD 1560. Each tile is 25 cm high by 25 cm long, and the whole inscription panel is 160 m long. The panel is decorated with a long Qur'anic inscription consisting of the complete text of the chapter “Ya-sin” (Chapter 36). The text is written in the Ottoman *thuluth* script in white against a dark-blue background. The inscription is interspersed with vegetal decoration consisting of intertwining spiralling stems, with blossoms and leaves. The tiles have a characteristic simplicity, and are of fine colouring and very detailed workmanship. The tiles represent an early example of Ottoman ceramics, used generally in architecture during the period, and more specifically in the Dome of the Rock. Buildings were often panelled with ceramic tiles during the Ottoman period, in fact, such tile work is a distinguishing trait of Ottoman contributions to the restoration and renovation of holy places, not only in Jerusalem but also in places such as Mecca and Medina.  \nThe Islamic Museum have acquired all sections of this inscription panel which was removed from The Dome of the Rock in 1960 during restoration works. The Museum has since housed and preserved the inscription panel as a witness to the first stage of ceramic-tile panelling on the outer walls of the Dome of the Rock. It is worth noting that previous to these tiles, the outer octagon of Dome of the Rock was covered with a glass mosaic, which had deteriorated badly due to age, until Sulayman the Magnificent ordered the removal of the damaged mosaic and replaced it with these tiles.","short_description":"A glazed tile from a band that wrapped round the exterior octagonal pinnacle of the Dome of the Rock, ordered by Sultan Sulayman the Magnificent during his renovation of the Dome. It is written in *thuluth* script in white against a dark-blue background. The verses are interposed with vegetal decorations.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, glazed tiles","holder":"Islamic Museum, al-Aqsa Mosque / al-Haram al-Sharif.","initial_owner":"Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem.","dates":"Hegira 976 / AD 1560.","location":"Jerusalem","dimensions":"Length (of a single tile) 25 cm, width 25 cm, depth 3 cm.","method_for_datation":"The inscription panel is dated.","method_for_provenance":"Jerusalem was narrowed down as the place of production for these tiles. This is supported by historical sources indicating the presence of a workforce and Ottoman ceramic tile-making kilns in the area.","provenance":"Jerusalem","obtention":"The piece was transferred in 1960 from the Dome of the Rock to the Islamic Museum.","bibliography":"Al-'Arif, 'A., *Tarikh Qubbat al-Sakhra wa al-Masjid al-Aqsa \\[The History of the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque\\],* Jerusalem, 1955.  \nLaurent, B., “The Dome of the Rock: Restorations and Significance”, in S. Auld, and R. Hillenbrand (eds), *Ottoman Jerusalem*, London, 2000.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Nazmi Al-Ju'beh","copy_editor":"Majd Musa","translator":"Amal Sachedina (from the Arabic).","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["“Ya-sin”","ceramic tile","glazed tiles","Thuluth","vegetal decoration"],"materials":["Fired clay with underglaze decoration."]},"5443b49b-dc27-5556-9034-4775ba220542":{"name":"The ‘Lady of Sabra’ plate.","description":"Round-based plate. It has a low, upstanding rim, slightly curved and sloping outwards. On the plate is drawn a female figure in profile with a large almond-shaped eye. The full mouth and the delicate nose are very finely drawn.  \nThe long hair starts in a pony-tail and ends in plaits hanging down to the knees. The figure is standing, wearing a brown-striped dress covered in fringes. She holds a glass in one hand and in the other a flower drawn in a naturalistic manner. The figure is surrounded by four stylised, fan-shaped flowers and by two rectangular shapes each containing a eulogy, probably ‘al-Mulk’ (Sovereignty).  \nAs from the advent of the Fatimids, Ifriqiyan ceramics began to show a preference for the figurative, showing a definite Mesopotamian influence. This trend is undoubtedly connected with the attitude of Shi'ite dogma towards the representation of the human form, more tolerant than that of the Malikite conformists.  \nThe face, with its huge eyes, is a common denominator of almost all human Ifriqiyan figures of the period, whether carved, modelled or painted, and seems to go back to a distant, Roman, North African past. By contrast, the style of the Lady of Sabra's dress had been in fashion since the Umayyad era and lasted right through the Abbasid period.","short_description":"This green bowl has a round base and depicts a female silhouette. The face is identified by an almond-shaped eye, a full mouth and an extremely fine nose. The profile is reminiscent of Ifriqiyan figures.","type":"Plate, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art.","dates":"Hegira, second half of the 4th century / AD 10th century.","location":"Raqqada., Kairouan.","dimensions":"Height 11 cm, diameter 31 cm.","method_for_datation":"This object comes from the site of Sabra al-Mansuriyya, the short-lived capital of the Fatimids and then of the Zirids, which lasted just over 100 years (337–444 / 948–1053). It was retrieved from one of the oldest layers of the site, which dates it from the second half of the 4th / 10th century. The date is corroborated by the green colour and by the decoration.","method_for_provenance":"The discovery on the Sabra site of this plate and of two other identical plates, painted with Fatimid–Zirid decoration and made in the Ifriqiyan manner, suggests they were produced in series locally at the Sabra potteries or at those of Kairouan, the nearest economic capital.","provenance":"Kairouan or Sabra al-Mansuriyya, which both had potteries.","obtention":"The plate was among objects discovered on site during the 1979 excavations at Sabra al-Mansuriyya. It was acquired in 1986 directly from the site by the Museum of Islamic Art at Raqqada.","bibliography":"Ajjabi, H., “La ceramique de Sabra al-Mansuriya”, *Africa*, XI-XII, Tunis, 1992–3, pp.57–8.  \n*Le Vert et le Brun* (exhibition catalogue), Avignon, 1995, p.84.  \n*Tunez, Tierra de Culturas* (exhibition catalogue), Valencia, 2004, p.218.","author":"Mourad Rammah","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"David Ash","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["figurative decoration","Figurative representation","women","Zirid"],"materials":["Glazed ceramic."]},"5518987f-66ff-5665-9182-5ca8e89a0429":{"name":"Small jug.","description":"This small jug, with a small circular base, a bulging belly, low neck and large opening, is composed of several pieces glued back together, with one piece missing from the neck. The handle that links the belly and the neck is surmounted by a thumb-piece that halps to lift the receptacle. The clay paste is covered by cream-coloured slip, which is visible on the inside and outside of the lower half and on the base. Horizontal grooves in relief can be seen on the belly, under the neck and on the inside. One part of the jug is varnished in green. The lower part and base remain bare.  \nGiven the dimensions of the jug, one supposes that it served as a kitchen utensil, used to hold milk and whey.","short_description":"This small, ring-base jug with a rounded belly, short neck and wide opening has been restored. The handle is fitted with a thumb hold. The clay was covered with a cream engobe (slip) that is still visible in places. It is decorated with horizontal grooves in relief. Part of the jug has a green glaze.","type":"Jug, ceramic","holder":"National Museum of Cirta","dates":"Hegira 5th–6th century / AD 11th–12th century.","location":"Constantine","dimensions":"Height 21 cm, diameter of the belly 18 cm.","method_for_datation":"The jug was brought to light from the Muslim stratigraphic layer of Tiddis (Constantine); furthermore, formal characteristics (green glaze, handle with thumb-piece) very closely resemble those of Hammadid ceramic of the Qal'at Bani Hammad.","method_for_provenance":"According to the museum archives it was found in the archaeological site of Tiddis.","provenance":"Tiddis (Constantine), Algeria.","bibliography":"Berthier, A., *Tiddis antique, castellum tidditanorum*, Algiers, 1951.  \nInstitut du Monde Arabe, *L'Algérie en héritage, art et histoire*, catalogue, Paris, 2003.","author":"Houria Cherid","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"Maria Vlotides","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","cuisine","Daily life","Dish","domestic vessels","eat","fasting","Feast","food","food habits","food sharing","fragments glued together","gathering","Glazed","kitchen","kitchen utensil","meal","milk and whey container","pottery","Small jug","social gathering","table","Tableware","Tiddis","vases","wash of diluted clay"],"materials":["Varnished ceramic."]},"568ea72c-15dd-54c9-b0ee-2ca218f47449":{"name":"Storage jar.","description":"A large ceramic storage jar decorated with blue and black underglaze painting. The jar is decorated all over with pseudo-calligraphic motifs of various sizes, including narrow bands around the shoulder and just above the base. The most prominent 'inscription' occupies the greater part of the jar; it consists mainly of dramatic verticals punctuated at nearly regular intervals with the letter waw. In this inscription, unlike the smaller ones above and below it, the letters have been left in relief to stand out against the dark-blue and black background, in which the spaces between the verticals are filled with scrolling vegetal ornament. The neck of the jar features a frieze of bird-silhouettes rendered in blue, with simple arabesque-like designs painted over them in black. Bold calligraphic inscriptions are a hallmark of Mamluk art, and examples like this jar show how that aesthetic made itself felt even in humble wares used for storage.","short_description":"A large ceramic storage jar, decorated in blue and black on a white ground. The decoration consists largely of pseudo-calligraphic inscriptions. This is a good example of how the Mamluk aesthetic extended even to humble wares used for storage.","type":"Glazed and painted ceramic","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum.","dates":"Hegira 8th / AD 14th century.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 37 cm.","method_for_datation":"Comparison with similar wares from the Mamluk period.","method_for_provenance":"Egypt and Syria were both Mamluk domains.","provenance":"Egypt or Syria.","obtention":"Purchased by the Museum in 1864.","bibliography":"Ayers, J., Oriental Art in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1983, p.114.  \n  \nStanley, T., with Rosser-Owen, M. and Vernoit, S., Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Middle East, London, 2004, pp.34–35.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_EG_EN_001","author":"Barry Wood","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["pseudo inscriptions"],"materials":["Glazed and painted ceramic."]},"5691ad24-fe0c-597d-8ca1-206be34877d4":{"name":"Panel of tiles.","description":"A comprehensive group of ceramic tile panels in the form of a pointed arch. Apple-green is used for the background of the peripheral panels while a dark-blue dominates the central panels. Both the floral ornamentation and the calligraphic inscriptions are coloured white and carefully stencilled in black. The technique used to apply the colours is underglaze painting.  \nThese fine Damascene Ottoman tiles were found in the tomb chamber of the Mustafa Lala Pasha mosque, located above the window that overlooks the cemetery. The three lines of *thuluth* script translate as follows:  \n(1) Protector  \n(2) May the mercy of the Lord be upon him in every moment  \n(3) Everything is mortal except for the countenance of God, He has the power of rule, to Him you will all return.  \nThe year AH 998 / AD 1590 was written in numerals in two locations between these lines. The spaces surrounding the inscription, as well as the space between the words, are filled with finely executed stylised vegetal motifs. The depiction of multiple flower varieties swaying in the breeze recalls the extent to which Chinese styles influenced the repertoire of Islamic ceramics. The choice of *thuluth* script for the calligraphy is a favoured ornamental script in tile work because of its monumental letter proportions and its curvaceous painterly quality.","short_description":"Ottoman style underglaze painted tiles made in Damascus display the painterly quality of *thuluth* calligraphy on a background of spiralling floral motifs.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, calligraphy","holder":"National Museum of Damascus","initial_owner":"Probably a governor of Damascus during the reign of Sultan Murad III (r. AH 981–1003 / AD 1574–95).","dates":"Hegira 998 / AD 1590.","location":"Damascus","dimensions":"Height 85 cm, width 1.75 m.","method_for_datation":"The inscription on the panel includes the date of its completion, 998 (1590).","method_for_provenance":"The underglaze technique is consistent with local Syrian techniques of ceramics manufacture and distinctive from the Ottoman overglaze method. During this period, Damascus was a flourishing tile-production centre. It is therefore likely that the tiles were produced in Damascus.","provenance":"Mosque of Mustafa Lala Pasha, Damascus, Syria.","obtention":"The tile panels entered the Museum in 1919 when the mosque in which these tiles were originally located was demolished to make room for the Suq al-Hal, the Cardamom Market.","bibliography":"Abu al-Faraj al-Ush, M., *A Concise Guide to the National Museum of Damascus,* Damascus, 1969, pp.234–5.  \nCluzan, S. et al (eds), *Syrie: Mémoire et Civilisation*, Paris, 1994, p.460.  \nPorter, V., *Islamic Tiles,* London, 1995.  \nSoustiel, J., and Kiefer, C., *La céramique islamique*, Fribourg, 1985.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Mona al-Moadin","translator":"Hilary Kalmbach (from the Arabic)","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["calligraphy","ceramic","Damascus","Mosque interior decoration","Mustafa Lala Pasha","polychrome","Thuluth","tile","tilework","underglaze"],"materials":["Polychrome-painted ceramic with a transparent glaze over."]},"56fdf3b8-f3a7-5644-8aac-6ef2466a6f40":{"name":"Panel of tiles.","description":"Panel made up of four *azulejos* (square tiles) and 12 *alfardones* (hexagonal tiles) glazed with cobalt-blue on a white background, the former decorated with blue-petalled flowers and white borders, and the latter with stylised Moorish plant motifs and banderols bearing the inscription in lower-case Gothic characters *fer be* ('do good'). Eight triangular pieces with stylised plant motifs are fitted into the corners and sides of the panel, three of which are decorated with the end of a banderol similar to the ones on the *alfardones*. They are in fact the ends of these tiles, cut off to form a triangular shape. Some retain the plant decoration and others part of a banderol. The panel is now framed with a line of smooth blue tiles.  \nThe panel was initially part of the decoration of the chapel of San Jeronimo of the Convent of Concepción Francisca in Toledo. The repetition of the text on the *alfardones* is an example of how, in the Mudéjar age, Manises ceramicists reinterpreted traditional inscription-based decorative schemes.","short_description":"This set of tiles showing a complete decorative motif, was made in the potteries of Manises (Valencia) for the Chapel of San Jerónimo of the Convent of the Conception of St Francis (Toledo), which explains the repeated epigram *fer be*, ‘do good’.","type":"Tile, clay, ceramic","holder":"National Archaeological Museum.","dates":"15th century.","location":"Madrid","dimensions":"Height 64 cm, width 64 cm.","method_for_datation":"Part of a well-known and documented series from Manises.","method_for_provenance":"The documentation kept in the National Archaeological Museum archive explicitly states that they come from the chapel of San Jeronimo of the Convent of Concepción Francisca in Toledo. This chapel was founded in 1422 by Gonzalo López de la Fuente.","provenance":"Convent of Concepción Francisca, Toledo, Spain.","obtention":"Obtained by the National Archaeological Museum as part of the collection of tiles sold by Anastasio de Páramo y Barranco in 1933.","bibliography":"Franco Mata, A., “Antigüedades Christianos del Siglo VIII al XV”, in *Guía del Museo Arqueológico Nacional*, Vol. II, Madrid, 1992, p.98.  \nGonzález Martí, M., *Cerámica del Levante Español: Siglos Medievales*, Vol. II, Barcelona, 1944–52, p.54 *et seq*.  \nMartínez Caviró, B., *Mudéjar Toledano: Palacios y Conventos, Madrid, 1980.*","workshop":"Manises workshop, Valencia, Spain.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_ES_EN_001","author":"M.ª del Carmen Alonso Rodríguez","copy_editor":"Rosalía Aller","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["alfardones","azulejo","Glazed","Manises","Mudéjar","tile","tilework"],"materials":["Fired and glazed clay."]},"5722c4e0-76c3-5fb1-8956-11019061b77b":{"name":"Mosaic Tile Panel with Design of Flowers and Interlocking Vines","short_description":"A kite-shaped mosaic panel, truncated at the bottom, is mounted into a framed, white plaster mold. Outlining the border on all sides except the bottom is a turquoise band, then a black band, then a golden-tan band, each progressively thinner. The main ground of the mosaic is royal blue in color, and is decorated with a series of interlocking vines in golden-tan, white, and turquoise, interspersed with various flowers with petals in pale pink or black, each outlined in white. Among the flowers and vines are leaves in forest green, outlined in golden-tan, ranging in saturation. The central element of the panel is a lobed pendentive with a black ground, surrounded in golden-tan, decorated with turquoise vines and flowers with pale pink centers, around a central flower outlined in white with a pale pink, teardrop center surrounded in royal blue outline, then pink teardrop petals, then royal blue pointed leaves.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Saint Louis Art Museum","dates":"Hegira 885-886 / AD 1480–81","location":"Saint Louis","dimensions":"Length: 113cm x Width: 76.8cm","method_for_datation":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","method_for_provenance":"This tile panel comes from the inner portal of the mausoleum of a holy man in Isfahan in central Iran.","provenance":"Isfahan, Iran, Asia","obtention":"Museum Purchase, 1923","keywords":["Asia","ceramics","Fritware","Glazed","Iran","Isfahan","mosaic","panel","Persian","tile"],"materials":["Glazed fritware"]},"5737c1ee-cc7f-51c5-a3a0-7d7bf8615842":{"name":"Iznik bottle","description":"An Iznik flask, with a spherical body and a long neck, is decorated with polychrome flowers: roses, hyacinth and carnations and the neck displays vertical panels. Bought by A. Benakis in Cairo in 1920 and according to the etiquettes under the base it was part of the 1885 exhibition at the Burlington Arts Club in London and of the 1925 exhibition in Alexandria. Ottoman c. 1575.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Benaki Museum","dates":"16th century; bought in 1920","location":"Athens","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","author":"Mina Moraitou"},"57c5b17a-cc28-503e-b6e8-63bb26227762":{"name":"Dish.","description":"The polychrome underglaze painted dish, with a broad slightly curved rim and a small flattened well, shows European influence. In the first half of the AH 10th / AD 16th century, Iznik ware, in seeking new sources of inspiration for designs and forms, included the tondino, a shape of Italian origin. The striking form of the dish under discussion derives from this type of maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware) and its Turkish imitations.  \nThe centre of the dish is decorated with a 'quatre fleurs' design of two tulips on short stalks, four roses on long curved stems and two sprays of other flowers, all springing from a leafy tuft. The roses with their large red blossoms dominate the centre of the dish and the decoration of the rim. The rim shows radiating floral stems of alternating tulips, roses and small flowers with red blossoms. Along the border of both rim and well, a red Chinese cloud and small forms derived from the motif of Chinese waves are set between the blossoms. The floral design with black outlines is coloured in a contrast of bright, slightly running blue and green with a thick raised applied opaque red on a white background. The outside of the dish is painted with ten blue flower-like motifs on white slip. The back and bottom of the dish, except for the foot-ring, are transparent glazed.","short_description":"Polychrome underglaze painted dish with a broad rim and a small flattened well. Roses with large red blossoms dominate the pattern of the centre and the rim. Following the Iznik style other flowers and Chinese clouds are also included. The shape of the dish shows European influence.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, glazed","holder":"Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities (Medelhavsmuseet).","owner":"National Museum of Fine Arts, Stockholm. In order to reorganise the expanding collections, the main part of the Islamic collection has been on permanent loan to the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities since 1982.","dates":"Hegira around 1009 / AD around 1600.","location":"Stockholm","dimensions":"Height 6 cm, diameter 38 cm.","method_for_datation":"The 'quatre fleurs' style was a development of the second half of the 10th / 16th century. The slightly running colours suggest a dating at the end of the 10th / 16th century – beginning of the 11th / 17th century, but not much later because of the high quality of the glaze. Atasoy and Raby dated a plate of similar shape and decoration to 1009–19 / 1600–10.","method_for_provenance":"The floral decoration and the shape are both specific to Iznik ceramics.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Bequest of King Charles XV.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N. and Raby, J., *Iznik*: *The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989.  \nCarswell, J., *Iznik Pottery*, London, 1998.  \nMüller-Wiener, M., *Türkisch-Osmanische Keramik*, Traunstein, 2004.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Friederike Voigt","copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["Dish","floral decoration","Ottoman ceramic","Plate"],"materials":["Ceramic","painted and glazed."]},"5838c354-7008-5b83-99dc-80cbba207468":{"name":"Egyptianising plate","description":"Plate with Egyptianising motifs and a copy of a drawing by Dominique Vivant Denon, *Voyage dans la Basse et la Haute Egypte, pendant les campagnes du Général Bonaparte*, 1802. Part of an Egyptian Service. Said to have been one of 3 Sevres plates which were thrown out of the windows of the Tuileries during the Revolution of 1848.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"The British Museum","dates":"1804–5","location":"London","provenance":"France"},"58b05d1c-5f36-5062-be5d-8dc0b6573bbf":{"name":"Plate of polychrome ceramic from Fez","description":"This polychrome ceramic dish illustrates the refinement of Moroccan craftsmanship, especially that of Fez, a city famous for its pottery. In the centre, a six-pointed star outlined in yellow and blue immediately catches the eye. This motif is surrounded by rich floral and vegetal ornaments, arranged symmetrically, evoking the harmony and proliferation of nature. Stylised flowers, mainly blue and yellow, occupy spaces between the star’s branches, while green arabesques add dynamic and contrasting touches. The border of the plate is decorated with a multicoloured diamond pattern, alternating among blue, yellow and green, framed by a thin blue line. This detail gives a captivating finish to the whole, enhancing the composition’s effect.","type":"Plate","holder":"National Foundation of Museums","dates":"Hegira mid of 13th century/ beginning of the 14th century - AD End of 19th century\"","location":"Fez","dimensions":"Diameter: 30 cm, height: 10.02 cm; base: 19.8 cm","place_of_production":"Fez","provenance":"Fez","translator":"Judy Harter","materials":["Polychrome glazed ceramic"]},"58b37312-2a63-52d9-9118-d73987819f0b":{"name":"Plate with metallic glaze.","description":"A bowl with a circular base and curved sides. The cruciform decoration is set off by four green areas glazed with copper oxide which cover the area outside the cross. The cross itself is decorated with dotted and stylised leaves and bordered with four twisted-rope motifs set within parallel lines.  \nThis plate is the only example of passementerie decoration that we have for this period. There are no other similar objects in Mesopotamian ceramics of this era, which could mean that this is an Ifriqiyan artefact. The floral decoration is quite similar to that of the wooden half-dome of the *mihrab* of the Great Mosque of Kairouan and also to the braiding found on Kairouanese bookbinding of the AH 3rd–5th / AD 9th–11th centuries. However, there is undoubtedly a connection in the colouring and the decoration between this piece and the façade tiles of the *mihrab* of the Great Mosque of Kairouan. The Mesopotamian origin of these tiles is firmly established. The metallic-glazing technique is a Muslim innovation which spread from Mesopotamia to Egypt in the early 3rd / 9th century and probably reached Ifriqiya in the second half of that century. It moved through the Maghreb and on to Spain before reaching Europe in the AH 6th or 7th / AD 12th or 13th centuries.","short_description":"The lustre technique originated in Mesopotamia, spreading to Egypt and Ifriqiya, the Maghreb and Spain, before finally conquering Europe. The floral decoration and the colours used in this dish are reminiscent of the demicupola of the *mihrab* in the Great Mosque of Kairouan.","type":"Plate, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art.","dates":"Hegira, late 3rd–early 4th centuries / AD 9th–10th centuries.","location":"Raqqada., Kairouan.","dimensions":"Height 9.2 cm, diameter 27 cm.","method_for_datation":"This piece comes from the excavation sites at Raqqada, a city founded in 263 / 876, which survived until the middle of the 5th / 11th century. Unfortunately, the excavations were never published and the archives do not include the reports of the excavation which would have identified the different stratigraphic layers. However, the colouring and decoration of the piece are typically Aghlabid. It would appear from the evidence of this example and of mosaic flooring found on site that the ceramists had achieved a considerable mastery of the technique of metallic glazing, which could not have reached Ifriqiya before the middle of the 3rd / 9th century. This evidence would allow us to date the piece from the last quarter of the 3rd / 9th century.","method_for_provenance":"As the decoration of this plate fits in the Ifriqiyan repertoire, it is plausible to consider that it was produced at the workshops in Kairouan","provenance":"The Raqqada excavations.","obtention":"This piece was found on the site of the Raqqada excavations during the 1960s. From 1966 it was on display at the museum of the Great Mosque of Kairouan, transferring to the Museum of Islamic Art at Raqqada in 1986.","bibliography":"*Couleurs de Tunisie* (exhibition catalogue), Paris, 1994, p.127, plate no. 65.  \n*De Carthage a Kairouan* (exhibition catalogue), Paris, 1982, p.223, plate no. 301.  \n*30 ans au service du patrimoine* (exhibition catalogue), 1986, p.249.  \nLings, M. and Safadi, Y.-H., *The Arts of Islam* (exhibition catalogue), London, 1976, p.216.  \n*Ifriqiya: Thirteen Centuries of Art and Architecture in Tunisia*, pp.174–5.","author":"Mourad Rammah","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"David Ash","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["floral decoration","geometric decoration"],"materials":["Glazed and polished ceramic."]},"590eb500-d496-5a10-9ce2-d253933322b6":{"name":"Bowl with lovers in conversation.","description":"This piece is decorated by a pair of seated lovers in conversation on a background closely filled with palmette spirals, as was common in Kashan lustre-ware.  \nAn inscription runs along the outer edge of the bowl, almost certainly a good omen, that is unfortunately difficult to read as a result of the current state of preservation.","short_description":"Bowl decorated with two figures in conversation. The decoration on this example from Kashan is typical of production from the early AH 6th / AD 12th century.","type":"Bowl, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”","owner":"Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente (Is.IAO).","dates":"Hegira 6th–7th centuries / AD 12th–13th centuries.","location":"Rome","dimensions":"Diameter 19.6 cm.","method_for_provenance":"The inside of the bowl shows the typical dense decoration common to Kashan products at the beginning of the 6th / 12th century.","provenance":"Kashan, Iran.","obtention":"Is.IAO deposit.","bibliography":"Fèhervari, G., *La Ceramica Islamica*, Milan, 1985.  \nGrube, E.J., *Cobalt and Lustre. The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery. The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art*, Vol. IX, London, 1994.  \nLane, A., *Early Islamic Pottery*, London, 1953.  \nPhilon, H., *Early Islamic Ceramics*, London, 1980.  \nTorre, P., *Le Mille e una Notte: Ceramiche Persiane, Turche e Ispano-Moresche*, Faenza, 1990.","author":"Paola Torre","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["figurative decoration"],"materials":["Metallic lustre-painted ceramic."]},"596c14fe-038a-5166-8b18-291ff7388f1d":{"name":"Dish","description":"Large, white plate decorated with chequered pattern: squares painted either white with black dots, pale blue or green. Rim decorated with a twigs and simplified leaves. On the back side of the rim five blue spots.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"National Museum in Kraków","initial_owner":"Muzeum Techniczno-Przemysłowe w Krakowie / Industrial Museum in Kraków","dates":"11th century Hegira / 17th century AD","location":"Kraków","dimensions":"Diameter: 28.7cm, height: 6cm","method_for_datation":"Dating and origin based on similar pieces from other collections.","method_for_provenance":"Material and technique are characteristic for Turkish ceramic production in this period","provenance":"Turkey","obtention":"Purchased by the Industrial Museum in Kraków.","bibliography":"Holender A., et al., *Katalog wystawy kobierców mahometańskich, ceramiki azjatyckiej i europejskiej : urządzonej w Muzeum Narodowem w Krakowie, luty - czerwiec 1934*, Kraków: Muzeum Narodowe, 1934: p. 97, fig. 217.  \n  \nAbrahamowicz, Z., *Wojna i pokój. Skarby sztuki tureckiej ze zbiorów polskich od XV do XIX wieku*, Warsaw: Muzeum Narodowe, 2000: p. 455, fig. 74.","author":"Bożena Kostuch","keywords":["chequered pattern","Islam"],"materials":["polychrome painted under transparent glaze","Stone-paste (fritware)"]},"59aacd3c-1eb0-50be-81af-310b08deaa40":{"name":"Glazed and decorated bowl","description":"This small open bowl was intended to serve food. The glaze and decoration remain only on the outside, with alternating vertically painted lines in red and yellow running from the lip to the foot. The glaze above the painted decoration is transparent. This particular combination of colours and patterns suggest that this bowl was a product of a workshop in Susa (Iran) or Samarra or Basra (Iraq).","type":"Container","holder":"National Museum of Qatar","owner":"National Museum of Qatar","initial_owner":"Qatar Museums","dates":"AH late 2nd to late 3rd century / AD late 8th to late 9th century","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Height: 5.5cm, base diameter: 14.1cm, rim diameter: 16.6cm","place_of_production":"Iraq/Iran","method_for_datation":"Stratigraphy/scientific analysis.","method_for_provenance":"Stratigraphy/scientific and laboratory analysis.","provenance":"Murwab, Qatar","obtention":"Archaeological excavation.","bibliography":"Carvajal Lopez, J., Guerin, A., and Georgakopoulou, M., \"Petrographic analysis of ceramics of Murwab, an early islamic site in Qatar\", Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 51 (2022): 55–70.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Preliminary pottery study: Murwab horizon in progress, ninth century AD, Qatar\", in Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 40 (2010): 17–34.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Territory and settlement patterns during the Abbasid period (ninth century AD): the village of Murwab (Qatar)\", Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 39 (2009): 181–196.  \n  \nHardy-Guilbert, Cl., \"Fouilles archéologiques a Murwab, Qatar\", in R. Boucharlat et J.-F. Salles (eds.), Arabie Orientale, Mésopotamie et Iran méridional: De l’Age du Fer au début de la période islamique, Paris: ERC 37, 1984: 169–188.  \n  \nKnuth, E., \"An Early Islamic fort and settlement at Murwab”, in F. Hojlund (ed.), Danish Archaeological Investigations in Qatar 1956–1974, Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 97 (2017): 83–98.","author":"Alexandrine Guerin","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","keywords":["bowl","earthenware","Glaze","Tableware"],"materials":["Glazed earthenware"]},"59c2fb21-a451-5ddc-860d-380e07ae8190":{"name":"Ceramic bowl","short_description":"The bowl has a broad centre painted in underglaze blue with a round tripartite blazon showing in the middle a stemmed cup. This is the emblem of the office of the Mamluk cupbearer or *saqi*. Blazons are not often met on underglaze painted ware but are most commonly represented on metalwork and earthenware ceramics of the sgraffiato type from the end of the 13th century on.","type":"Bowl, ceramic","holder":"Benaki Museum","dates":"Hegira 7th-8th century / AD late 13th-early 14th century","location":"Athens","provenance":"Syria","keywords":["bowl","ceramic","Mamluk","Saqi"],"materials":["Frit body","underglaze painted"]},"59e80b7c-1bba-5071-b131-361159bba754":{"name":"Dish","description":"Istanbul was a lively center of trade, and many ships, both Turkish and Western, called at its harbor. Most of the Turkish vessels were light, fast ships with lateen sails, like the one depicted on a flask (11/1971). Western European galleys were much heavier, and this dish shows a monumental oceangoing three-master on the raging sea.  \n  \nWhat were presumably the muzzles of threatening cannons were transformed by the Turkish potter into flowerheads. An early example of the slogan Make Love, Not War?","type":"Dish","holder":"The David Collection","owner":"The David Collection","dates":"AH c. 1009 / AD c.1600","location":"Copenhagen","dimensions":"Height: 6.8cm ; Diameter: 36cm","place_of_production":"Iznik (Türkiye)","bibliography":"Atil, E., *The Age of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent*, Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1987: cat.no. 201.  \n  \n*Soliman le Magnifique: 15 fevrier au 14 mai 1990*, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris 1990: cat.no. 86.  \n  \nFolsach, K., *et al.,*, *Sultan, Shah and Great Mughal: the history and culture of the Islamic world*, Copenhagen: The National Museum, 1996: cat.no. 182.  \n  \nDenny, W., *Iznik: la céramique turque et l'art ottoman*, Paris: Citadelles & Mazenod, 2004: 184--185.  \n  \nBurrison, J.A., *Bautiful clay: a traditional craft as art*, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2025: 174, 186, 182, fig. 3.39.","copy_editor":"Zeina Al Amad","keywords":["Dish","Fritware","Iznik","Ottomans","water"],"materials":["and black and with a red slip under a transparent glaze","Fritware","green","painted in blue"]},"5a5a6aad-8d85-5438-8174-be801759c798":{"name":"Plate with phoenixes and deer","short_description":"The well of this shallow plate shows two deer set against a background of lotus flowers and leafage, while the rim is covered with a band of flying phoenixes and parrots surrounded by similar floral and vegetal motifs. The design, painted in white slip on a grey-green ground, is directly inspired by Chinese silk textiles and lacquer wares.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation","dates":"Hegira early 8th century / AD early 14th century","location":"Sharjah","provenance":"Iran, probably Kashan","keywords":["animal decoration","ceramic","China","Chinese influence","Ilkhanid","imaginary animal","Phoenix","Plate","zoomorphic imagery"]},"5abad405-1fc5-5ec3-bfc2-063b3b9fae2b":{"name":"Footed dish or *tazze*.","description":"A large circular stone-paste (fritware) dish set on a low, waisted foot-ring. It has a wide and shallow well forming into a curved concave sweep (*cavetto*) up to a broad, horizontal rim with a scalloped edge. The design in the well is contained within a roundel that is outlined by a double linear border. It consists of six flowers on curvaceous, leafy stems with tiny *fleur-de-lys* extensions, surrounding a small flower-head in the centre. The *cavetto* is decorated with seven sprigs that hold a central flower-head identical in style to the floral motifs in the well. The rim displays a debased wave-and-rock design. The underside of the *cavetto* is decorated with six floral sprigs.","short_description":"Between the late AH 9th and 11th / AD 15th and 17th centuries Imperial Ottoman patronage ensured that Iznik stood out as the main centre of high-quality ceramic production in the empire. Many early Iznik wares attempted to imitate Chinese blue-and-white porcelains in body material, shapes and design.","type":"Stone paste, two shades of blue","holder":"National Museums of Scotland (NMS).","dates":"About hegira 977–98 /AD 1570–90.","location":"Edinburgh, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 6.7 cm, diameter 34.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"This dish belongs to a group of Iznik wares identified by Atasoy and Raby (1989) as ‘flower scroll dishes’, which were produced in the workshops of Iznik between 931 and 998 / 1525 and 1590. Within this group the dish represents a late manifestation of the style, and Atasoy and Raby have dated this very piece to about 977–98 / 1570-90.","method_for_provenance":"This dish belongs to a group of Iznik wares identified by Atasoy and Raby (1989) as ‘flower scroll dishes’; this very dish is dated to about 977–98 / 1570-90. It should be noted that this dish, as illustrated in Atasoy and Raby, is identified as having been sold at auction at Sotheby’s, London on 9 Mar 1974, lot 43, when in fact the dish was sold again at auction at Spink and Son, London, in 1979 and it was on this occasion that the item was purchased for the Royal Museum, Edinburgh.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Purchased from Spink and Son Ltd, London, in 1979.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989, p.123, fig. 202.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Ulrike Al-Khamis","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Iznik","stone-paste (fritware)"],"materials":["over which a clear glaze.","Stone-paste (fritware) underglaze painted in two shades of blue"]},"5b5cf425-209d-5ed6-bf56-2f219440105b":{"name":"Vase with cover","description":"A vase with an octagonal base, short neck and cover. There are upright, narrow flutes across the entire surface. The plant ornamentation, painted in blue, red-brown and green is of Oriental inspiration. It is signed in red-brown: “APK” (in ligature) and engraved “X”.","short_description":"A vase with an octagonal base, short neck and cover. The plant ornamentation, painted in blue, red-brown and green is of Oriental inspiration.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museum of Arts and Crafts","dates":"Late 17th century","location":"Zagreb, North-West Croatia","dimensions":"Height: 17 cm","place_of_production":"Delft","method_for_datation":"By inscription and stylistic analysis.","obtention":"From the estate of Countess Jelisava Draskovic, Zagreb; purchased for the Museum collection in 1959.","bibliography":"*Muzej za umjetnost i obrt 1880–1970. Katalog izabranih djela* (Museum of Arts and Crafts 1880–1970. Museum of Arts and Crafts 1880-1970: catalogue of selected works) Zagreb, 1970, cat. 67.","workshop":"Adriaen Pijnacker’s or Pietr Kock’s workshop","author":"Marina Bagarić","translator":"Graham McMaster","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Chinese influence","Delft pottery","earthenware","floral decoration","Glazed","pottery","vegetal decoration"],"materials":["Tin-glazed earthenware"]},"5cf968b5-3058-5930-a6d0-15159faf8517":{"name":"Bowl with Epigraphic and Vegetal Decoration","short_description":"This strikingly modern bowl is made from humble earthenware, disguised and beautified through the application of a white slip, a semifluid colored clay. Its interior is decorated with an encircling black inscription, and the spaces between the letters are filled by abstract decoration that is augmented by the color red, all covered by a transparent glaze. Read by turning the bowl counterclockwise, the Arabic inscription presents a proverb that retains some resonance even today: “Greed is a sign of poverty.” This proverb, which is inscribed on a number of Samanid bowls, is one of the sayings of the Shi’ite Imam ‘Ali ibn Abu Talib.","type":"Furnishings","holder":"Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)","dates":"Hegira 4th century / AD 10th century","location":"Los Angeles","dimensions":"8.1 x 22.5cm","method_for_datation":"The inscribed bowl exemplifies the elegant \"black-on-white wares\" excavated in the cities of Nishapur and Samarqand, both of which were governed by the Samanid dynasty beginning in Hegira 289 / AD 900.","method_for_provenance":"The material, technique and decoration are all consonant with Samanid epigraphic pottery.","provenance":"Iran, Nishapur, or Uzbekistan, Samarkand","obtention":"Collection of Nasli M. Heeramaneck (1902-1971), New York, until 1973 (sold to); LACMA, The Nasli M. Heeramaneck collection, gift of Joan Palevsky.","bibliography":"Al-Khemir, Sabiha, *Beauty and Belief: Crossing Bridges with the Arts of Islamic Culture*, Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Museum of Art, 2012: 245.  \nCanby, Sheila R., “Iranian Objects in Three Dimensions,” *Arts Asiatique* (Nov.-Dec. 1987): 90, plate 25.  \nGhouchani, Abdallah, *Inscriptions on Nishapur Pottery*, Tehran: Reza Abbasi Museum, 1986: 162-163.  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Beauty and Identity: Islamic Art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art*, Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2016: 50-51, 307, cat. no. 6.  \nPal, Pratapaditya (ed), *Islamic Art: The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection*, Los Angeles: Museum Associates, 1973: 25, cat. no. 7.","author":"LACMA Staff","keywords":["Arabic inscription","bowl","ceramics","epigraphic decoration","pottery","Samanid","vegetal decoration"],"materials":["Earthenware with white slip covering and decoration in pigments under a transparent glaze"]},"5d9bc47e-05b8-5889-945e-09b9078e013b":{"name":"Mihrab","short_description":"A mihrab is a characteristic architectural element in mosques and other places where Muslims worship. It serves to emphasize the direction of Mecca, toward which all prayer is oriented. Shaped like a niche, the mihrab is usually concave, but flat examples also occur, as here. This mihrab, which represents only the upper central panel of what was undoubtedly a larger ensemble, is inscribed with a passage from the Qur'an (15:45–47) that refers to Paradise, suggesting that it may have once graced a funerary monument.","type":"Architectural Elements","holder":"Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)","dates":"Hegira early 8th century / AD early 14th century","location":"Los Angeles","dimensions":"102.9 x 119.1cm","method_for_datation":"This mihrab relates to several dated luster mihrabs, including one from the shrine at Qom from Hegira 734 / AD 1334 now in the Iran Bastan Museum in Tehran (3270). Such tile mihrabs and related tile ensembles were likely produced in Kashan rather than in situ. Luster tile production in Kashan seems to have come to an end around 1340, providing an approximate terminus ante quem.","method_for_provenance":"Kashan was a major site of ceramics production in the 12th- 14th centuries (with a break during the Mongol invasions).","provenance":"Iran, Kashan","obtention":"Kevorkian Collection (sale, Parke-Bernet, New York, December 18, 1970). Collection of Nasli M. Heeramaneck (1902-1971), New York, until 1973 (sold to); LACMA, The Nasli M. Heeramaneck collection, gift of Joan Palevsky.","bibliography":"Komaroff, Linda, *Lo Terrenal y lo Divino: Arte Islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Ángeles*, Santiago: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015: 2, 17, 18  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Islamic Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art*, Los Angeles: Museum Associates, 2005: Title page.  \nPal, Pratapaditya (ed), *Islamic Art: The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection*, Los Angeles: Museum Associates, 1973: 46, 47, cat. no. 70.","author":"LACMA Staff","keywords":["architectural element","ceramic","cobalt","funerary architecture","Ilkhanid","Iran","Kashan","lustre","overglaze-painted","panel","Paradise","Qur'an","Qur'anic inscriptions","tilework"],"materials":["Fritware","overglaze luster-painted","with cobalt and turquoise"]},"5dee67a6-dec6-573e-b65b-409f8fb7b119":{"name":"Tile","short_description":"The motif of three circles combined with paired wavy lines (possibly a much abstracted version of leopard spots and tiger stripes and probably originally a power symbol), was repeated in a variety of Ottoman media whether made for the court in Istanbul or produced in provincial centres such as Syrian Damascus. In this hexagonal tile, the Syrian artist has replicated the design but not the red and blue on a white ground colour scheme of the classic Iznik tile. Instead, the tile is boldly decorated in turquoise and black, a colour combination that typifies Syrian tiles in the Ottoman period.","type":"Architectural Elements","holder":"Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)","dates":"Hegira second half of the 10th century / AD second half of the 16th century","location":"Los Angeles","dimensions":"Width: 26.4cm","method_for_datation":"The paired wavy lines and groups of three large dots was a popular motif among a wide variety of Ottoman arts by the beginning of the 16th century, while the turquoise and black colour scheme specifically associate the tile with Syria.","method_for_provenance":"The turquoise and black colour combination typifies Syrian tiles in the Ottoman period.","provenance":"Syria","obtention":"Collection of Maan Z. Madina (1926-2013), New York, until 2002 (sold to); LACMA, The Madina Collection of Islamic Art, gift of Camilla Chandler Frost.","bibliography":"Komaroff, Linda, *Lo Terrenal y lo divino: Arte islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Angeles*, Santiago, Chile: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015: 174, 177.  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Beauty and Identity: Islamic Art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art*, Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2016: 212-213.","author":"LACMA Staff","keywords":["abstract decoration","black","ceramic","chintamani","cintamani","Ottoman ceramic","spots and stripes decoration","Syrian tiles"],"materials":["Fritware","underglaze-painted"]},"5e07ad26-9889-5b0c-8700-7ac79e824fca":{"name":"Dish.","description":"A circular stone-paste (fritware) dish with a shallow well, everted rim and low circular foot-ring. The dish has a busy floral composition, incorporating red roses, fleshy blue tulips with red detailing, and other blue and red flowers on stalks with green leafage, rising from a leafy tuft. A large serrated so-called *saz* leaf, rendered in blue with a white and red beaded centre, is placed obliquely across the naturalistically drawn flowers. The rim is decorated with a debased wave border, executed in blue and black. The *saz* leaf occurs repeatedly in later Iznik wares of the AH 11th / AD 16th-century but its origins lie within a decorative style developed in AH 9th- / AD 15th-century Iran and then subsequently adapted to all media within Ottoman art.","short_description":"This type of dish, with its busy floral composition rendered in blue, green, black and the characteristic bole-red, its fleshy *saz* leaf and its debased wave border, is a typical example of the ceramics produced in Iznik during the AH late 10th–early 11th centuries / AD late 16th–early 17th centuries.","type":"Ottoman ceramic, stone paste","holder":"National Museums of Scotland (NMS).","dates":"Hegira, late 10th– early 11th century / AD late 16th– early 17th century.","location":"Edinburgh, Scotland","dimensions":"Diameter 29 cm.","method_for_datation":"The style of this plate with its busy floral composition, fleshy *saz* leaf and debased wave border is consistent with a group of Iznik wares datable to the late 10th–early 11th / late 16th–early 17th centuries.","method_for_provenance":"This type of dish with its busy floral composition rendered in blue, green, black and the characteristic bole-red, its fleshy *saz* leaf and its debased wave border are well known decorative elements among the ceramic wares produced in Iznik during the late 10th–early 11th / late 16th–early 17th centuries.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Bequest from Miss Campbell M. Currie in 1937.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989 (for general discussion on Iznik wares).","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Ulrike Al-Khamis","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Iznik","saz leaf"],"materials":["black","Blue","green and bole-red underglaze","over which a clear glaze.","Stone-paste (fritware)"]},"5e17faa4-c7b3-5b94-a409-86fb692fc4f7":{"name":"Bowl.","description":"A stone-paste ceramic bowl painted in brown, blue, green and red underglaze. Technically, the colourful decoration of a horseman imitates a type of Iranian ceramic known as *mina‘i* ware, ‘mina‘i’ meaning literally enamelled, a technique in which some of the colours were painted over the glaze and then fixed by firing. The Syrian potters were influenced by developments in Iran but lacked the technical knowledge of working with enamels on ceramics. They therefore imitated the style. This bowl mimics the type of design employed on minai wares with underglaze painting in similar bright colours to enamel. There is an illegible inscription on the underside of the bowl.","short_description":"The colourful decoration of the horseman on this ceramic bowl imitates a type of ceramic that originated in Iran. Enamelled ceramics, or *mina'i* ware, were exported from Iran to Syria, where potters imitated the style using underglaze painting rather than enamels.","type":"Ceramic, glazed pottery","holder":"The British Museum.","dates":"Hegira 7th / AD 13th century.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 4.1 cm, diameter 8.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"Bowls of this style were probably created in the 7th / 13th century, soon after minai wares began to be produced in Iran.","method_for_provenance":"Syria was the obvious recipient of mina'i wares from neighbouring Iran.","provenance":"Syria.","obtention":"Acquired through the National Art Collections Fund in 1912.","author":"Emily Shovelton","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["horsemanship"],"materials":["Blue","green and red underglaze.","Stone-paste ceramic painted with brown"]},"5e2de5b6-9e65-5cc0-b7c3-55df296ef3f6":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"The bowl shows decoration comprising a central stylised flower set in a square with corners sprouting shield-shaped leaves separated by trefoil motifs on arches. The overglaze decoration is painted in cobalt blue.","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 3rd–4th century / AD 9th–10th  century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Diameter 21.6 cm","provenance":"Iraq","keywords":["Abbasid","ceramic","cobalt blue","pottery"],"materials":["blue decoration","Earthenware","opaque white glaze"]},"5e49717d-377e-51a8-a5cc-e5b4d8ad7979":{"name":"Water jar","description":"This piece belongs to a set that came from a Turkish shipwreck in the Red Sea, in the Gulf of Aqaba, near Sharm al-Sheikh, during the second quarter of the 18th century. The precise origin of these ceramics is not known, but these water jars are similar to those still used in Egypt today. After the Ottoman conquest, Sultan Selim I deported Egyptian craftsmen from various trades to Istanbul. As a result, ceramics declined irremediably, and production was limited to utilitarian objects such as this one, whose designs are incomparable to those produced from the 9th to the 15th centuries.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museum of the Arab World Institute","initial_owner":"Jean Soustiel","dates":"Hegira 2nd to 3rd quarter of the 12th century / AD 2nd quarter of the 18th century","location":"Paris","dimensions":"Height: 28.5cm, Diameter: 12.4cm","provenance":"Near East, from a marine wreck","obtention":"Purchased from the Art Musulman gallery in 1985.","bibliography":"Delpont, E., et al., *Album du musée*. Eric DELPONT (et al.), Paris: Somogy éditions d'art, 2012: 291.  \n  \nMoulierac, J., et al., *Céramique du monde musulman: collections de l'Institut du monde arabe et de J.P. et F. Croisier* , Paris: Institut du monde arabe, 1999: 39.  \n  \nRaban, A. \"The Shipwreck Off Sharm el-Sheikh\". *Archeologia*, volume 24:2 (1971): 146-155.","translator":"Judy Harter","materials":["Clay","incised and applied decoration","smooth on surface"]},"5f0f9d5c-e4b9-544a-a606-348a9bf33e9a":{"name":"Dish","short_description":"During the first half of the sixteenth century, artists of the royal design atelier of the Ottoman court developed a new decorative style characterized by its bright colours and naturalistic depiction of flowers. The floral composition on this dish with its tulips, carnations, and roses in red and blue on a white background is typical of the production of the Ottoman imperial kilns in the city of Iznik. Similar patterns of floral designs were used on textiles, carpets, book illuminations, and tiles, including some splendid examples in the Aga Khan Museum’s collection. The consistency of the Ottoman floral style helped establish a distinctive and singular visual brand for the Ottoman Empire and its arts. It is during this period that tulips caught Europe’s attention when they were first introduced there by Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, the Austrian ambassador to the Ottoman court.","type":"Dish","holder":"Aga Khan Museum","dates":"1570–80","location":"Toronto, Ontario","dimensions":"Diameter: 34.3cm, Height: 7.4cm","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey","obtention":"Former Prince Saddrudin Aga Khan Collection","keywords":["ceramic","Dish","floral","Fritware","tulip","underglaze-painted"],"materials":["Fritware","underglaze-painted"]},"5f65dbae-2362-5da9-a960-991cf65fb132":{"name":"Lustre glazed bowl","short_description":"The object is a wine bowl decorated with an image of a couple and with toasts and blessings. The technique used for producing this bowl is lustre with overglaze painting. Painted inside the deep bowl is a pair of seated figures, inspired by Persian illumination; the female figure holds a glass. The circumferential strip edging the bowl bears inscriptions which refer to wine drinking, confirming the vessel's function. It is an excellent example of ceramic glazed with metallic lustre, which was developed in Iran. In the late 12th century, subjects such as hunting scenes and human figures drinking wine appeared as decorations on objects. The bowl, with its high foot ring and the intricately-detailed decoration in the background, is typical for the wares produced in Kashan, where the lustre industry flourished in this period. The metallic, golden effect is created by painting with silver and copper oxide, which melts during the second firing. Excerpts from the inscriptions:  \nBlessing:  \nHonour and gladness, greatness and joy  \nBe not distant from the owner of this bowl.  \nPoem by Malek Fakhreddin Mubaraksah Guri:  \nYou said: Why were your tears the color of roses?  \nBecause you asked, I will tell you how it was:  \nThe blood-tinged tears surged up out of passion for you,  \nAnd as my heart seethed, they boiled over.  \nToast:  \nGod, Creator of the World, protect the owner of this bowl wherever he goes.  \nPoem by an unknown poet:  \nYour face is always before my eyes.  \nBeloved, do what seems right to you.  \nOh, soul and world, my heart is content,  \nWhen it can only see him who has seen you.  \nPoem by Afdaleddin Kashani:  \nOh Lord, do not expect help from any man!  \nDo not look for shade under a branch without leaves.  \nOne wins honour through sobriety and contempt through greed.  \nBe content with your honour and eschew contempt.","type":"Dish","holder":"MKG Museum for Applied Arts","dates":"Hegira ca. 607 / AD ca. 1210","location":"Hamburg","dimensions":"Height: 10.9cm, Diameter: 20.5cm","method_for_datation":"The bowl shows typical decoration for Kashan lustre ware pottery.","method_for_provenance":"Purchased from Mohamed Yeganeh, Frankfurt.","provenance":"Iran, Kashan","obtention":"Purchased in 1964.","bibliography":"Translator of the inscription: Mahsa Narimani  \n  \nJakobsen, Kristian, *Islamische Keramik* , Hamburg: Bilderhefte des Museums für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, 1959.  \nKraft, Eva (ed), *Die Campe’sche Historische Kunststiftung Hamburg. Erwerbungen seit 1945*, Hamburg: Hoffmann und Campe, 1964: 222.  \nLuckhardt, U. und Heitmann, B., *Kunst für Hamburg: 50 Jahre Stiftung für die Hamburger Kunstsammlungen*, Hamburg: Stiftung für die Hamburger Kunstsammlungen, 2006.","copy_editor":"Caitlin Link","keywords":["Kashan","Lustre-Ceramic","Seljuk"],"materials":["Fritware","lustre painting on a tin glaze"]},"5fb9df90-7b26-5354-a02b-04f0411593be":{"name":"Ka`ba tile","short_description":"This rectangular tile depicts a stylised view of Mecca, with the black-shrouded Ka‘ba in the centre of the *Masjid al-Haram*. It is part of a larger material corpus related to the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca and sites in the vicinity, which was a favoured theme in Ottoman workshops. Although this tile is painted in the traditional colour palette used by seventeenth century Iznik workshops, the bird’s-eye view, inspired by the European pictorial tradition, is a characteristic of later examples made at Tekfur Sarayı in Istanbul, a less well-known Ottoman ceramic workshop.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"The Metropolitan Museum of Art","dates":"Hegira c. 1132–43 / AD c. 1720–30","location":"New York","dimensions":"H: 35cm, W: 26.1cm","provenance":"Istanbul, Tekfur Sarayı (workshop), Turkey","obtention":"Gift of John and Fausta Eskenazi, in memory of Victor H. Eskenazi, 2012  \nArtist: Osman Ibn Mehmed, Turkish, active first half 18th century  \nPatron: \\`Abduh Mehmed  \nFormer owner: Fernand Adda Collection, Egypt  \nFormer owner \\[dealer\\]: \\[Ghania Adda Cohen, Alexandria, Egypt; sold to Scharrelman\\]  \nFormer owner: Petra Scharrelmann, Bremen, Germany (until 2012)  \nFormer owner: John Eskenazi, London (2012; gifted to MMA)","bibliography":"Christie's (ed), *Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds. 7 October 2008*, London: Christie's, London, 2008: 392-393, no. 406, ill. (colour).","copyright":"The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of John and Fausta Eskenazi, in memory of Victor H. Eskenazi, 2012","keywords":["architectural decoration","architectural element","ceramic","ceramic tile","clay","European influence","Fritware","Glaze","Glazed","glazed tiles","hajj","inscription","Istanbul","Ka'ba","Kiswa","Mecca","Ottoman","polychrome decoration","Prophet Muhammad","stone-paste","tile","tilework","Turkey","wall tile","writing"],"materials":["polychrome painted under transparent glaze","Stonepaste"]},"5fc4c91c-9fc3-5456-98a6-0dd4aa412e7f":{"name":"Water jug.","description":"Fragment of a water jug with a curved everted rim, circular mouth and neck shaped as an inverted truncated cone with a central moulding, which is joined to the body by a vertical handle with an oval cross-section. The body is globular with a zoomorphic tubular spout rising from its shoulder. The overall design suggests the shape of an animal with a long narrow neck such as a camel or dromedary, whose hunched back forms the neck of the vessel. It is decorated with fine lines of white painted plant forms on a reddish background.","short_description":"Spout and neck from a water jug, whose shape is reminiscent of an animal with a long, thin neck such as a camel or a dromedary, with the hump being the neck of the jug. It is decorated with fine, phytomorphic lines in white paint on the red background of the piece.","type":"Jug, ceramic","holder":"Mértola Museum.","dates":"Hegira end 5th – beginning 6th century / AD end 11th – beginning 12th century.","location":"Mértola., Beja.","dimensions":"Height 22.5 cm, width 19 cm.","method_for_datation":"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 with similar decoration in the west of the Al-Andalus region.","obtention":"It was found in the archaeological excavations carried out by the Campo Arqueológico de Mértola in the citadel of the Castle of Mértola.","bibliography":"Gómez Martínez, S., “Catálogo da Cerâmica”, in *Museu de Mértola. Arte Islâmica*, ed. S. Macias, Mértola, 2001, p.110.  \nTorres, C. and Macias, S. (eds.), *O Portugal Islâmico*, Lisbon, 1998, p.108.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_PT_PT_001","author":"Susana Gómez Martínez","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","water jug","zoomorphic"],"materials":["Common ceramic made from fairly coarse reddish paste","modelled on a wheel and fired in an oxidising atmosphere."]},"5ffeeb7c-0b57-5dd4-a331-6d70ed986d0d":{"name":"Bottle with wide rim","description":"This black glass bottle has a spherical body supported by a ring-shaped base. The tubular neck narrows slightly towards the top and ends with a flat rim. At its base it is circled by a twisting black glass ribbon overlay, the sole design element. Blown glass existed from the first century AD, making possible a considerable increase in the production of glass objects. The process became popular and played a significant part in the fabrication of vessels.","type":"Glass object","holder":"Institute of the Arab World","dates":"AH 6th / AD 12th century","location":"Paris","dimensions":"Height: 16cm","provenance":"Iran","obtention":"Purchased at public sale, Paris.","bibliography":"Glass from Islamic Lands. The al-Sabah Collection. Stefano CARBONI (London, 2001)  \n  \nAlbum du musée. Eric DELPONT (et al.) (Somogy éditions d'art, Paris, 2012) - p. 289  \n  \nCarboni, S., *Glass from Islamic Lands: the al-Sabah collection*, London: Thames & Hudson, 2001.  \n  \nDelpont, E. *et al.*, *Album du musée*, Paris: Somogy éditions d’art, 2012: p. 289","translator":"Judy Harter","keywords":["bottle","glass","water"],"materials":["Black blown glass","with added decoration of threads of molten glass"]},"60e43904-297f-56d1-af8b-fa4776b2ccb3":{"name":"Pitcher","description":"Çanakkale was a pottery production centre between the end of the 17th century and first quarter of the 20th century where pottery with interesting and original forms was produced. Mostly coarse red clay and sometimes beige-coloured paste was used. There are green, brown, dark yellow and under-glazed purplish brown, yellow, dark blue and white decorations made by a brush. This Çanakkale-produced pitcher is made of red clay; it has green and dark yellow glaze and a bulgy body with long, narrow neck. Its mouth has a stylized bird shape. It has a flat bottom and round handle. On the head, neck and body of the bird, there are raised rosette flower patterns. On the front part of the body, there is a cat and some cypress tree figures. The details were made with the barbotine technique.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Vehbi Koç Foundation Sadberk Hanim Museum","dates":"Late 19th-early 20th century","location":"Istanbul","provenance":"Çanakkale","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega"},"611887bb-d44c-51a1-b6d3-d89221fb788c":{"name":"Ewer","short_description":"The late 17th century witnessed the rise of Kütahya, the Ottoman second largest ceramic centre, situated in the south-eastern outskirts of Istanbul. Europeans, impressed by richness and refinement of its exotic patterns, called Kütahya \"The Sevres of the East\".  \nThis large egg-shaped ewer with strikingly thin walls belongs to rare samples of Kütahya ware. Painted with short rapid strokes of cobalt pigment on a snow white background it represents the best achievements of the second half of the 18th century.  \nThe original style of Kütahya décor genuinely combines different artistic traditions of East and West which were brought to the Ottoman culture due to trade activities of the Armenian community, settled in the town. Some researchers also suggest that the major part of the Kütahya ceramics was produced by Armenian potters.","holder":"The Khanenko Museum","dates":"AD 18th century","location":"Kyiv","dimensions":"Height: 28.8cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis by M. Vyazmitina (examination, 1930, date, origin), Yu. Miller (publication, 1972, date specified).","method_for_provenance":"According to the entry in the old Museum Inventory Register (1925-1946).","provenance":"Kütahya, Turkey","obtention":"Purchased by Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko. Donated by Varvara Khanenko in 1918, nationalized by Bolshevik regime in 1919.","bibliography":"Carswell, J. and Dowsett, C.J.F., *Kütahya tiles and pottery from the Armenian cathedral of St. James*, 2 vols, Jerusalem: Oxford, 1972.  \nCrowe, Yo, \"Armenians and Kutahua ceramics\" in H.C. Evans (ed), *Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages*, New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Yale University Press, 2018: 221-224.  \nMiller, Yu, *Art of Turkish Ceramics*, Leningrad: Aurora Publishing House, 1972.  \nRudyk, Hanna, \"Ottoman Collection in The Khanenko Museum\", *Chronicles-2000*, 1: 95 (2013): 479-495.  \nVyazmitina, M. (ed), *Mystetstvo krain islamu (Art from Islamic Countries)*, catalogue, VUAN Museum of Art, Kyiv: All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, 1930.","author":"Antonina Makarevych","copy_editor":"Janice Medina","keywords":["ceramics","ewer","Kütahya","Ottoman","stonepaste","Turkey"],"materials":["painted in cobalt blue under transparent glaze","Stonepaste"]},"612351f2-75a6-5485-beb3-2f66e1312be5":{"name":"Ceramic floor","description":"The Palatine Chapel, founded by King Dinis (1261‒1325, crowned 1279) in the early 14th century, contains one of the oldest ceramic floors in Portugal. This rare floor of the main altar probably dates from the 15th century, contemporary with the reign of King Afonso V (1432‒81, crowned 1438).  \nThe Chapel, a Christian religious space dedicated to the Holy Spirit, is characterised by the Mudéjar style, Hispano-Muslim ceiling decoration in *alfarge* carved wood and by the *alicatado* floor, formed from ceramic pieces of many colours and shapes. Both the mosaic floor and the wooden ceiling are among the oldest examples of Mudéjar craftsmanship in Portugal.  \nThe configuration and decorative composition used in the ceramic floor remind one of the Mudéjar-style carpets, decorated with a network of interlacement motifs containing geometric patterns, commissioned to embellish palaces and churches.  \nUp until the second half of the 15th century, the term “*alicatado*” (Spanish for cut-tiles, derived from the Arabic verb qata’a, “to cut”) was given to the ceramic mosaics made in this technique. It requires piecing together monochromatic enamelled *tesserae* (small glazed ceramic pieces of various geometric shapes and colours that had been glazed and cut beforehand) to create decorative compositions with geometric patterns, a delicate, painstaking and expensive task, used mostly for paving floors, but also for wall surfaces.  \nThis ceramic floor might date from the same period as that of the room where King Afonso VI was imprisoned, one of the Royal Palace’s oldest rooms.","type":"Ceramic floor-surface covering","holder":"National Palace of Sintra","owner":"Portuguese State","dates":"15th century","location":"Sintra","dimensions":"Approx. H: 7.85m, W: 5.40","method_for_datation":"Other art historians have dated the Palatine Chapel ceramic floor to the 15th century, probably contemporary with King Afonso V (1432‒81; r.1438‒81). This monarch was born and died at the Royal Palace of Sintra and resided there frequently, as demonstrated by the countless documents signed by him here. Like King Duarte (1391‒38; r. 1433‒38), his father, King Afonso V seems to have held a special affection for the Palace at Sintra and carried out various improvements. He undertook the expansion and embellishment of the Palatine Chapel, probably from the mid-15th century (possibly between 1448 and 1476).","method_for_provenance":"Stylistic analysis and documents","provenance":"Iberian Peninsula","obtention":"In situ, commissioned by the king","bibliography":"Meco, José, *O Azulejo em Portugal*, Lisbon: Publicações Alfa, 1989.  \nSabugosa, Conde de, *O Paço de Cintra*, Lisbon: Imprensa Nacional, 1903.  \nSantos, Reinaldo dos, *O azulejo em Portugal*, Lisbon: Editorial Sul Limitada, 1957.  \nSimões, J. M. dos Santos, *Azulejaria em Portugal nos Séculos XV e XVI: Introdução Geral*, Lisbon: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 1990.  \nTrindade, Rui André Alves, *Revestimentos Cerâmicos Portugueses: Meados do século XIV à primeira metade do século XVI*, Lisbon: Edições Colibri, 2007.","workshop":"Mudéjar","author":"National Palace of Sintra","translator":"Lily Chadwick","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["15th century","Afonso V","alicatado","ceramic","Hispano-Muslim","mosaic","Mudéjar","Portugal","Royal Palace","tiles"],"materials":["alicatado composition of monochrome enamelled tesserae (green","brown and black)","Glazed clay","white"]},"612c0f2a-80e1-56d4-ad55-7c2f2f82cb8d":{"name":"Bowl with golden-brown metallic glaze.","description":"This deep bowl with round base and curved sides is decorated with scrolls of foliage and stems with palm leaves. They interweave exuberantly, revealing a bunch of grapes. Clearly defined rings divide the decoration into concentric areas, but the overall effect is one of unity and uninterrupted movement, enhanced by the harmony of the golden-brown motifs against the cream background. The space is well-covered but not overloaded.  \nThe formula for producing ceramics with a golden glaze has been roughly described since the AH 6th / AD 12th century. Red ochre (iron oxide or *almazzaron*) is added to a precisely measured mixture of copper and silver. This mixture is then diluted with vinegar. The golden-glazed ceramics which spread throughout al-Andalus from the AH 7th–8th / AD 13th–14th centuries were in vogue in Egypt at the same time. Both floral and animal decorations were used. The discovery of this bowl of al-Andalus origin in Tunis has highlighted the importance of the trade established from the AH 7th / AD 13th century between Ifriqiya and Muslim Spain.","short_description":"This is a typical example of the golden-glazed ceramics that spread through al-Andalus and Egypt from the AH 7th / AD 13th century, combining floral and zoomorphic motifs. The discovery of this dish of Andalusian origin in Tunis underlines the importance of trade between Ifriqiya and Muslim Spain.","type":"Bowl, ceramic","holder":"Sidi Qasim al-Jalizi Museum.","dates":"Hegira, 7th–8th centuries / AD 13th–14th centuries.","location":"Tunis.","dimensions":"Height 9.5 cm, diameter 21 cm.","method_for_datation":"This piece was discovered in a cistern during the digs at the *Kasbah* in Tunis in the early 1980s. It was found buried next to other Hafsid plates and bowls dating from the 7th and 8th / 13th and 14th centuries in a tank containing 270 pieces.","method_for_provenance":"Its Andalusian origin was established by comparison with other pieces. The workshops of al-Andalus were indeed producing similar bowls during the 7th and 8th / 13thand 14th centuries.","provenance":"Al-Andalus.","obtention":"After its discovery at the *Kasbah* excavations, this bowl was kept in Tunis at the National Patrimony Institute at Dar ibn Khaldun and then was selected for display at the Sidi Qasim al-Jalizi Museum in 1978.","author":"Mourad Rammah","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"David Ash","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["floral decoration","Glazed ceramic"],"materials":["Glazed ceramic."]},"6150a85a-81c3-563b-99dd-7601ebde8b0c":{"name":"Ewer","short_description":"The achievements of old Samarqand (Afrasiab) pottery workmanship are exemplified by a separate type of unglazed and stamped tableware, mainly jugs and ewers, manufactured in moulds from an ash-grey clay. There were vast deposits of this clay near the town of Penjikent (60km to the east of Samarqand). Elegantly shaped thin-walled vessels with a polished surface and a delicate stamped ornamental pattern on shoulders and neck were probably designed to imitate valuable silver tableware. Historians suggest that the main function of these ewers was storing water that while steadily evaporating through the pores of the ceramic body remained fresh and cold for a long time.","type":"Earthenware","holder":"The Khanenko Museum","dates":"AD 11th–12th century","location":"Kyiv","dimensions":"Height: 24cm, Diameter (bottom): 10cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis by O. Bolshakov (examination, 1956, date and origin).","method_for_provenance":"According to the entry in the old Museum Inventory Register (1925-1946).","provenance":"Central Asia, probably Samarqand","obtention":"Acquired by the Khanenko Museum in 1921. From M. Stolyarov collection of pottery, made up during archaeological excavations at old Samarqand (Afrasiab) in 1914.","bibliography":"Bilenko, H. and Rudyck (Rudyk), H., *Oriental Collection*, guidebook, Kyiv: The Khanenko Museum, 2005.  \nKalter, J. and Pavaloi, M., *Usbekistan. Erben der Seidenstrasse*, Stuttgart: Edition Hansjörg Mayer, 1995.  \nVyazmitina, M. (ed), *Mystetstvo krain islamu (Art from Islamic Countries)*, catalogue, VUAN Museum of Art, Kyiv: All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, 1930.","author":"Antonina Makarevych","copy_editor":"Janice Medina","keywords":["earthenware","Samanid","unglazed"],"materials":["sgraffiato","Unglazed earthenware"]},"61f73c10-6b4a-575d-8580-f783f468119f":{"name":"Bowl with a hare","short_description":"By the 10th century, the Fatimid capital of Cairo had become the centre of production for ceramics decorated in a metallic paint with a golden lustrous sheen (known as lustre ceramics). The striking visual compositions on these ceramics portray men and women, acrobats, and animals—such as this jovial long-eared hare—painted in fluid lines and lively naturalism. Their relatively “ordinary” subject matter and the golden tone of the lustre sheen set them apart from the earlier lustre ceramics in Iraq and later examples from Iran. This type of Fatimid lustre-glazed bowl was highly appreciated as an export product throughout the Mediterranean, and several similar bowls can still be seen adorning the exterior walls of churches in Pisa, Italy, from the late 11th and early 12th centuries.","type":"Bowl","holder":"Aga Khan Museum","dates":"11th century","location":"Toronto, Ontario","dimensions":"20cm","provenance":"Egypt","obtention":"Former Prince Saddrudin Aga Khan Collection","keywords":["bowl","ceramics","lustre","lustre-ceramics"],"materials":["Fritware","lustre-painted"]},"624c5039-aded-540a-9de4-63ad55600770":{"name":"Lustre-painted ewer, rooster-shaped","short_description":"The ewer features a sparkling play of golden lustre arabesque of curls and dots painted over opaque white glaze. The design is on the brink of perfection: along with strokes a Persian ceramist left some elements of decor in white and filled up the surrounding surface. This \"reserve\" technique required a particular skill and carefulness from the master. The rooster was regarded by Iranians as a ritually pure and auspicious being since pre-Islamic times.  \nThe art of lustre painting on ceramics was mastered by Iranian potters of Kashan in late 12th century. The technique involved application of metal-based pigment over already glazed and fired vessel.","type":"Ceramics; Ewer","holder":"The Khanenko Museum","dates":"Second half of AD 13th century (1260–1285)","location":"Kyiv","dimensions":"Height: 28.5cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis by H. Rudyk (publication, 2017, date, origin).","method_for_provenance":"Publication of Vera Krachkovskaya (1927). Old Museum Inventory Register (1925-1946).","provenance":"Kashan, Iran","obtention":"Purchased by Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko.","bibliography":"Bilenko, H. and Rudyck (Rudyk), H., *Oriental Collection*, guidebook, Kyiv: The Khanenko Museum, 2005.  \nKomaroff, L. and Carboni, S. (eds), *The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256–1353*, New York: The Metropolitan Museum, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002.  \nKrachkovskaya, V., \"Musulmsnskoye iskusstvo v sobranii Khanenko (Muslim Art from the Khanenkos' Collection)\", in Bartold V.V. (ed), *Zapyski Kollegii Vostokovedov (Notes of the College of Orientalists)* at Asian Museum of USSR Academy of Sciences, Vol II, Leningrad: USSR Academy of Sciences, 1927.  \nMason, R., *Shine Like the Sun: Lustre-Painted and Associated Pottery from the Medieval Middle East*, Biblioteca Iranica: Islamic Art and Architecture Series 12, Costa Mesa: Mazda Pub, 2004.  \nRudyk, Hanna, \"Lustrovana keramika Iranu 12-14 stolit z kolektsii muzeu Hanenkiv\" (\"12th-14th century Lustre ceramics of Iran in the Khanenko Museum Collection\"), *Oriental World (Shidnyi svit)*, 1 (2006): 135-136.","author":"Antonina Makarevych","copy_editor":"Janice Medina","keywords":["ceramics","ewer","Ilkhanid","Iran","lustre"],"materials":["painted in lustre over opaque glaze","Stonepaste"]},"625168c1-5801-5ae1-8ba7-4afa5d4bee1c":{"name":"Bowl with stylised bird","short_description":"This flat bowl depicts a stylized bird in olive green, red, and, brown with crown-like, three-dotted plumage on its head. The outer rim is decorated with a band of black and white triangles. The bird is possibly a depiction of the constellation of “Cygnus” (swan), widely used in other genres of Islamic art.","type":"Plate","holder":"MKG Museum for Applied Arts","dates":"Hegira 3rd-4th century / AD 9th-10th century","location":"Hamburg","dimensions":"Height: 7.4cm, Diameter: 22cm","method_for_datation":"By comparison with similar objects: e.g. Museum of Islamic Art Berlin (see Zick-Nissen 1975).","method_for_provenance":"Purchased from Motamed Yeganeh, Frankfurt.","provenance":"Iran, probably Nishapur","obtention":"Purchased 9.12.1963.","bibliography":"Mikami, T., *Islamic Pottery mainly from Japanese Collections*, Tokyo: Chuo-koron Bijutsu Shuppan, 1962.  \nZick-Nissen, J., \"Ghabri-Wari und Nishapur-Keramik,\" *Keramos*, 64 (1974): 35-46.","copy_editor":"Caitlin Link","keywords":["bird","Nishapur"],"materials":["Earthenware","white slip"]},"62a33986-22ab-54e6-b59d-861e59b608f3":{"name":"*Khabia*","alternate_name":"Water storage jar; Large earthenware jar; clay cistern jar","description":"The *khabia* is a large earthenware jar traditionally used in Morocco for the storage and preservation of drinking water. Handcrafted by skilled potters from the Marrakech region, the *khabia* was an indispensable element of both domestic and communal life before the spread of modern water supply systems. Its substantial size, often exceeding two metres in height, allowed families, mosques, or fountains to store large quantities of water drawn from wells or *khettaras*.  \nThe process of making a *khabia* required specialised knowledge—shaping and assembling clay coils, smoothing the surface, and firing in traditional kilns — reflecting centuries of artisanal heritage. Beyond its utilitarian role, the khabia embodied the cultural significance of water conservation in Moroccan society.  \nThe *khabia* displayed at the Mohammed VI Museum of Water Civilisation offers insight into vernacular technologies of storage and sustainability, serving as a reminder of how communities safeguarded water in arid environments long before industrial systems.","type":"Water storage vessel","holder":"Mohammed VI Museum of Water Civilisation","owner":"Mohammed VI Museum of Water Civilisation","initial_owner":"Traditional Moroccan households and public fountains","dates":"AH 13th - 14th / AD 19th–20th centuries","location":"Marrakech","dimensions":"52 x 42 × 27cm; 53 x 55 × 33cm","place_of_production":"Marrakech","method_for_datation":"Based on typology, traditional pottery methods, and curatorial records.","method_for_provenance":"Museum documentation and oral accounts of usage.","provenance":"Acquired as representative of domestic and communal water storage tradition","obtention":"Museum acquisition for permanent exhibition (details not available).","bibliography":"El Faïz, M., *L’eau et les hommes au Maghreb*, Rabat: L’Harmattan, 2002.","workshop":"Traditional pottery workshops of Marrakech region","author":"MUSEUM Staff","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","keywords":["domestic life","khabia","Marrakech","pottery","water conservation","water storage"],"materials":["hand-shaped and fired","some glazed surfaces for waterproofing","Terracotta clay"]},"635e554c-d176-55b1-b007-ffecaeed2fd7":{"name":"Tile","short_description":"The tile is divided into triangular fields, decorated with *cintamani* balls accompanied by delicate cloud bands in green.","type":"Ceramic; tile","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 12th century / AD 18th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Height 25 cm, width 25 cm","provenance":"Turkey (Istanbul)","keywords":["ceramic","chintamani","cintamani","Ottoman"],"materials":["Frit body","underglaze polychrome painting"]},"63941bb7-1c0a-5e01-8b06-e6ae1b313ece":{"name":"Water bottle/jar","description":"A red pottery water jar used for filling and pouring water. It has a cylindrical body rounded at both ends, with a circular mouth at the centre flanked by two prominent handles, allowing it to be tied with ropes, hung, or carried easily - especially during travel. Due to the porous nature of pottery, the container also helped in cooling the water.","type":"Water bottle","holder":"Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum FBQ Museum","dates":"Late AH 13th century / AD 19th century","location":"Ash-Shahaniyah, Qatar","dimensions":"Diameter: 80cm, Length: 50cm","provenance":"The Arabian Peninsula","copy_editor":"Zeina Al Amad","keywords":["bottle","water"],"materials":["molding","Pottery"]},"63bc371f-dee0-5a90-b7cb-1bb399d9c7f6":{"name":"*Grande Panorama de Lisboa / Panoramic View of Lisbon*","description":"A tile panel *(azulejos)* painted blue on white that records Lisbon before the earthquake of 1755. A vast panoramic view of the capital and its outskirts, the panorama extends along the riverbanks from the Palace of the Counts of Miranda at the westernmost point to the Convent of St. Saint Francis in Xabregas, at the easternmost point.  \nThe focus is on the centre of political and economic power which included the city developments around the Royal Palace of Ribeira. This is immediately followed by the Palha Sea, flanked on the left by the Church of St. Gens and on the right by the Convent of St. Vincent de Fora. On the riverfront are the Terreiro do Paço and the Ribeira Velha Market. Nearby are the shipyard of Ribeira das Naus, the Royal Palace and St. Paul's Church.  \nOn the hills above are the convents of St. Francis of the City and Our Lady of Monte do Carmo; Loreto, Encarnação and St. Roch churches and the Convent of St. Peter of Alcântara.  \nAlong the foreshore are the palaces belonging to the Dukes of Aveiro, the Marquises of Abrantes, the Counts of Murça and the neighbourhood called Mocambo. The western area is more spacious. The Alcântara, Junqueira, Pocinho and Algés bridges cross the river defended by the forts of Alcântara, St. John of Junqueira, Our Lady of Conception and the imposing Tower of Belém. On a second plan the Sacramento, Livramento, Flamengas, St. Jerome, Our Lady of Bom Sucesso and Catarina-a-Velha convents are prominent as are the chapels of St. Christ and St. Hieronymus.  \nNear the river are the royal palaces of Calvário, Santo Amaro à Junqueira Quinta, belonging to the Counts of Aveiro; Quinta da Calheta, the Palace of Quinta *da Praia* belonging to the Dukes of Cadaval, and the Palace of the Counts of Miranda.  \nThe eastern zone depicts the Church of St. Engrácia, the convents of Santos-o-Novo and Madre de Deus and, in a separate panel, the Convent of Saint Francis in Xabregas.","short_description":"Lisbon is recorded on this tile panel measuring almost 23 metres wide, and produced before the earthquake of 1755. Depicting approximately 14 km of the riverbank, it shows a vast panoramic view of the capital and its outskirts between the Palace of the Counts of Miranda, the westernmost point, and the Convent of Saint Francis in Xabregas, the easternmost point.","type":"Tile panel (*azulejos*)","holder":"National Tile Museum","dates":"c. 1700","location":"Lisbon, Lisbon","dimensions":"H: 115 cm; w: 2247 cm","place_of_production":"Lisbon","method_for_datation":"This panel is currently attributed by stylistic analysis to Gabriel del Barco, a Spanish tile painter and decorator who arrived to Portugal in 1669 and died probably around 1703.","provenance":"Palace of the Counts of Tentúgal, Lisbon","obtention":"Purchased by the Marquis de Sousa Holstein (1838–1878) for the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and incorporated into the Fine Arts and Archaeology collection at Alvor Palace in Lisbon, today known as Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga. Displayed there from 1903 until 1960, it was transferred to the Museu do Azulejo at that time the ceramics department of the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga.","bibliography":"Vieira, A. Da Silva, \"Panorama de Lisboa em azulejos existente no Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga\", *Dispersos*, Vol. 2, Lisbon, 1960.  \nSimões, J. M. Dos santos, *Iconografia Olisiponense em Azulejos*, Lisbon, 1961.  \nMeco, J., \"Barco, Gabriel del Barco\", *Dicionário da Arte Barroca em Portugal*, Lisbon, 1991, pp. 66–69.  \n\"Azulejos\", *Europalia*, Brussels, 1991.  \n*The Age of the Baroque in Portugal* (ed. J. Levenson), Washington, 1993.  \nMeco, J., \"Azulejos com iconografia de Lisboa\", *Olisipo*, II, No. 1, Lisbon, 1994, pp. 85–113.  \n*Lisboa antes do Terramoto. Grande vista da cidade entre 1700 e 1725*, (eds. Gótica and Chandeigne), 2004.","workshop":"Lisbon","copyright":"Copyright images: Divisão de Documentação Fotográfica/ Instituto dos Museus e da Conservação, I.P.","author":"Ana Anjos Mântua","translator":"Lili Cavalheiro","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["azulejo","earthquake","Panorama","Tile panel","tilework"],"materials":["Blue and white glazed earthenware"]},"63d3e691-fd6a-55ce-8dda-6da2acb434ea":{"name":"Basin.","description":"A very large basin (*ma'jna*) with a flat base and curved, sloping sides. In the centre, on the disc-shaped base, is a stylised decoration based on flowers and spreading palm-leaves. On the sides the *tawq* (necklace) motif is the main decorative component. Four *tawq*s adorned with stylised vegetation are drawn within arcatures. These arcatures alternate with others, containing medallions of diamond-shaped leaves. Just beneath the rim is a circle of dots. The decoration appears to be a mixture of surviving local influences like the *tawq,* which is found in Hafsid ceramics, and Ottoman influences, such as the arrangement of flowers. The main colours are the traditional yellow, green and brown, but with the addition of purple. The *ma'jna* is used for kneading pastry or rolling semolina but can also be a serving bowl for certain cooked dishes.","short_description":"This large basin, known as a *ma'jna*, was used to knead dough or roll semolina, as well as to serve particular dishes. Its decoration combines surviving local elements with Ottoman influences. The composition is dominated by traditional colours: yellow, green, brown and blue-violet.","holder":"Sidi Qasim al-Jalizi Museum.","dates":"Hegira 12th century / AD 18th century.","location":"Tunis.","dimensions":"Height 18 cm, diameter 70 cm.","method_for_datation":"The decoration, colours and manufacturing technique of this basin are all typical of the Qallaline workshops at Tunis during the 12th / 18th century.","method_for_provenance":"Stylistic analysis (see above).","provenance":"The Qallaline workshop at Tunis.","obtention":"This piece comes from the Bardo Museum and was acquired by the Sidi Qasim al-Jalizi Museum on its inauguration in 1978.","author":"Mourad Rammah","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"David Ash","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["ceramics","floral decoration","Qallaline","woskshop"],"materials":["Polychrome ceramic."]},"6494cd55-e904-5563-a3a1-c84b7c6ea6dc":{"name":"Poly-lobate bowl","short_description":"Seljuq production reached its height with *mina’i* ware, obtained using the technique of painting enamel over glaze. This poly-lobate cup is decorated in the centre with two horsemen surrounded by seated figures. The external wall of the cup is ornamented with a cursive inscription in black-brown.","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 6th–7th century / AD 12th–13th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Height 9.8 cm, diameter 20.6 cm","provenance":"Iran (Kashan)","keywords":["ceramic","frit","Seljuq"],"materials":["enamelled overglaze painting","Frit body"]},"650adcf4-9515-5259-9d51-4fbe7bcaddb6":{"name":"Lotus tile","short_description":"Two lotus blossoms painted in white and black on a cobalt blue ground. A half-blossom can be seen in the bottom right corner, while a complete blossom is shown on a stem to the left. On the back of the tile, the Arabic letters *lr lr* incised in the paste. Tiles with a similar restricted palette and a similar treatment of the stylised lotus blossoms were used for the redecoration of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, during the extensive restoration ordered by Süleyman the Magnificent. Therefore, the tile could have been made in an Ottoman workshop from Syria dating back to the mid-sixteenth century.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"The National Museum of Art of Romania","dates":"Hegira 10th century / AD 16th century","location":"Bucharest","dimensions":"Height: 22.5cm, Width: 18cm","place_of_production":"Probably Syria","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis","method_for_provenance":"Stylistic analysis","provenance":"Jerusalem","obtention":"The tile belonged to Marcu Beza, writer and Consul General of Romania in Jerusalem between the wars. Purchased by the Museum in 1956.","bibliography":"Dunca, M., *Islamic Art at the National Museum of Art of Romania*, Bucharest: National Museum of Art of Romania, 2015: 104, no. 46.  \nPorter, V., *Islamic Tiles*, New York: Indiana University Press, 1995.","author":"Mircea Dunca","keywords":["lotus"],"materials":["Fritware","underglaze painting"]},"65973130-c1da-546d-85a1-c58354b8bdfe":{"name":"Bowl fragment.","description":"An earthenware fragment that formed the centre and part of the rim of a footed and steep-sided bowl, showing a roundel embellished with an incised arabesque decoration; on the rim can be seen fragments of a band of Arabic calligraphic text. The technique, known as *sgraffito* (an Italian word meaning to scratch), involves dipping the vessel into a lighter coloured liquefied clay, known as a slip. With the aid of a pointed tool, the pattern is scratched into the slip, revealing parts of the clay as the design is drawn. The vessel is then glazed and fired. The incised pattern creates contrast; it reveals the colour of the darker clay, while the spaces between the lines show the lighter slip. The glaze on this bowl is a transparent ochre-yellow colour. This type of vessel was less costly to make than coloured ceramics, and therefore fulfilled the demands of the less affluent customers, who had just as much aspiration and taste for glazed wares with decorative texts and patterns, as did the wealthier customers.  \n  \nThe city of Fustat continued to be an active commercial city during the Mamluk period (AH 647–922 / AD 1250–1517), although it had lost some of its fame to Cairo, which was established by the Mamluks and subsequently subsumed by her.","short_description":"This was once part of an impressive steep-sided bowl, decorated using an incising method called *sgraffito* – to scratch. It was less costly to make such monochrome ceramics in comparison to multicoloured ceramics, which made them more affordable to comparatively less-affluent people.","type":"Earthenware, ceramics","holder":"Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira 8th century / AD 14th century.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 10.5 cm (max), width 15 cm (max).","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis: comparable examples have been found in Fustat, Egypt, dating back to the 8th / 14th century.","method_for_provenance":"Comparable examples have been found in Fustat, Egypt, dating back to the 8th / 14th century.","provenance":"Fustat, Egypt.","obtention":"Purchased by the Museum in 1919.","bibliography":"Fehervari, G., *Ceramics of the Islamic World in the Tareq Rajab Museum*, London, 2000.  \n  \nHillenbrand, R., *Islamic Art and Architecture*, London, 1999.  \n  \nPhilon, H., *Early Islamic Ceramics: Ninth to Late Twelfth Centuries*, Athens, 1980.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_EG_EN_001","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["arabesque","calligraphy"],"materials":["Earthenware","slip-coated and glazed","with incised decoration."]},"6625424b-a321-5159-8e88-0b3b4f5cbefe":{"name":"Unglazed bottle with lions","short_description":"This bottle type, common at the time, is constructed from several parts. The lions’ pounced bodies, striated legs and profiled palmette tails recall carved Fatimid rock crystals. Beasts with similar bodies also occur on unglazed wares from Syria and Northern Iraq. The central tree-of-life, finally, echoes contemporary Siculo-Islamic textiles.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation","dates":"Hegira 6th – 7th century / AD 12th – 13th century","location":"Sharjah","provenance":"Near East or Iraq","keywords":["animal decoration","bottle","ceramic","lion","rock-crystal"]},"66718328-7241-56c8-a45c-d60aff5e7c2d":{"name":"Cup with inscription.","description":"Cup with inverted bevelled rim, circular mouth, body in the shape of a bi-truncated cone with low carination, a vertical handle oval in cross-section which joins the carination to the rim, and a flat base with a diagonal foot-ring. The decoration was made using the partial *cuerda seca* technique, with the calligraphic motif drawn with a line of manganese and filled in with green glaze. The text is incomplete although we can read in *kufic* characters *baraka kamila \\[wani\\]ma ^sa\\[mila\\]* – 'full blessing and total happiness'. The sentence is not accompanied by any secondary motifs. This is one of the oldest objects with partial *cuerda seca* decoration conserved at Mértola and its ornamental and calligraphic style are somewhat different from the other objects which we can date to the AH 6th / AD 12th century. The object has been restored.","short_description":"Cup decorated in part using *cuerda seca* with a *kufic* inscription reading ‘*baraka kamila \\[wani\\]ma sa\\[mila*\\]’ (‘full blessing and total happiness’). It suggests the need to protect the content of this piece of tableware from Mértola Castle.","type":"Cup, ceramic","holder":"Mértola Museum.","dates":"Hegira second half of 5th or beginning of 6th century / AD second half 11th  or beginning 12th century.","location":"Mértola., Beja.","dimensions":"Height 10.2 cm, width 10.2 cm, diameter (of mouth) 9.1 cm, diameter (of base) 5.3 cm.","method_for_datation":"It was dated to either the end of the Taifa period or the Almoravid era through stratigraphy.","method_for_provenance":"Found in the archaeological excavations carried out by the Campo Arqueológico de Mértola in the Castle of Mértola.","provenance":"Al-Andalus.","obtention":"This is a type of ceramic made in various regions of al-Andalus, but whose production has not yet been recorded in the west of the Iberian Peninsula.","bibliography":"Gómez Martínez, S., *A Cerâmica em Corda Seca de Mértola*, Mértola, 2002.  \nTorres, C. and Macias, S. (eds.), *O Portugal Islâmico*, Lisbon, 1998, p.100.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_PT_PT_001","author":"Susana Gómez Martínez","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["calligraphy","ceramic","cuerda seca","inscription"],"materials":["Ceramic made with coarse-grained straw and paste mix","fired in an oxidising atmosphere and decorated with the partial cuerda seca technique.","modelled on a wheel"]},"66adc4ae-b72a-5645-9464-e6b42ed42fe6":{"name":"Plate","description":"Red clay with cream slip, decorated with purple-brown and mustard tones under a transparent colourless glaze. A traditional latticed decoration encircles the rim of the plate. The interior surface displays a particularly intriguing example of early Çanakkale ceramics. The centrepiece is a tow boat with waving pennant and regimental banners. In the 16th–18th centuries, depictions of the Ottoman navy can be found in various examples of ceramics, miniatures and wall paintings. These decorations are likely related to the city's seafront location and to Ottoman ships, of which the city's inhabitants were very proud. The unadorned lines of the oared and unmanned boats impart a naive quality to these plates, reflecting the diverse and creative enthusiasms of folk art.","type":"Utensil","holder":"Istanbul Archaeological Museums (The Tiled Kiosk)","dates":"Hegira late 12th century / AD late 18th century","location":"Istanbul","dimensions":"Diameter: 29cm, height: 7.5cm","place_of_production":"Çanakkale","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","materials":["Glazed terracotta"]},"66c6e645-4939-52da-90c1-4d5b26b014bd":{"name":"Bowl with Design of Radiating Panels Containing Floral Motifs and Calligraphic Inscriptions","short_description":"A truncated conical fritware bowl with straight spreading sides and a straight vertical foot. The interior has radiating panels, six in blue containing floral scrolls in black, alternating with six black panels with carved-through *Naskh*\\-script inscriptions in white. The exterior has a similar foliate design in black on white ground. The vessel is covered with an all-over transparent and crackled glaze except for the foot rim. There are slight chips on the top and foot rims.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Saint Louis Art Museum","dates":"Hegira Late 6th to mid 7th century / AD early 13th century","location":"Saint Louis","dimensions":"Height: 9.8cm; Diameter of mouth: 21cm; Diameter of foot: 8.3cm","method_for_datation":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","method_for_provenance":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","provenance":"Gurgan or Kashan, Iran, Asia","obtention":"Museum Purchase, 1952","keywords":["Asia","bowl","ceramics","decoration","Fritware","Glazed","Gurgan","Iran","Kashan","Paint","Persian","underglaze"],"materials":["Glazed fritware with underglaze painted decoration"]},"66e51f17-108b-5591-b6b7-54ea9b37a8c1":{"name":"Tile","short_description":"This tile depicts geometric motifs on a white background. In each corner there are green fan-shaped leaf-like patterns, divided by a circle of geometric brown and black shapes. In the centre is a black leaf-like pattern around a green circle, forming a flower or star shape.","type":"Architecture fragment","holder":"MKG Museum for Applied Arts","dates":"Hegira 880-905 / AD 1475-1500","location":"Hamburg","dimensions":"Length: 15cm, Width: 15cm","method_for_datation":"By comparison with similar objects e. g. Victoria and Albert Museum (see Ray 2000, p. 331).","method_for_provenance":"Gift from Dr. O. Jürgens, Altona","provenance":"Spain, Toledo","obtention":"Endowment.","bibliography":"Ray, A., *Spanish Pottery 1248-1898. With a Catalogue of the collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum*, London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2000.","copy_editor":"Caitlin Link","keywords":["Spanish","tile"],"materials":["Glazed ceramic"]},"670eba93-83b0-54bf-987d-360af123a3ea":{"name":"Coffee cups","description":"Coffee in Oman is traditionally served in small cups without any added sugar or milk. The host holds the cup between the fingers of their right hand and pours in coffee from a *dallah* held in their left. Coffee is typically served first to the most honored guests.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"The National Museum - Sultanate of Oman","dates":"Hegira 14th / AD 20th century","location":"Muscat, Sultanate of Oman","dimensions":"Height: 4.8cm, diameter: 6.3cm","provenance":"Northern Oman","author":"Noora Al Balushi","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","materials":["Clay"]},"6737216e-9ec0-5301-bc44-aa17e6e3cff5":{"name":"Yıldız Ceramic panel","description":"Sultan Abdülhamid II founded in 1891 the *Yıldız Çini Fabrika-i Hümâyûnu* (Yıldız Royal Tile Factory) in the garden of Yıldız Palace in order to revive Turkish tile art and give it a new direction and momentum. Vases, hanging wall plates and many sorts of daily-use wares were produced in the factory, including writing and dinner table utensils, card plates, lidded bowls, pans, *aşure* (a kind of dessert) trays, sugar bowls, tea and coffee cups. Many native and foreign artists have worked in the tile factory of Yıldız. One of them, Halid Naci received training in tile painting in Sevres, France after his education at the *Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi* (School of Fine Arts) and he was assigned to be head painter of the tile factories after his return. In the middle of the porcelain plate are a herd of sheep, its shepherd and his dog, all drawn using natural colours.","type":"Ceramic panel","holder":"Yıldız Palace Museum","location":"Istanbul","provenance":"Istanbul","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega"},"676840b7-fa48-530f-8796-1f2f216489c5":{"name":"*Quart*","alternate_name":"*Pitcher*","description":"The *quart* is derived from an old Czech unit of volume of approximately 1.4 litres. The jug is decorated with a typical segmented strip with roses, and a central area featuring a landscape with fortified towns and a rider. Folk art characteristically disregarded the natural scale. For example, although it is in the background, the dovecote on the right is the same size as the spire of what appears to be a chateau.  \nThe shape and decoration of the object are based on Rococo faience following the tradition of Habán ceramics. The Habáns were Anabaptists driven out of Tyrol in the 16th century. They found refuge in Moravia – which was religiously tolerant at the time – and its clayey soil provided quality material for the production of faience. The Habáns had to leave Moravia after the Battle of White Mountain in 1620 and many of them settled in adjacent territory of western Slovakia, where they gradually became assimilated into the local Catholic population. Some of the Habán potters returned to Moravia in the last quarter of the 17th century to practice their craft under more favourable conditions. The tradition of “folk faience” in Moravia goes back to this period.  \nJan Neumayer was said to have come from Pisa, but it is likely he only trained in Italy. He was one of the artists of the Olomouc workshop which, together with a counterpart in Šternberk, developed the folk faience tradition. The motifs of horse riders were frequently derived from J. Ridinger's engravings, many of which adorned chateau interiors. Ceramic and glass vessels sometimes featured production dates and the names of their owners, indicating that their manufacture was perhaps prompted by a “souvenir” value. Their ornamentation of multi-coloured floral patterns is found on folk ceramics and costumes to this day.","short_description":"The *quart* is derived from an old Czech unit of volume of approximately 1.4 litres. The shape and decoration of the object are based on Rococo faience following the tradition of Habán ceramics. The multi-coloured floral pattern may be found on folk ceramics and costumes to this day.","type":"Faience","holder":"Moravian Provincial Museum","owner":"Moravian Provincial Museum","dates":"1786","location":"Ethnographic Institute, Brno, Moravia","dimensions":"H: 19 cm; diameter 10.5 cm","place_of_production":"Olomouc?","method_for_datation":"The vessel is marked *IN* on the handle and dated.","method_for_provenance":"","provenance":"Otakar Vaňura Collection, Brno","obtention":"Donated by Brno art collector, Otakar Vaňura.","bibliography":"Karel Černohorský, *Moravská lidová keramika*, Prague, 1941, pp. 201–202.  \nRůžena Hrbková, Olmützer Fayencen, in *Keramik-Freunde der Schweiz, Mitteilungsblatt* 66, 1965, pp. 4–8.  \nMiloš Stehlík, in Ivo Krsek –­­ Zdeněk Kudělka –­­ Miloš Stehlík –­­ Josef Válka, *Umění baroka na Moravě a ve Slezsku,* ed. Zdeněk Kudělka, Prague, 1996, pp. 164, 165.  \nJaromír Olšovský, Manufaktura na fajáns v Proskově (1764–1790), Dietrichsteinská manufaktura na fajáns v Hranicích na Moravě (1784–1797), in Jiří Kroupa (ed), *Dans le miroir des ombres. La Moravie a la age baroque 1760–1790*, Brno–Paris–Rennes, 2002, pp. 287–293.","author":"Zora Wörgötter","copy_editor":"Jiří Kroupa","translator":"Irma Charvátová","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["earthenware","Faience","floral decoration","human representation","measuring instrument","weight"],"materials":["Ceramic with white and other heat-resistant coloured glazes"]},"68325b3d-407d-58cd-871d-f55852f7184e":{"name":"Albarello","description":"An albarello (plural: albarelli) is typically an earthenware jar originally designed for medicinal purposes and used to hold apothecaries' ointments and dry drugs. The origins of this type of pharmacy jar trace back to the Islamic world. Its craftsmanship and design influence spread to Europe through Muslim-European interaction. This particular albarello exemplifies 14th-century AD Valencian ware by Muslim potters. It has a cylindrical body, tall neck, and slanting shoulder on a short foot. It is decorated in blue and lustre glazes, with seven horizontal geometric bands that include many abstract motifs favoured for pharmacy jars, including two bands bearing *al-afiya*, a stylised inscription of the Arabic word for health and happiness. While the albarello was originally used for medicines, glazed jars like this one were used for storing and transporting items like wine, water, butter, honey and olives.","type":"Pottery","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art","owner":"Qatar Museums","dates":"Hegira second half of 8th century /AD second half of 14th century","location":"Doha, Qatar","dimensions":"Height: 36cm","place_of_production":"Spain, Valenciana, Manises","provenance":"Spain, Valenciana, Manises","author":"Teslim Sanni","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","materials":["Tin-glazed earthenware with lustre and cobalt blue decoration"]},"6888b95a-b9b3-5ecb-b46a-031374206bdf":{"name":"Bowl with Design of Vegetal Motifs","short_description":"A steep-sided bowl with lustrous white slip under transparent glaze covering the entire bowl inside and out except on the bottom and the short foot rim. The interior of the bowl has brownish-black and orange-brown slip ornamentation with design of stylized tree and flower motifs, dots, etc. at each side joined by a line of small dots; these alternate with a short broad line with dots below it (along the top rim).","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Saint Louis Art Museum","dates":"Hegira Late 2nd to late 4th / AD 10th century","location":"Saint Louis","dimensions":"Height: 8.3cm; Diameter of mouth: 26.4cm; Diameter of foot: 10.5cm","method_for_datation":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","method_for_provenance":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","provenance":"Nishapur, Khorasan, Iran, Asia","obtention":"Museum Purchase, 1953","keywords":["Asia","bowl","ceramics","earthenware","Fritware","Glazed","Iran","Khorasan","Nishapur","painted","Persian","slip"],"materials":["Earthenware with white slip with polychrome slip decoration under transparent glaze"]},"68f3aad7-5032-554b-8430-789916bacd15":{"name":"*Socarrat* tile.","description":"The term *socarrat* ('scorched') refers to large fired-earth tiles manufactured using the biscuit technique: the slab, once dried in air, is rubbed with white clay on its smooth side, then blue, red ochre and iron is painted onto this base. It is then fired, and the tile comes out coloured blue, vermilion and black on a white base. They were intended to decorate eaves and cornices, to which they afforded a colourful intensity, usually in mineral earthy black tones and iron or ochre reds dissolved in a lime milk that, once set, gave them consistency. *Socarrat* tiles are not glazed, a typical characteristic of *azulejos*. This *socarrat* tile combines black and red ochre, although this latter has lost its traditional flat colour quality so that the artist could treat it like a water colour and obtain a greater range of tones at will. It is decorated with a boat that is sliding through the water, accosted by sharks jumping at the bow and attempting to board it. The sails have been rendered realistically, taken in at the top and with edges that droop like a sunshade. The stars in the upper part suggest night-time. According to González Martí, the boat appears to be a caravel, as it fits the general description of a light vessel with a single deck, square stern, a castle at each end and three masts with sails. The prevalence of this type of vessel in late Gothic gold- and silverware attests to its popularity. More recently, the prominent bow and stern have identified it as a cog. In the centre, the coat of arms of the town of Paterna, where it was produced, has been stamped.","short_description":"Clay plaque fired just once having been decorated over a fine layer of white. It would have been placed between the wooden beams of a ceiling and the eaves. It was fire- and water-resistant and also had an ornamental value.","type":"Tile, clay, ceramic","holder":"National Archaeological Museum.","dates":"14th century.","location":"Madrid","dimensions":"Height 41 cm, width 33 cm, depth 3 cm.","method_for_datation":"Through stylistic parallels with other *socarrat* tiles from the same period, published by González Martí (see bibliography).","method_for_provenance":"The piece bears a stamp of the coat of arms of the town of Paterna.","provenance":"Paterna, Valencia, Spain.","obtention":"The piece was purchased for the National Archaeological Museum from Apolinar Sánchez Villalba on 28 February 1933.","bibliography":"Camps Cazorla, E., *La Cerámica Medieval Española*, Madrid, 1943, p.33.  \nFranco Mata, Á., “Socarrat”, *Aragón, Reino y Corona*, Exhibition catalogue, Saragossa, 2000, p.358, cat. no. 155.  \nFranco Mata, Á., “Socarrat”, *La Huella y La Senda*, Exhibition catalogue, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 2004, p.57.  \nFranco Mata, Á., Balmaseda Muncharaz, L., Arias Sánchez, I. and Papí Rodes, C., “La Documentación de las Cerámicas Valencianas Medievales en el Museo Arqueológico Nacional”, in *La Cerámica de Paterna. Reflejos del Mediterráneo*, Exhibition catalogue, Valencia, 2002, p.117.  \nGonzález Martí, M., *Cerámica del Levante Español. Siglos Medievales*, Vol. III: *Azulejos, 'Socarrats' y Retablos, Madrid, 1952, pp.458–9.*","linkcatalogs":"IAM_ES_EN_001","author":"Ángela Franco","copy_editor":"Rosalía Aller","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["clay","cold painting","firing","kaolin","Mudéjar","Paterna","Valencia"],"materials":["Clay","cold painting.","firing","kaolin"]},"68f83415-d094-590c-bdae-7ff58905192e":{"name":"Ewer.","description":"A ceramic ewer of rectangular shape, with four feet and a sloping shoulder. The original spout and handle have broken off and been replaced, probably in the 19th century, with silver mounts of European origin. The ewer is decorated with underglaze painting in blue and white. The wide sides are decorated with blue scrollwork designs set in a lobed diamond-shaped cartouche, from whose sides flowers grow out into the corners of the ewer. The narrow sides are painted blue and feature linked flower motifs in white. On the shoulder of the ewer, bands of blue scrollwork meander along a white ground. This decoration would have continued on the spout. The ewer's feet have been left white. This is one of a group of ceramic objects which represent the waning of the so-called 'Baba Naqqash' style. The arabesque patterns on the sides hearken back to the hallmark pattern of that style, while details like the scrollwork on the shoulder, or the chevron band around the neck, look forward to the next phase of Iznik decoration in the 1520s.","short_description":"A ceramic ewer of rectangular shape, with four feet and a sloping shoulder. The decoration in blue and white features both traditional and innovative elements. The original spout and handle have broken off and been replaced, probably in the 19th century, with silver mounts of European origin.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, glazed painting","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum.","dates":"About hegira 925 / AH 1520.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 23.8 cm, width 15 cm (including spout), depth 11 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stylistic comparison (see description).","method_for_provenance":"Iznik was the centre of quality ceramic production in this period.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey (the mounts European).","obtention":"Purchased by the Museum in 1897.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, Istanbul/London, 1989, p.106, fig. 126.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Barry Wood","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["floral decoration"],"materials":["Painted and glazed ceramic","the mounts silver."]},"691ddce6-25f1-577a-8e88-7a0131702eef":{"name":"Tile.","description":"Made of stone-paste, this hexagonal tile is painted with blue and turquoise in underglaze technique. Below large lotus flowers and fantastical so-called *saz* leaves sit a pair of ducks. This beautifully drawn design relates to 15th-century album drawings from Iran, used as sources for a range of decorative arts. During the 15th and 16th centuries Iranian potters travelled to Turkey to work for Ottoman patrons. This tile recalls certain motifs in the tile panels, also of blue and turquoise, in the Sünnet Odası (Circumcision Chamber) in the Topkapı Palace, Istanbul of about AH 933–4 / AD 1527–8. These compositions with large flowers, swirling leaves and animals may have been produced by craftsmen from Tabriz in Iran. Similar designs of leaves and animals can be found in a number of album drawings in the Topkapı Palace. Another abiding source of influence was Chinese blue-and-white porcelains which were imported to Turkey due to their popularity with Ottoman patrons. Despite these foreign influences the designs are adapted by Iznik potters to create a distinctive style of their own.","short_description":"Hexagonal tile with a design of ducks, flowers and *saz* leaves painted in blue and turquoise underglaze. Iranian or Chinese influence is apparent in many styles of Iznik ceramics; this composition echoes similar designs found in album drawings created by artists in Tabriz in Iran.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, Glazed","holder":"The British Museum.","dates":"Within the decade, hegira 926–36 / AD 1520–30.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 28.5 cm, length 24.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"The blue and turquoise under-glaze ceramics were produced in the first half of the 16th century in Ottoman Turkey as seen, for example, in the tile panels in the Sünnet Odası (Circumcision Chamber) in the Topkapı Palace of about AH 933–4 / AD 1527–8.","method_for_provenance":"Iznik was the main centre of production for underglaze painted ceramics of this style, colour and technique during the Ottoman period.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Bequeathed to the British Museum by Augustus Wollaston Franks in 1892.","bibliography":"Atasoy. N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989, no. 225.  \n  \nCarswell, J., *Iznik Pottery*, London, 1998.  \n  \nPorter, V., *Islamic Tiles*, 1995, pp.104–5, fig. 93.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Emily Shovelton","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Chineseinfluence","figurative decoration","floral decoration","Iranian influence"],"materials":["Stone-paste with blue and turquoise underglaze."]},"6945b03a-e793-5c51-8b45-3e3ebf550370":{"name":"Ceramic bowl.","description":"The shallow shape of the bowl and the attempt to imitate the whiteness of porcelain are evidence of the admiration the Muslim potters had for Chinese ceramics. Early Abbasid potters created a tin-glaze or under-fired alkaline glaze in order to conceal the earthy colour of their wares with an opaque whiteness imitating Chinese porcelain. The decoration on this bowl includes four spontaneously flowing streams of green running from the border towards the centre. In the middle of the dish are three lines of angular Arabic *kufic* script that are decorative and not clearly legible.  \nIt is possible to read the first line as: “was made by which …\" This is unusual as the proper phrasing should be \"which was made by…\". The second line is not entirely legible, but can be read as: “Muhammad”, possibly indicating the name of the craftsman. There are similar ceramic bowls exhibiting the same name. The third line reads: \"enjoy your meal\". Such wares were regularly decorated with aphorisms and good wishes to the owner.","short_description":"The fashion for Chinese ceramics among early Muslim potters is evidenced by the opaque whiteness and crackled effect of the glaze as applied on this Abbasid dish. Its designer, possibly named Muhammad, is trying to imitate Chinese porcelain.","type":"Bowl, earthenware, ceramic","holder":"National Museum of Damascus.","dates":"Hegira 3rd– 4th/ AD 9th–10th century.","location":"Damascus","dimensions":"Height 7 cm, diameter 24 cm.","method_for_datation":"The dating is approximated to the AH 3rd– 4th/ AD 9th–10th century or Abbasid period, based on stylistic and comparative evidence. Most bowls in this Eastern style are attributed to the period of the Buyid Dynasty, also known as the Buwayhids, an Islamic Dynasty of Persian origin and Shi'ite faith, who ruled in Iraq between 338–447/ 943–1055 while maintaining loyalty to the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad.","method_for_provenance":"This type of ware was made in Mesopotamia and al-Jazira and shows Eastern influences. There were various centres of production.","provenance":"Al-Jazira (the region located between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, hence known as “the island”; currently consisting of northeast modern Syria and northwest Iraq), or Mesopotamia.","obtention":"Purchased in 1939 in Aleppo.","bibliography":"Abu al-Faraj al-Ush, M., *A Concise Guide to the National Museum of Damascus,*  \nDamascus, 1969, p.230.  \nAtil, E., *Islamic Art and Patronage: Treasures from Kuwait, New York, 1990,* pp.60–1.  \nBloom, J., and Blair, S., *Islamic Arts,* London, 2002,pp.18–109.  \nEttinghausen, R., Grabar, O., and Jenkins-Madina, M., *Islamic Art and Architecture 650–1250*, New Haven, 2001.  \nFehervari, G., *Art of the Eastern World*, London, p.122–3.  \nKhalili, N., A Selection of Islamic Art at the Brunei Museum, Brunei, 1990.  \nSoustiel, J., and Kiefer, C., *La céramique islamique*, Fribourg, 1985.","author":"Mona al-Moadin","translator":"Hilary Kalmbach (from the Arabic)","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Buyid","ceramics","Chinese influence","earthenware","inscription","kufic script","patronage","Porcelain","pottery","tin-glazed"],"materials":["Earthenware","tin-glazed and painted (dichromatic)."]},"69bd4624-b7de-55fb-85ce-4dbe6c7e46c2":{"name":"Plate.","description":"Ceramic plate restored from a fragment that consisted only of a section of a plate's rim and base. The missing part was reproduced using plaster, enabling the general form of the plate to be restored. The original fragment is made up of a fine brown-coloured paste, which has been decorated along the edge of the rim with a green geometric design set within three concentric semi-circles, applied using a paintbrush. Some traces of paint have remained on the rim and on the base, suggesting that the decoration was repeated in a symmetrical fashion along its edge and at the centre of the plate, which sits on a ring-like base.  \nThe fine quality of the ceramic paste attests to it being a luxury item of crockery.","short_description":"Ceramic, wheel-thrown dish that has been restored on the basis of a fragment of fine, brown clay brush-painted around the edge in green beneath a glaze. The decoration consists of three concentric semi-circles. The dish has a circular base.","type":"Plate, ceramic","holder":"National Museum of Antiquities and Islamic Arts","dates":"Hegira 361–543 / AD 972–1148.","location":"Algiers","dimensions":"Height 4.9 cm, diameter of the base 6.2 cm, diameter of the rim 21.5 cm, thickness 0.6 cm.","method_for_datation":"The fragment comes from the upper strata of a well, 14.5 m deep, full of ceramic shards and pottery that were piled up over four layers of earth, each corresponding to the Punic, Roman, Byzantine and Zirid eras. According to the chroniclers, Algiers was built during the Zirid era by Buluggin ibn Ziri (362–73 / 973–84).","obtention":"Archaeological repository (Leschi and Le Glay excavations, 1952).","bibliography":"Golvin, L., *Le Magrib central à l'époque des Zirides*, *recherches d'archéologie et d'histoire*, Paris, 1957.  \nLe Glay, M., “À la recherche d'Icosium”, *Antiquités africaines*, Vol. II, 1968, pp.7–54.","author":"Houria Cherid","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"Maria Vlotides","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["Algiers","ceramic","Plate","Zirid"],"materials":["painted under glaze.","Wheel-turned ceramic"]},"6a082742-d8cb-5964-8ea7-e722c9a23660":{"name":"Ceramic jar","description":"A tall pottery jar with a flat base used for storage and short-distance transport, as indicated by its shape and four short handles. The handles are placed at the shoulder below a rimmed mouth. Under its yellow and pistachio-coloured glaze it is decorated with brown and green glazes in three horizontal registers. The band below the lip is delineated by a thin brown line at the top and a green stripe between two thin brown lines at the bottom, a motif that is repeated below the second and the third bands. It depicts a row of six-petalled flowers, outlined in brown, with a leaf on each side of the stem. The petals are decorated with a spot of green. In the second band, a brown-edged diamond pattern circles the body. The third band is decorated with a row of brown-edged leaves filled in with green. The pot is glazed inside in dark green. From historical documents (cookbooks or single recipes) we know some methods of traditional preservation; many of them remained in use in traditional communities in the 20th century, and even today. Meat or butter was preserved in relatively big pots, or salted in stoneware or earthenware jars. Curing with liquid and dry-curing were also used, the latter using salt mixed with other ingredients, such as spices, before smoking.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum","owner":"His Excellency Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani","dates":"Hegira 12th century / AD 18th century","location":"Doha, Qatar","dimensions":"Height: 48cm, length: 23cm","place_of_production":"Iran, Khorasan province","method_for_datation":"Analysis of techniques, style and motifs","method_for_provenance":"Analysis of techniques, styles and motifs; analogies","provenance":"Iran, Khorasan province","obtention":"Purchased","author":"Terézia Bardi","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","materials":["Clay","Glaze","underglaze painting"]},"6aba1364-1271-56bc-8718-7c0b62b33f0d":{"name":"Incense burner.","description":"An unusual incense burner made of earthenware. It has been thrown on a wheel and is perforated with leaf-shaped cut-outs in order to aid air circulation and maximum dissemination of the incense. The main body is divided in half by a perforated strainer-type horizontal partition where the burning incense would be placed. The vessel has a high lid that is also perforated, as is the lower part of the body, further increasing air circulation throughout the vessel. There are four handles on the axis of the main body, indicating that this incense burner would have been elevated, either hung from the ceiling or some other high place.","short_description":"Incense has held a special position in most if not all Islamic cultures, and has been mainly used to perfume interior spaces such as private rooms, mosques, shrines and religious schools. Vessels of all shapes and sizes, like this pottery burner, have been made to hold and burn incense.","type":"Earthenware","holder":"Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira 13th century / AD 19th century.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"Height (with lid) 23 cm, width (including handles) 20 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis: the object was collected by the donor from Algeria along with other similar Ottoman ceramics.","method_for_provenance":"The object was collected by the donor from Algeria along with other similar Ottoman ceramics.","provenance":"Algeria.","obtention":"Donated to the Museum in 1877.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["domestic pottery","Incense burner"],"materials":["Earthenware","with perforated decoration."]},"6ad7e7f5-5b8d-5bfc-afb9-c3c90a19d9a8":{"name":"Vase.","description":"Vase with vertical bevelled rim, circular mouth, cylindrical neck, globular body, with two grooved strap handles with a pinnacle-shaped protuberance at the top which join the neck and belly of the vessel, and a convex base with diagonal foot-ring. It shows remnants of the base of a filter between the neck and body. The exterior is decorated using the partial *cuerda seca* technique, in which only some parts of the design are filled with green or greenish honey-coloured glaze and others with dotted lines. The decoration is divided into six successive horizontal bands of plant, wavy and calligraphic motifs. On the rim is a narrow border of schematic palmettes. Most of the neck is occupied by a wide band with large lotus flowers, and below this is a frieze of tooth-shaped motifs. On the shoulder is a calligraphic ornamental border in which the word '*baraka*' is repeated several times in florid *kufic* script and, on the belly, a band of phytomorphic medallions. Next to the base is a frieze of palmette leaves. The object has been restored.","short_description":"Almoravid or Almohad pot decorated in part using *cuerda seca*. The decoration is arranged into six successive horizontal bands with plant, undulating and calligraphic motifs. The lotus-flower motifs and the band inscribed with the word ‘*baraka*’ in flowery *kufic* script are particularly noteworthy.","type":"Vase,ceramic","holder":"Museum of Mértola.","dates":"Hegira 6th century / AD 12th century.","location":"Mértola., Beja.","dimensions":"Height 34.8 cm, width 32 cm, diameter (of mouth) 17.8 cm, diameter (of base) 13.4 cm.","method_for_datation":"The stratigraphic context in which the object was found was very disordered, which led to its being dated by comparison with objects of similar form, decorative technique and theme, in particular from Almería and Málaga.","method_for_provenance":"The abundance of this type of ceramic in Málaga and Almería (Spain), where kilns in which they were made have been found, has led researchers to attribute its production to these localities.","provenance":"Almería or Málaga, Spain.","obtention":"Found in the archaeological excavations carried out by the Campo Arqueológico de Mértola in the citadel of the Castle of Mértola.","bibliography":"Gómez Martínez, S., *A Cerâmica em Corda Seca de Mértola*, Mértola, 2002.  \nTorres, C. and Macias, S. (eds.), *O Portugal Islâmico*, Lisbon, 1998, p.89.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_PT_EN_001","author":"Susana Gómez Martínez","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","cuerda seca","trade"],"materials":["Ceramic made from porous pink paste","fired in an oxidising atmosphere and decorated using the partial cuerda seca technique.","modelled on a wheel"]},"6b41f817-21dd-52c8-b611-243fb687aeb7":{"name":"Pair of Ewers","short_description":"This pair of glazed ceramic ewers reflects some of the many changes that have taken place in the field of Islamic art history and perhaps also helps to broaden our understanding of modern art. Both bear labels indicating that they were lent to the first great exhibition of Islamic art, held in Munich in 1910. It is now more than one hundred years later, but they have actually grown even older during that time. Ascribed to eighteenth-century Turkestan in the 1910 catalogue, these ewers can now be assigned to the late Timurid period on the basis of art historical, scientific and archaeological evidence. Determining their likely place of production is perhaps more problematic.  \nThe site of Otrar as well as neighboring medieval settlements had begun to attract attention even prior to the first archeological excavations in 1904. It is therefore possible that the 1910 attribution of the pair of ewers to Turkestan (in the first half of the 20th century often used as a general designation for western Central Asia) may have some traction; perhaps Kirkor Minassian, the well-known dealer who loaned the ewers in 1910 (and whose name and Paris address are still preserved on one of the ewer’s exhibition labels) acquired them from some clandestine excavator active in the region.  \nOn the other hand, there is some evidence to link the two vessels with the northwestern end of the Iranian world—to Kubachi or elsewhere in Dagestan. The Oriental Museum in Moscow possesses a group of unpublished ceramic vessels with the identical decoration and color scheme as the turquoise-glazed ewer (no inv. numbers were available); these were excavated in the region of Dagestan. In addition, the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, has a number of unpublished ceramic vessels that demonstrate the same color schemes and related decoration, which according to museum records were acquired from citizens of Kubachi in the first decades of the 20th century. One of them (VG-1611) is identical in shape and size to the Los Angeles ewers, although its decoration is coarser.  \nThis pair of ewers now provides a better understanding of late Timurid ceramics and their decoration at either the eastern or western-most extremes of the Iranian world. They also may enhance our appreciation of the “Orientalizing” themes in the work of Henri Matisse (1869-1954), who visited Munich in October, 1910, expressly to see the great Islamic art exhibition. It is easy to imagine that he also may have preserved a visual memory of objects such as these ceramic ewers whose colorful floral ornament is echoed in a variety of the artist’s works.","type":"Furnishings","holder":"Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)","dates":"Hegira late 9th-early 10th century / AD late 15th-early 16th century","location":"Los Angeles","dimensions":".277: Height: 50.5cm, Diameter: 42.4cm; .278: Height: 48.9cm, Diameter: 41.8cm","method_for_datation":"The art historical evidence for a Timurid date is substantiated on two further counts: one, the ewers were subjected to thermoluminescence testing in 2006 producing results entirely consistent with a late 15th – early 16th-century date, and two, excavations at Otrar, in southern Kazakhstan, especially from 1971-1985, have produced a wealth of related ceramic finds many of which date to the Timurid period, including single-handled vessels similar in shape to the present examples.","method_for_provenance":"The floral decoration and color schemes relate to Timurid ceramics and other decorative arts of the period.","provenance":"Iran or Central Asia","obtention":"Collection of Kirkor Minassian (1874?-1944), Paris, New York, unknown date. Collection of Maan Z. Madina (1926-2013), New York, until 2002 (sold to); LACMA, The Madina Collection of Islamic Art, gift of Camilla Chandler Frost.","bibliography":"Dercon, Chris, Krempel Leon and Shalem, Avinoam (eds), *The Future of Tradition, The Tradition of Future: 100 Years After the Exhibition Masterpieces of Muhammadan Art in Munich*, Munich: Prestel, 2010: 101-102, cat. no. 16.  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Lo Terrenal y lo Divino: Arte Islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Ángeles*, Santiago: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015: 110-111.  \nSarre, Friedrich (ed), *Die Ausstellung von Meisterwerken muhammedanischer Kunst in München, 1910*, Munich: F. Bruckmann, 1912: number 1438-1439.","author":"LACMA Staff","keywords":["ceramic","ewer","flagon","floral motifs","Jug","liquid container","pitcher","Timurid"],"materials":["Earthenware","underglaze-painted"]},"6c0d5ed7-f239-5a9e-b68f-3354fdd5c46c":{"name":"Round-bellied vase.","description":"This vase is glazed in yellow over a white slip. The belly is rounded and it has a long narrow neck with no handles ending in a prominent lip. The vase is quite crudely made but has a pleasing shape. The green and brown decoration is elaborate, consisting of a combination of domestic fowl and geometric motifs. Two stylised birds adorn opposite sides of the vase, one with its wings wide open.  \nAll over the rest of the vase, the artist has drawn wildly imaginative patterns; chequer-work, diamonds, circles and dots. Berber in inspiration, this decoration shows just how original Ifriqiyan art had become, in spite of its strong Oriental influences.","short_description":"The rich brown and green decoration on this vase, with its geometric motifs and domestic animals, is particularly noteworthy. Geometric motifs are dotted around the background. This ornamentation, inspired by Berber and Eastern art forms, is a good example of the singularity of Ifriqiyan art.","type":"Vase, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art.","dates":"Hegira, last third of the 3rd century / AD 9th century.","location":"Raqqada., Kairouan.","dimensions":"Height 28.5 cm, diameter 18.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"Raqqada, where the piece was found, was the Aghlabid capital city, built in 263 / 876, which makes this date a *terminus ante quem*. Moreover, the vase is characteristic in its shape, colour and decoration of that of the Aghlabid repertoire, which we know well from the thousands of objects and fragments found at the Raqqada site. It appears that the same shapes, colours and techniques were carried over to beginning the Fatimid era, which means that we can date this piece from the last quarter of the 3rd / 9th century. But it was definitely produced in either the Raqqada or the Kairouan potteries.","method_for_provenance":"The discovery of this bowl on the Raqqada site would confirm that this was a local piece from the Raqqada potteries or from those at Kairouan, the nearest economic capital.","provenance":"Raqqada or Kairouan.","obtention":"This piece was found during the Raqqada site excavations in the 1960s. From 1966 it was put on display at the museum of the Great Mosque of Kairouan. In 1986 it was transferred to the Museum of Islamic Art at Raqqada.","bibliography":"*Couleurs de Tunisie* (exhibition catalogue), 1994, p.120.  \nDaoulatli, A., *Poteries et céramiques tunisiennes*, 1979, pp.28–9, fig. 8.  \n*Tunisie: du christianisme à l'islam* (exhibition catalogue), Lattes, 2001, p.188.  \n*Ifriqiya: Thirteen Centuries of Art and Architecture in Tunisia*, pp.174–5.","author":"Mourad Rammah","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"David Ash","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["figurative decoration","floral decoration","geometric decoration"],"materials":["Glazed and decorated ceramic."]},"6c462380-2914-5cf9-9add-db9249d1c981":{"name":"Ewer","short_description":"Reticulated double-walled composite-bodied ceramic ewer, the openwork shell decorated with seated princely figures enclosed in curvilinearized dodecagonal compartments. The ewer was wheel-thrown and moulded, pierced, underglaze-painted in black, transparent turquoise glaze detailed with cobalt blue.","type":"Vessels & receptacles, Iranian ceramic","holder":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah","dates":"Hegira late 6th–early 7th century / AD 1200–1220","location":"Kuwait City","provenance":"Iranian World, Kashan","keywords":["figurative decoration","underglaze painting"]},"6ce7585a-6af3-5c01-acdf-e9095b77b4a9":{"name":"*Batta* jug.","description":"With its shrunken neck and large hanging rim and spout, this small jug with a round belly is reminiscent of Phoenico-Carthaginian *bobeche* jugs. These *batta* jugs, commonly used to hold lamp oil in the AH 13th / AD 19th century, were made in Fez and Meknès in several sizes. This example is decorated with vertical flutes on the belly and a cord ribbon. Similar jugs could be decorated with two lines of small circles stamped above and below this ribbon. Jugs covered with green tin glaze like this one were intended for regions in the south of Morocco, in particular the oases of the Ziz Valley. For urban markets, Fez ceramicists made the jugs in the same shape but with much more elaborate polychrome decoration, using plant and flower motifs from the Moroccan-Andalusian repertoire.","short_description":"The neck and rim of this small jug, known as a *batta*, are reminiscent of Carthaginian *bobeche* jugs. This is a traditional shape for recipients used for lamp oil, and was made in Fez and Meknès for the southern regions of Morocco.","type":"Jug, ceramic","holder":"Batha Museum.","dates":"Hegira 13th century / AD 19th century.","location":"Fez.","dimensions":"Height 14 cm, diameter 22 cm.","method_for_datation":"This type of jug was no longer produced in the early 20th century.","method_for_provenance":"Purchased in Fez.","provenance":"Fez or Meknès.","obtention":"Purchased.","bibliography":"Bel, A., “Potiers et faïenciers de Fès: les produits de leur fabrication; leurs croyances et leurs légendes”, *France-Maroc*, no. 3, 1919, pp.78–82.  \nBel, A., *Les industries de la céramique à Fès*, Algiers; Paris, 1918.  \nKhatib-Boujibar, N., “La céramique émaillée”, in *Maroc, les trésors du Royaume*, catalogue, Paris, 1999.  \nLoviconi, A. and Belfitah, D., *Regards sur la faïence de Fès*, Aix-en-Provence, 1991.  \n*Andalusian Morocco: A Discovery in Living Art*, pp.128–9.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_MA_EN_001","author":"Naima El Khatib-Boujibar","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["geometric decoration"],"materials":["Lead-glazed ceramic."]},"6d275aae-efca-5e92-b1e9-cd4d92480102":{"name":"Vertical-sided bowl.","description":"The decoration of the bowl, which is limited to the outside, consists of a large inscription in *kufic* characters with strokes finished with an apex and certain letters finished with volutes, all contained between two solid lustre bands. The main inscription is superimposed by four letters in cobalt-blue. Although very contemporary, the meaning of the inscription is related to the *baraka lisahibihi* type, ‘blessed be the holder’.  \nIt is relevant to note that decoration consisting of purely epigraphic motifs is quite rare in Mesopotamian lustre-ware, and thus it can reasonably be assumed that this piece was influenced by ceramics from the Samanid period in Khurasan and Transoxania (AH 4th–5th / 9th–10th centuries), to which significant production of non-lustre-ware china, decorated only with epigraphic motifs, is attributable.","short_description":"This bowl is practically unique in its shape and decoration, with pieces decorated exclusively with calligraphy being rare in the early years of the Abbasid era.","type":"Bowl, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”","dates":"Hegira 4th century / AD 10th century.","location":"Rome","dimensions":"Height 7 cm, diameter 18.3 cm.","method_for_datation":"From stylistic analysis. The decoration is clearly influenced by ceramics from the Samanid period in Khurasan and Transoxania (4th–5th / 9th–10th centuries).","method_for_provenance":"The simplicity of the piece is characteristic of objects from Samarra.","provenance":"Iraq.","obtention":"Purchase.","bibliography":"Lane, A., *Early Islamic Pottery*, London, 1953.  \nPhilon, H., *Early Islamic Ceramics*, London, 1980.  \nScerrato, U., “Ceramica Irachena del IX–X Secolo”, *Serie Schede Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale* 2, Rome, 1968.","author":"Paola Torre","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["calligraphy","Dish","kufic","lustre"],"materials":["Ceramic painted with metallic lustre and cobalt-blue."]},"6db232a1-1948-537d-8bad-3c92a264c7c0":{"name":"Stucco panel","description":"\"Stucco\" is a term used to describe the vast majority of decorations in Islamic Arts. White stucco, made from plaster stones, was used for column capitals, arcs, as well as sloped constructions such as roofs, as it is an incredibly supple, yet strong, adherent, durable and light material. Muslim artisans made countless constructions decorated with stucco. The 18th and 19th centuries, however, saw many constructions in carved golden plaster - both palaces and houses were elaborately decorated in this way. Floral motifs, closer to the Ottoman and Italian styles, soon overtook the geometric designs of previous centuries.","type":"Stucco; plaster","holder":"Musée National du Bardo","dates":"19th century","location":"Le Bardo, Tunis","provenance":"Palais du Bardo","author":"Saloua Zangar","translator":"Flaminia Baldwin"},"6db5dc26-a551-5750-a7ae-d8710e639fce":{"name":"Water jug","short_description":"This clay water jug with a handle is decorated with stamped patterns, painted golden motifs, and Arabic characters. Its long neck widens at the top and has remnants of a clay strainer inside. The curved base is decorated with a stamped floral pattern. The various types of décor—gold paint, geometric stamps, and floral stamps—divide the jug into several distinct decorative sections. The gilding of the jug is most likely an oil gilding. Some of the Arabic stamps read *tin makhtum*, a type of red clay believed to have a medicinal function in the Medieval period; the jug was most likely used for such purposes.","type":"Dish","holder":"MKG Museum for Applied Arts","dates":"Hegira 12th century / AD 17th century","location":"Hamburg","dimensions":"Height: 16.8cm, Diameter: 9.5cm","method_for_datation":"Some of the stamps read *tin makktum*, a type of medieval medicinal clay.","method_for_provenance":"Purchased from Wilhelm Henrich, Franktfurt.","provenance":"Sicily","obtention":"Purchased in 1953.","copy_editor":"Caitlin Link","keywords":["Jug","Sicily"],"materials":["Clay","gold plated","probably oil gilding"]},"6db950fc-93a3-5777-aada-7d4002b3f00b":{"name":"Bowl with Design of Radiating Stripes","short_description":"A deep bowl with flaring lip, set on a high ring foot. The surfaces are glazed primarily white, with royal blue glaze around the rim and vertical, alternating stripes of royal blue and olive green on both the interior and exterior. The stripes on the interior taper in thickness toward the *omphalos* area of the bowl, becoming notable thinner at a carination. The lines meet at a central blue circle enclosing a blue dot surrounded by two irregular green lines. The bottom of the short foot is also glazed white.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Saint Louis Art Museum","dates":"Hegira Late 5th to late 6th century / AD 12th century","location":"Saint Louis","dimensions":"Height: 10.2cm; Diameter of mouth: 20.3cm; Diameter of foot: 8.9cm","method_for_datation":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","method_for_provenance":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","provenance":"Gurgan or Kashan, Iran, Asia","obtention":"Museum Purchase, 1951","keywords":["Asia","bowl","ceramics","decoration","Fritware","Glazed","Gurgan","Iran","Kashan","Paint","Persian","underglaze"],"materials":["Glazed fritware with underglaze painted decoration"]},"6f45b4c6-e6d0-562e-aa92-b2efaf2a5915":{"name":"Bowl.","description":"A thrown, earthenware bowl with a wide and flaring shape that sits on a small, round pedestal base; it has been moulded by hand around the rim to produce a ring of indentations. The bowl has been coated with a slip of liquefied clay and decorated with a simple flowing design on the inside with black and blue underglaze. It is glazed overall with a thickly applied glaze that is a transparent, intense yellow.","short_description":"This North African bowl would have been used for serving a vegetable stew with meat and couscous, a wheat product. Thrown on a wheel, it has a lid that matches it in shape but has a slightly smaller diameter. Vessels like this are still made today.","type":"Earthenware","holder":"Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira 13th century / AD 19th century.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 13 cm, diameter 34 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis: the object was collected by the donor from Algeria along with other similar Ottoman ceramics.","method_for_provenance":"The object was collected by the donor from Algeria along with other similar Ottoman ceramics.","provenance":"Algeria.","obtention":"Donated to the Museum in 1877.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["abstract decoration","domestic pottery"],"materials":["Earthenware decorated with black and blue underglaze","over which a transparent yellow glaze."]},"6f7d1e22-4662-54e3-b5a0-d90fe53335a9":{"name":"*Stove*","description":"This stove once adorned the interior of the former Dietrichstein Palace next to the Franciscan Monastery, Brno. The palace, pulled down in a street development in 1906, was said to be one of the most beautiful in Brno.  \nThe bottom section features a scene in relief from Ovid's *Metamorphoses*, Venus and Adonis, with *putti* carrying a vase. The upper ledge bears the Dietrichstein coat of arms; the decoration climaxes in the figure of Ganymede kidnapped by Jupiter in the form of an eagle, another scene from Ovid. These myths frequently provided subject matter for the decoration of residences both secular and religious. They usually appeared as ceiling paintings and sculpted garden ornamentation, as well as on utility objects such as table crockery.  \nThe richly decorated stove manifests the span of work assigned to the sculptor employed by the imperial court. In the final phase of palace reconstruction by František Antonín Grimm, carried out from the early 1740s, Ignaz Lengelacher also created the ornamental stone vases on the entrance frontage. The stove is similar to those found in Klosterneuburg, near Vienna, designed by Donato Felice d'Alio, in whose studio Grimm worked.  \nAfter the mid-18th century the Dietrichstein Palace was a major centre for the social life of Brno. Under the next owner, Count Salm-Reifferscheidt, it became a meeting place of the oldest Brno freemasonic lodge.","short_description":"The richly decorated stove manifests the span of work assigned to the sculptor employed by the imperial court. Legends from Ovid's *Metamorphoses* were frequent subjects for decoration in residences both secular and religious. They often appeared in ceiling paintings, as well as in applied arts.","type":"Ceramic, sculpture","holder":"Moravian Gallery, Brno","owner":"Moravian Gallery, Brno","initial_owner":"Count Dietrichstein","dates":"c.1745","location":"Museum of Applied Arts, Brno, Moravia","dimensions":"H: 220 cm","place_of_production":"Moravia","method_for_datation":"The authorship of the image is defined by the work’s origin and the participation of Ignaz Lengelacher in the sculpted decoration of the Dietrichstein Palace.","obtention":"The Stove was acquired by the Museum of Applied Arts (Moravian Gallery, Brno since 1961) before 1928.","bibliography":"Miloš Stehlík, in Ivo Krsek – Zdeněk Kudělka (ed) – Miloš Stehlík – Josef Válka, *Umění baroka na Moravě a ve Slezsku*, Prague, 1996, p. 607, cat. 312, p. 613.  \nJiří Kroupa – Tomáš Jeřábek a kol, *Brněnské paláce. Stavby duchovní a světské aristokracie v raném novověku*, Brno, 2005, pp. 137–160.","author":"Zora Wörgötter","copy_editor":"Jiří Kroupa","translator":"Irma Charvátová","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["furnishing","Metamorphoses","mythology","Ovid","palace"],"materials":["Ceramic","gilding","white glaze"]},"6fb6dc4e-a56b-544c-9b26-f00596b09c9d":{"name":"Bowl with horserider","short_description":"This bowl shows a crowned horserider surrounded by birds, floral motifs and calligraphic elements drawn in black against a yellow background and further enhanced by individual dots of turquoise glaze. The style draws on both local Persian folk and royal traditions while the inclusion of *kufic* script signals awareness of a new, \"Islamic\" aesthetic.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation","dates":"Hegira 4th century / AD 10th century","location":"Sharjah","provenance":"Iran, probably Nishapur","keywords":["bowl","calligraphy","ceramic","Glaze","horsemanship","human representation","kufic"]},"72d97a33-faa9-5945-a6f9-e8d7c8992dc4":{"name":"Plate and ablution ewer","description":"The porcelain plate depicts a ritual washing ceremony, in which a servant pours water from an ewer for ablution. This scene illustrates the importance of cleanliness and ritual purity in Ottoman daily and religious life. The accompanying basin and ewer set, produced in the Süleymaniye workshop tradition, reflects the same function represented in the image. Such basin–ewer sets were commonly used indoors for ablution (*wudu*), particularly before prayer, as well as for washing hands after meals.  \n  \nBeyond their practical purpose, these objects held symbolic meaning, emphasising purity, hospitality and respect for religious practice. Through both the visual narrative on the porcelain plate and the physical form of the basin and ewer, the work highlights the central role of water in Ottoman ceremonial, domestic and spiritual culture.","type":"Ablution set","holder":"İstanbul Su Müzesi / Istanbul Water Museum","dates":"Hegira 13th / AD 19th century","location":"Istanbul","place_of_production":"Istanbul","method_for_datation":"Date and origin are written on the piece.","obtention":"Purchased.","author":"Ercan Topçu","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","keywords":["Ablution","ewer","Plate","water","wudu"],"materials":["brass","Porcelain"]},"72e174ad-f050-54f3-84a7-95a37e327e32":{"name":"Jar","short_description":"Large earthenware jar of ovoid form that is slender at the base and is flaring at the shoulders, on which two curved handles extend to the bottom of the wide cylindrical neck. The exterior is decorated with streaks of green glaze and the interior is entirely glazed.","type":"Vessels & receptacles, earthenware","holder":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah","dates":"Hegira 2nd century / AD 8th century","location":"Kuwait City","provenance":"Syria","keywords":["earthenware","Glaze"]},"73a8c1a7-47a7-5ac2-8219-524e45f2889c":{"name":"Basin","description":"This large basin with a flat base and curved, sloping sides is also called a *maajna*. The feet of the basin are circular, and the centre is decorated with a highly stylised floral pattern with palms and winged shapes overlapping. The walls are mainly painted with a *tawq* (collar) motif. This style indicates a symbiosis between Ottoman influences and local traditions. The dominant colours are: yellow, green, brown, and violet. This basin was used to knead dough, roll semolina and as a serving bowl for certain ingredients, and shows traces of both Ottoman and Andalusian influences.","type":"Ceramic; terracotta","holder":"Musée de la Céramique Sidi Kacem Jelizi","dates":"Late 18th century","location":"Tunis","provenance":"Atelier de Qallaline","translator":"Flaminia Baldwin"},"73ac7a0b-2d07-5206-9603-0f364d1a8faa":{"name":"Sugar bowl","description":"The master, Domokos Kuny’s father, founded a pottery in Buda producing faience and ceramics in what is today Christina Boulevard. Three masters and eight apprentices worked in his manufactory in the 1780s. The products of the workshop were extremely popular among the bourgeoisie and aristocracy of Buda and Pest in the late 18th century.  \nThe white glazed sugar bowl is decorated with floral motifs and on the base is the sign “OF” (Ofen=Buda). Domokos Kuny’s (1754–1822) father was Dominique Cuny who mastered the craft of ceramics in a Strasbourg manufactory before arriving from Baden-Durlach to Holics in Upper Northern Hungary. The commercial and economic development of Buda attracted him and he settled down in the city in 1784–85 and founded a manufactory. In the surrounding countryside were clay mines, perfect for the production of ceramics.","short_description":"An object of everyday use from the workshop of the famous master Domokos Kuny (1754–1822).","type":"Applied art (ceramic)","holder":"Budapest History Museum","initial_owner":"unknown","dates":"18th century","location":"Budapest, Közép-Magyarország / Central Hungary","dimensions":"H: 13.5 cm","place_of_production":"Buda","method_for_datation":"By historical documents and decoration and style of the object","provenance":"unknown","obtention":"Transferred from the capital’s collection in 1945","bibliography":"*Budapest* *az Újkorban* (*Budapest* *in Modern Times*), (ed. G. Szvoboda Dománszky), Budapest, 1995, p. 27.","workshop":"Ceramic workshop of Domokos Kuny, Buda","author":"Beatrix Basics","copy_editor":"Terézia Bardi","translator":"Beatrix Basics","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Applied art","aristocracy","bourgeoisie","Buda","ceramics","domestic vessels","Domokos Kuny","factory","Faience","manufactory","Ofen","Pest","pottery","sugar","workshop"],"materials":["Glazed ceramic"]},"74522266-7a73-5544-925c-094de901d54c":{"name":"Footed dish","short_description":"In the 1870s, blank spaces still existed on the map of the world. There was a great deal of interest in distant lands and in geographic observations. Scientific and commercial overseas missions under the Austrian Flag become more common. From 1873 to 1875 the corvette Helgoland of the Imperial and Royal Navy circumnavigated Africa. The staff included the naval officer, Lieutenant Commander (Linienschiffsleutnant) Leopold Freiherr von Jedina-Palombini. During a brief stopover in Tangier (Morocco) he purchased a selection of the famous blue and white Fassi ceramic ware which was very popular in that time. Pottery and ceramics produced in Fez are among the most beautiful examples of Hispano-Moresque art.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Weltmuseum Wien","dates":"19th century","location":"Vienna","dimensions":"H: 7.5cm, Diameter: 32cm","method_for_datation":"Entry in the general inventory and archival documents.","method_for_provenance":"Entry in the general inventory book.","provenance":"Morocco, Fès","obtention":"Estate Leopold Freiherr von Jedina-Palombini. Catalog entry: \"Purchased from Baron Dr. Jedina, 1949.\"","materials":["Ceramic"]},"749834b9-5f86-513c-a750-311aca2067e7":{"name":"Deer-Figured Water Container","description":"The ceramic, off-white paste and one-colour turquoise glazed figurine has a navy blue glazed relief decoration with lines and dots on the back. The deer on a rectangular base has a hole in the back and on the head, and the three antlers are curved and joined at the top.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Ankara Ethnography Museum","location":"Ankara","dimensions":"Length: 43cm, width: 36.5cm","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","materials":["Glazed ceramic"]},"749ed869-f804-5e04-8571-0e4f75d67555":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"Fritware *mina ´i* bowl with curved sidewalls gently flaring at the rim. The bowl is enamelled painted and gilded on an opaque white glaze.","type":"Vessels & receptacles, fritware ceramic","holder":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah","dates":"Hegira mid 6th–mid 7th century / AD late 12th–early 13th century","location":"Kuwait City","provenance":"Iranian World","keywords":["Enamel","gilding","Glaze","Minai"]},"74cb07f0-79d7-57eb-be13-fe55793125ae":{"name":"Milk jar","description":"This butter jar with a *dagra* lid has a spherical body and rests on a small pedestal. It is decorated with a polychromatic pattern, organised in rows. Medallion shapes filled with flowers cover the lower half of the body, and the lid is also densely decorated with flowers, and framed by a lattice.","type":"Ceramics; terracotta","holder":"Musée National du Bardo","dates":"Late 18th century","location":"Le Bardo, Tunis","provenance":"Qallaline","translator":"Flaminia Baldwin"},"755aa26f-837b-56c6-a555-fffe8cf9d2d2":{"name":"Dish with carnations.","description":"Deep dish with curved sides and a flat base. The decoration, painted in red lustre, consists of a large, feathery bush with carnation flowers emerging from a small central vase, which is goblet-shaped and stands on a tall foot. Around this there is a typical frame of small concentric semi-circles from which feathered bushes spring, set uniformly between each carnation above a dotted background. The edge of the dish, marked with a slight inner groove, is outlined with a broad band of solid lustre.","short_description":"This plate, decorated principally with a motif borrowed from Ottoman fabrics and ceramics, is an example of 18th-century late Valencian production. It was probably used as luxury crockery.","type":"Dish, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”","dates":"Hegira 12th century / AD 18th century.","location":"Rome","dimensions":"Height 6.8 cm, diameter 28.2 cm.","method_for_provenance":"The dish comes from late Valencian production (12th / 18th century) whose distinctive features include the splitting up of decorative elements, the feathery look used in the plant decoration and the presence of carnations, a Turkish influence that reached the West in the form of both textiles and ceramics. Occasionally, as is the case with this piece, we see the almost exclusive use of this motif, according to a taste that was inspired by the famous Turkish ceramics of Iznik in which, among other things, the decorative use of flowers in vases is very common.","provenance":"Spain, Valencian workshop.","obtention":"Purchase.","bibliography":"Ainaud De Lasarte, J., *Cèramica y Vidrio*, Ars Hispaniae, Vol. 10, Madrid, 1952.  \nFronthingham, A. W., *Lustreware of Spain*, New York, 1951.  \nTorre, P., “Maioliche a Lustro Ispano-Moresche”, *Serie Schede Museo Nazionale d'Arte Orientale*, 7, Rome, 1987.  \nTorre, P., *Le Mille e una Notte: Ceramiche Persiane, Turche e Ispano-Moresche, Faenza*, 1990.  \nTorre, P., “Techniques Journeying from East to West at the Time of the Crusades”, *Crusades: Myth and Realities*, Nicosia, 2004.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_ES_EN_001","author":"Paola Torre","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["Dish","floral decoration","lustre","Mudéjar art"],"materials":["Lustre-painted ceramic."]},"758017b1-e777-564d-bac6-2f8e62ea8bad":{"name":"Bowl.","description":"An open bowl with a circular body on a flat base. The rim is semi-circular in cross-section, marked and slightly inverted.  \nThe ceramic is made from very light-coloured almost white paste, with a brown, almost sepia decoration. The surfaces have slips in the same colour as the paste.  \nThe decoration is centred on the inside of the object with a star-shaped or flower motif which spreads out from a broad circle decorated with a geometric pattern inside. Small semi-circles with a dot in the centre form a border around this circle, interspersed with groups of three lines which radiate outwards and are repeated seventeen times.  \nThe rim of the bowl was also decorated with stripes of the same colour, in seven sets of small dashes producing a very subtle effect.  \nThis type of decoration is common on the inside of similar pieces, but also on the outer walls of small pots. A very similar decoration has been observed on ceramics from Vilamoura (Loulé, Algarve, Portugal) and on ceramics unearthed in the Castle at Silves.  \nIn the archaeological excavations carried out at Silves, this type of ornamentation was not found in objects from archaeological levels dating after the AH 4th / AD 10th century.  \nThis may be a locally produced object.","short_description":"The elegance of the geometric motif on the inside of this bowl is particularly noteworthy, depicting a star or flower in the centre radiating from a circle containing a geometric bar motif. The whole is reminiscent of traditional formulas from the region, characteristic of indigenous art.","type":"Bowl, ceramic","holder":"Silves Municipal Archaeology Museum.","owner":"Silves Town Council.","dates":"Hegira 2nd–3rd century / AD 8th–9th century.","location":"Silves., Faro.","dimensions":"Hegira 2nd–3rd century / AD 8th–9th century.","method_for_datation":"From its archaeological, stratigraphic and typological context. The date attributed (2nd–3rd / 8th–9th century) is disputed by Cláudio Torres, of the Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, who believes that it is probably a later piece, in comparison with others coming from the region of Gharb al-Andalus.","method_for_provenance":"An excavation carried out in the courtyard next to the cistern in Silves, directed by Mário and Rosa Varela Gomes. Inventory number Q 41/C3-silo 1.","provenance":"Courtyard adjacent to the cistern (now Silves Municipal Archaeology Museum), Silves.","obtention":"Housed in the Museum after the excavation that was carried out in the 1980s.","bibliography":"*Portugal Islâmico: Os últimos Sinais do Mediterrâneo,* exhibition catalogue, Lisbon, 1998, p.162–3.  \nGomes, R. V., *Palácio Almóada da Alcáçova de Silves*, Lisbon, 2001, p.54.  \nGomes, R. V., *Silves (Xelb), Uma Cidade do Gharb Al-Andalus, Arqueologia e História (Séculos VIII–XIII)*, Lisbon, 1999.  \nGomes, R. V., “Silves (Xelb): Uma Cidade do Gharb Al-Andalus: A Alcáçova”, *Cadernos do Instituto Portuguès de Arqueologia,* Lisbon, 2004.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_PT_EN_001","author":"Maria da Conceição Amaral","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["floral decoration","trade"],"materials":["Ceramic modelled on a wheel","with a star-shaped decoration."]},"75bb1422-0084-5c89-9bec-838982478b11":{"name":"Double-shelled ewer, rooster-shaped","short_description":"A real masterpiece of the Iranian plastic art in ceramics is a double-shelled underglaze-painted ewer shaped as a rooster dating to the early 13th century. The openwork elements of décor (figures of winged sphinxes and floral motifs) are emphasized by painting in black under clear turquoise glaze. Double-walled tableware ewers and jugs were real technical breakthroughs of Kashanian potters. The rooster was regarded by Iranians as a ritually pure and auspicious being since pre-Islamic times.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"The Khanenko Museum","owner":"The Khanenko Museum","dates":"AD early 13th century","location":"Kyiv","dimensions":"Height: 26cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis by H. Rudyk (publication, 2017, date, origin).","method_for_provenance":"Arthur Sambon's auction catalogue (1914). Publication of Vera Krachkovskaya (1927). Old Museum Inventory Register (1925-1946).","provenance":"Kashan, Iran","obtention":"Donated by Varvara Khanenko in 1918. Previously purchased by the Khanenkos in Paris at the auction of Arthur Sambon collection in 1914.","bibliography":"Canby, Sheila R., et al., *Court and Cosmos: The Great Age of the Seljuqs*, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016.  \nGrube, Ernst J. and Bayani, Manijeh, *Cobalt and Lustre: the First Centuries of Islamic Pottery, The Nasser D. Khalili collection of Islamic Art*, vol 9, London: Nour Foundation, 1994.  \nKrachkovskaya, V., \"Musulmsnskoye iskusstvo v sobranii Khanenko (Muslim Art from the Khanenkos' Collection)\", in Bartold V.V. (ed), *Zapyski Kollegii Vostokovedov (Notes of the College of Orientalists)* at Asian Museum of USSR Academy of Sciences, Vol II, Leningrad: USSR Academy of Sciences, 1927.  \nRudyk, H. (ed), *Charisma of Iran. Persian art of 12th–19th centuries from museum collections of Ukraine*, Kyiv: The Khanenko Museum, 2017.  \nSambon, Arthur, *Catalogue des Objets D'Art: Collection Arthur Sambon*, Paris: Galerie Georges Petit, 1914.","author":"Antonina Makarevych","copy_editor":"Janice Medina","keywords":["ewer","Iran","Kashan ceramics"],"materials":["openwork","Stonepaste","transparent turquoise glaze","underglaze painting"]},"77482de0-a383-587d-9e29-0206bf355536":{"name":"Luster dish","short_description":"Twenty-four pupils of both sexes are seated around a bearded teacher, who is wielding a cane. Everyone is looking the same way except the boy in the top left corner, who is looking at a girl. The scene has been identified as most likely being “the first meeting of Layla and Majnun at school” from Nizami’s famous book *Layla and Majnun*, written in the 1180s.","type":"Luster dish, fritware, ceramic","holder":"The David Collection","dates":"Hegira end of the 6th century / AD end of the 12th century","location":"Copenhagen","provenance":"Iran, Kashan","keywords":["figural motifs","Fritware","Layla and Majnun","Luster dish"],"materials":["Fritware","painted in luster over an opaque","white glaze"]},"78426513-4220-51b8-99aa-4f7ba05f6c3a":{"name":"*Muqarnas* decoration","short_description":"Developed in Iran, the *cuerda seca* technique was designed to produce multicoloured glazed tile decoration quickly, efficiently and cheaply. It was introduced to western Anatolia in the Hegira early 9th century / AD 15th century, probably by a group of Iranian master artists, whose work decorates the Ottoman royal mosque complex in Bursa known as the Green Mosque. An important example of *cuerda seca* tilework, possibly from the same building complex, is this ceramic revetment moulded in the form of *muqarnas* (stalactite- or honeycomb-like elements used as decoration in Islamic architecture). It is painted in a typical colour scheme of dark blue, turquoise, white and yellow. *Muqarnas* elements such as this one were produced in modular units and later set into place on building façades.","type":"Architectural Elements","holder":"Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)","dates":"Hegira 9th century / AD 15th century","location":"Los Angeles","dimensions":"Height: 34cm","method_for_datation":"The color scheme and cuerda seca technique relate this *muqarnas* element to the tile decoration of the Green Mosque Complex, Bursa, built between 822-827 Hegira / AD 1419–1424.","method_for_provenance":"The glazing technique and colors are comparable with the tile decoration in the so-called Green Mosque Complex in Bursa.","provenance":"Turkey, Bursa","obtention":"Possibly from the Green Mosque complex in Bursa, Turkey.  \nJoseph Soustiel (1939 - 1999), until 1973 (sale, private sale, Paris, August, 1973, sold to); Edwin Binney, 3rd (1866-1934), Collection of Edwin Binney, 3rd, Portland, ME, until 1985 (gifted to); LACMA, The Edwin Binney, 3rd, Collection of Turkish Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.","bibliography":"Binney, Edwin, 3rd and Denny, Walter B., *Turkish Treasures from the Collection of Edward Binney, 3rd*, Portland, OR: Portland Art Museum, 1979: 204.  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Islamic Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art*, Rev. ed., Los Angeles: Museum Associates, 2005: 37, fig. 33.  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Lo Terrenal y lo divino: Arte islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Angeles*, Santiago, Chile: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015: 95.  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Beauty and Identity: Islamic Art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art*, Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2016: 164-165.","author":"LACMA Staff","keywords":["architectural decoration","cuerda seca","earthenware","Iranian influence","tilework"],"materials":["cuerda seca technique","Earthernware"]},"7892ac22-f1eb-5c25-a796-c350b3bd270a":{"name":"Dish with floral decoration.","description":"Large plate with a broad flat base, curved sides and a narrow brim, painted in turquoise green, cobalt-blue and red lake in relief (Armenian bole) typically used with this type of dish. It consists of flowering stems that, like the central shoot with its blue campanulas, spring from a small bush with small alternating blue and red roses that is painted on the lower edge of the base of the dish. The flowers are dominated by three large peonies, tulips and hyacinths. The brim is decorated with the characteristic ‘wave-and-rock’ motif, highly stylised. The side is decorated with rose and palmette motifs that alternate between green and blue, with colour haloing.","short_description":"This plate, a typical example of work from the factories of Iznik in the AH late 10th–early 11th / AD late 16th–early 17th centuries, is richly decorated with floral motifs.","type":"Ottoman ceramics","holder":"Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”","dates":"Hegira 10th–11th centuries / AD 16th–17th centuries.","location":"Rome","dimensions":"Height 6.7 cm, diameter 36.3 cm.","method_for_provenance":"Careful examination of the details and the unlobed border of the dish reveal that this piece was produced in Iznik workshops around the end of the 10th / 16th and the beginning of the 11th / 17th centuries.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N. and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989. Lane, A., *Later Islamic Pottery*, London, 1957. Petsopoulos, Y., *Tulips, Arabesques and Turbants: Decorative Arts from the Ottoman Empire*, London, 1982. Rogers, G. M., “The Wares of Sixteenth Century Ottoman Turkey”, in *Islamic Art and Design 1500–1700*, London, 1993, pp.93–120. Torre, P., *Le Mille e una Notte: Ceramiche Persiane, Turche e Ispano-Moresche*, Faenza, 1990.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Paola Torre","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","Dish","floral decoration","Glazed","hyacinths","Iznik"],"materials":["Glazed ceramic."]},"78c10c6a-90c0-51eb-966c-99cb0239f706":{"name":"*Mina´i* painted bowl","short_description":"Mina'i or haft-rangi (\"enamelled\", and \"seven-coloured\" in Persian) ceramics are a kind of Iranian figurative pottery that required technological knowledge and financial means to manage several rounds of firing. This bowl depicts an episode from the Shahnama: the presentation of the severed head of the general Ayin Ghashap to his opponent, the ruler Bahram Chubina. The head is presented by the soldier who murdered the general.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira 6th-7th century / AD late 12th-early 13th century","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Height: 11 cm ; Diameter: 21.6 cm","provenance":"Iran, Kashan","bibliography":"Pal, Pratapaditya, *Islamic Art: The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection, gift of Joan Palevsky*, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), 1973.  \nWatson, Oliver, *Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar*, Munich: Prestel Verlag, 2008.","author":"Nicoletta Fazio","keywords":["bowl","ceramics","Iran","Kashan","Khawarezmid","Minai","Seljuk"],"materials":["Fritware","Glazing","Minai Painting","Paint","pigment"]},"78fc4eee-3393-5086-bc09-000253cb480d":{"name":"Figure on a horse","short_description":"This statuette of an equestrian figure holds a basket or drums on each side. Though the body of the animal looks like a camel, the head is horse-like. Painted with a turquoise glaze, the contours are outlined in a dark blue colour. Figurative objects like this one have been manufactured since early Islamic times, with the heyday of production occurring during the Seljuq period. Fragments found in Raqqa, Rayy, Kashan, and Sultanabad indicate that workshops in these areas manufactured many of these objects. How and why these objects were used is uncertain, but this statuette most likely served a decorative function as its heavy weight restricts use.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"MKG Museum for Applied Arts","dates":"Hegira 6th-7th / AD 12th-13th century","location":"Hamburg","dimensions":"Height: 20cm, Length: 17.5cm","method_for_datation":"By comparison with similar objects, e.g. Museum of the Islamic Art in Berlin and the Museum of Glass and Ceramics of Iran in Tehran.","method_for_provenance":"Purchased from Saeed Motamed.","provenance":"Iran, Kashan or Ray","obtention":"Purchased 5.02.1973.","bibliography":"Hohl, H. and Eckhardt, W. (eds), *Jahrbuch des Hamburger Kunstsammlungen*, vol. 20, Hamburg: Dr. Ernst Hauswedell und Co. Verlag, 1975.  \nJakobsen, K., *Islamische Keramik*, Hamburg: Bilderhefte des Museums für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, 1959.  \nPorter, V., *Islamic Tiles*, London: British Museum Press, 1995.  \nvon Saldern, A., *Stiftung zur Förderung der Hamburger Kunstsammlungen, Erwerbungen 1973*, Hamburg: Stiftung zur Förderung der Hamburger Kunstsammlungen, 1973.  \nWilkinson, C. K., *Iranian Ceramics*, New York: Asia House, 1963.","copy_editor":"Caitlin Link","keywords":["Frit ware","sculpture"],"materials":["alkali glaze and cobalt blue under a transparent glaze","Fritware"]},"78fd5c1b-903d-5e4d-a4fa-83c8d3da2f2e":{"name":"Bowl with two dancing girls, a flowering tree and bands of script","short_description":"This bowl was made in the *mina’i* technique, which was developed by potters in Kashan and was very popular in the late 12th century. *Mina’i* ware is identified by the use of coloured pigments under the glaze. Like many vessels made during this period, the bowl is coloured with muted colours and gold overglaze and was fired several times.  \nThe Inside of the bowl is decorated with two figures dancing around a small flowering tree, their headdresses flying. The edge of the bowl is inscribed in *kufic* script, wishing the owner happiness. The colourful picture resembles miniature paintings of the era and it is reminiscent of the rural life and cultural ceremonies of the region, possibly referring to Norouz, the Iranian New Year ceremony.","type":"Bowl","holder":"MKG Museum for Applied Arts","dates":"Hegira late 6th century-early 7th century / AD late 12th-early 13th century","location":"Hamburg","dimensions":"Height: 6.5cm, Diameter: 15cm","method_for_datation":"By stylistic analysis and by comparison with pieces from the Seljuq period.","method_for_provenance":"Gift of French Comp. Inc., New York.","provenance":"Iran, Kashan","obtention":"Endowment.","bibliography":"Haase, C.-P., Kröger, J. and Lienert, U., *Oriental Splendour: Islamic Art from German Collections*, Hamburg: Museums für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, 1993.  \nHagedorn, A. and Wolf, N., *Islamische Kunst*, Köln: Taschen, 2009.  \nHohl, H. and Eckhardt, W. (eds), *Jahrbuch der Hamburger Kunstsammlungen*, vol. 20, Hamburg: Dr. Ernst Hauswedell und Co. Verlag, 1975.  \nJakobsen, K., *Islamische Keramik*, Hamburg: Bilderhefte des Museums für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, 1959. Pope, A. U., *Masterpieces of Persian Art*, New York: Asia House, 1954.  \nSchimmel, A., *Islamic Calligraphy*, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992.  \nWilkinson, C. K., *Iranian Ceramics*, New York: Asia House, 1963.  \nWilkinson, C. K., *Nishapur: Pottery of the Early Islamic Period*, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1973.","copy_editor":"Caitlin Link","keywords":["ceramics","Minai"],"materials":["Fritware","Mina'i ware","paint (gold and other pigments)"]},"79de590d-1ba1-5b9f-a1c0-57b81de273a9":{"name":"Ten-pointed star-shaped tile","short_description":"The ten-pointed star-shaped tile is decorated with arabesque motifs with alternating light-blue and ivory lanceolate patterns on black, interlaced across the entire surface around the small, six-pointed star in the centre, standing out from a cobalt-blue background. Such tiles were manufactured using the *cuerda seca* technique, in which the different colours of the glazing were separated by contour lines made from a blend of manganese and oily substances.","type":"Ceramic; tile","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira mid-9th century / AD mid-15th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Diameter max 36 cm","provenance":"Eastern Iran","keywords":["ceramic","tile","Timurid"],"materials":["Cuerda seca"]},"7a68823e-191b-5fd3-bb5a-c45c2eb03deb":{"name":"*Qolla* jar for provisions","description":"Directly inspired by the *khabiya*, a large jar for food preservation, this pot was used to store and preserve liquids such as oil or water, and various foods. The decoration includes a stylised branch motif with alternating leaves called *babbouch* (snail).","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museum of the Arab World Institute","dates":"Hegira 13th-14th / AD 19th century","location":"Paris","dimensions":"Height: 30.5cm, Diameter: 24cm, Base diameter: 10.5cm, Opening diameter: 13.5cm","provenance":"Tunis, Tunisia","obtention":"Purchased at auction on advice from Ader-Picard-Tajan, 1994.","bibliography":"Biro, A., *Couleurs de Tunisie: vingt-cinq siècles de céramique* . Paris: Institut du monde arabe, 1994: Fig. 167-168.  \n  \nDelpont, E., et al., *Album du musée*, Paris: Somogy éditions d'art, 2012: 291.  \n  \nLoviconi, A. and N., *Faïences de Tunisie: Qallaline et Nabeul*, Aix-en-Provence: Edisud, 1994: 72-73.  \n  \nMoulierac, J., et al., *Céramiques du monde musulman: collections de l'Institut du monde arabe et de J.P. et F. Croisier* , Paris: Institut du monde arabe, Paris, 1999: 151.","translator":"Judy Harter","materials":["Clay","design painted on opaque glaze"]},"7ab9e067-b408-50a4-b58a-df8f27485caf":{"name":"Bowl with laurel leaves","short_description":"The bowl is painted in polychrome lustre colours achieved by using silver, copper and sulphuric oxides. It is decorated with laurel leaves on the rim and a geometric pattern with dots. The design reflects the connection of early lustre pottery with glass as motifs reflect those on late antique glasswork.","type":"Bowl, laureal leaves, earthenware, ceramic","holder":"Benaki Museum","dates":"Hegira 3rd-4th century / AD 9th-10th century","location":"Athens","dimensions":"Diameter 21.7 cm","provenance":"Iraq","keywords":["Abbasid","bowl","earthenware","Laureal leaves","vegetal decoration"],"materials":["Earthenware with lustre colours"]},"7ad06476-d932-56f0-b128-ef8b7b5692e8":{"name":"Lustre bowl","short_description":"The ceramic bowl is painted with monochrome lustre and displays a giraffe with its groom by a tree on a background filled with contour panels decorated with the so-called peacock’s eye design. The design is comparable to another bowl in Cairo with the same scene but in a double mirror image and signed by Muslim ibn al-Dahhan. Giraffes were regarded as exotic and prestigious animals and were paraded on festival celebrations.","type":"Lustre bowl, earthenware, ceramic","holder":"Benaki Museum","dates":"Hegira 5th century / AD 11th century","location":"Athens","dimensions":"Diameter 24 cm","provenance":"Egypt","keywords":["Cairo","earthenware","Lustre bowl"],"materials":["Earthenware with lustre colours"]},"7b2742c6-535b-5d12-97d6-c40de8fa7448":{"name":"Water pitcher","description":"A fine example of Çanakkale pottery craftsmanship, characteristic of the region’s traditional ceramic art.","type":"Pitcher","holder":"İstanbul Su Müzesi / Istanbul Water Museum","dates":"Hegira 12th century / AD 18th century","location":"Istanbul","dimensions":"Height: 43cm","place_of_production":"Aegean","method_for_datation":"Determined by the experts of the Istanbul Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts.","method_for_provenance":"It was determined by the experts of the Istanbul Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts.","provenance":"Çanakkale","obtention":"Purchased.","author":"Ercan Topçu","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","materials":["Ceramic"]},"7bac3062-d8d3-5fab-a7f0-30acb10c03e0":{"name":"Large bowl","short_description":"The bowl is decorated with two large confronted birds, whose elongated bodies point in opposite directions. Their heads face backwards, which – together with their long, curved tails – creates a sinuous movement reminiscent of elegant calligraphic strokes.  \n  \nThe centre of the bowl, which on many examples of this ware is left empty or accented by a small black dot, has been filled with a small bird with raised wings in the form of half palmettes. The exterior is undecorated.","type":"Bowl; pottery","holder":"Khalili Family Trust – Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art","dates":"AD 10th–11th century","location":"London","dimensions":"16.3 x 41cm","method_for_datation":"Date and provenance are based on stylistic grounds.","provenance":"Iran, Nishapur","bibliography":"Grube, E.J., *et al.*, *Cobalt and Lustre. The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery*, London: The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, volume 9, 1994: cat.80, pp.88–9.  \nRogers, J.M., *The Arts of Islam. Masterpieces from the Khalili Collection*, London: Thames & Hudson, 2010: no.43, p.53.","keywords":["Abbasid","bird","bowl","calligraphy","earthenware","Glaze","Iran","pottery"],"materials":["Earthenware","painted in purplish-black and red slips under a colourless glaze"]},"7bb1e389-6b64-508c-be13-d7e4b898da6c":{"name":"Footed bowl.","description":"A large, footed bowl made of stone-paste ceramic and painted under the glaze with an array of leaves and floral devices. The colours used are manganese, sage-green, blue, and black. Around the outside is the serrated edged so-called *saz* leaf, an imaginary form that becomes popular on Iznik ceramics during the AH 930s to 50s / AD 1530s to 50s. Inside is a striking geometric arrangement of medallions containing cloud scrolls, enclosed between sprays of blue bells. This splendid bowl, with its bold painted design, was probably made for the Imperial court, perhaps for washing the feet of Suleyman the Magnificent himself (r. AH 926–73 / AD 1520–66).  \nThis footed bowl exemplifies a type of ceramic produced during the 930s to 50s / 1530s to 50s, known collectively as one of the ‘Damascus’ group, as it was once thought to originate there. It has since been proven that the Damascus variety originated from Iznik designs, characterised in particular by the introduction of certain colours – olive-green, black and manganese purple – and the appearance of the so-called *saz* leaf and fantastical flowers.","short_description":"Such a splendid footed bowl almost certainly belonged to the royal court, perhaps for storing water to wash Süleyman the Magnificent himself. Due to the sage-green, manganese, blue and black underglaze decoration of *saz* leaves and fantastical flowers, this bowl is grouped with so-called Damascus wares.","type":"Stone paste blue and turquoise painting, ceramic","holder":"The British Museum.","dates":"About hegira 951–956 / AD 1545–50.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 27.3 cm, diameter 42 cm.","method_for_datation":"A mosque lamp in the British Museum dated 955 (1549) provides the key to dating both this bowl and all other vessels employing a similar colour scheme and using such motifs as the cloud scroll. Another fixed point is a group of tiles both in the Yeni Kaplica *hammam* (baths) in Bursa dated 959–60 (1552–3), and in the Ibrahim Pasha Mosque in Istanbul, built in 956 (1550). These tiles have the same colours and decorative motifs as the 'Damascus' group of ceramic objects, such as this bowl.","method_for_provenance":"Iznik in Turkey was the main centre of production for underglaze painted ceramics of this style and colour, and using this technique, during the Ottoman period.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Part of the Godman Bequest of 1983.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, London, 1989, cat. no. 96.  \n  \nCarswell, J., Iznik Pottery, London, 1998, p.54–5 (for a similar bowl in the British Museum).  \n  \nRoxburgh, D.J., (ed.) Turks: A Journey of a Thousand Years, 600–1600, London, 2005, p.331, p.454.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Emily Shovelton","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["floral decoration","water"],"materials":["Stone-paste ceramic with blue","turquoise and olive-green painting under the glaze."]},"7c54162f-752d-55a0-b15d-ba5049476e9d":{"name":"Tile.","description":"A stone-paste (fritware) tile that has a stenciled, symmetrical design based on four arabesque cartouches and four rose-like flowers that spring from a central star motif. The cartouches extend towards the tips of larger arabesque medallions in the corners of the tile, while the flowers have two curved stems extending above, ending in half-flowers to the left and right. This tile was part of a larger overall tile scheme.","short_description":"Tiles like this one are typical of tile production in Ottoman Syria during the AH 11th century / AD 17th century. They were on the whole intended to echo the Iznik style, but a typical feature of Syrian pieces is a palette restricted to blue, green, turquoise without the addition of bole-red.","type":"Ottoman ceramic, stone paste","holder":"National Museums of Scotland (NMS).","dates":"Hegira 11th century / AD 17th century.","location":"Edinburgh, Scotland","dimensions":"28 cm x 28 cm.","method_for_datation":"It is accepted that tiles such as this were produced in Ottoman Syria during the 11th / 17th-century.","method_for_provenance":"Tiles such as this one are typical of those produced in Ottoman Syria where the output was largely Iznik ware distinguished by a palette restricted to blue, green and turquoise without the addition of bole-red.","provenance":"Damascus, Syria.","obtention":"Purchased from the Major W. J. Myers Collection in 1900.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989, p.232, fig. 411 (For a similar Iznik-produced tile with virtually identical design and related to others placed in the mausoleum of Sultan Selim II in the Ayasofya).","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Ulrike Al-Khamis","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Iznik","stone-paste (fritware)."],"materials":["green and turquoise underglaze","over which a clear glaze.","Stone-paste (fritware) with blue"]},"7cea6ccf-c3e7-529b-8b69-b0d28db38eda":{"name":"Excised *zellij* frieze.","description":"This small fragment of wall covering is a specimen of excised or raised earthenware mosaic.  \nThis technique was used to introduce curved lines into ceramic decoration, notably to reproduce inscriptions and plant decoration. Mostly using black glazed tiles, craftsmen skilfully excised the glazed surface with a sharp hammer, taking care only to expose the fired clay where it was to be used as a background. Thus, the curved vegetal and written figures appear in low relief on the background of ochre fired clay.  \nHere, inside a braided frame, cursive characters mix with spindly foliage dotted with nodes and bearing double palms and fleurons. The cursive inscription reproduces a pious formula: 'For me with the God of worshippers'.  \nThis type of inscribed band, originally from the Buinaniya Madrasa, was placed above the ceramic panelling and below a frieze of geometric motifs known as *charafa* (reminiscent of crenelations) which provided a transition between the earthenware decoration and the plaster panelling on the walls.","short_description":"This fragment, inscribed with a pious formula, is part of a glazed and excised earthenware mosaic in which it was possible to reproduce the curved lines of the inscription and the plant decoration, which is rendered in low relief on a background of ochre fired clay.","type":"Frieze, tile, earthenware","holder":"Batha Museum.","initial_owner":"*Habus* (endowment).","dates":"Hegira 751–7 / AD 1351–6.","location":"Fez.","dimensions":"Height 28 cm, length 47 cm.","method_for_datation":"This architectonic element, originally from the Buinaniya Madrasa, was made at the time the monument was constructed.","method_for_provenance":"This frieze was salvaged during the restoration of the monument in the 20th century.","provenance":"Buinaniya Madrasa, Fez.","bibliography":"Hedgecoe, J. et Samar Damluji, S. *Zillig, L'Art de la céramique marocaine*, Londres, 1993.  \nMarçais, G., *L'architecture musulmane d'Occident*, Paris, 1954.  \nPaccard, A., *Le Maroc et l'artisanat traditionnel islamique dans l'architecture*, 2 vol., Paris, 1979.  \nTerrasse, Ch., *Médersas du Maroc*, Paris, 1927.  \nTerrasse, H. and Hainaut, J., *Les arts décoratifs au Maroc*, Paris, 1925.  \n*Andalusian Morocco: A Discovery in Living Art*, pp.124–6, 232.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_MA_EN_001","author":"Naima El Khatib-Boujibar","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["epigraphic decoration","religious monument","tilework"],"materials":["Glazed and excised earthenware tiles."]},"7cf9dbf7-35bc-5ff7-9f5e-d4b400e59363":{"name":"Bowl.","description":"A tin-glazed bowl that depicts a stylised kangaroo-like animal with a pinecone behind it. The design of the pinecone is of Islamic origin. The small town of Paterna in Valencia was known not only as one of the most important centres for the production of unglazed and plain earthenware, but was also renowned for its tin-glazed pottery, painted in green and brown. This bowl was made by Mudéjar potters (Muslims living under Christian rule) living in Paterna.","short_description":"This popular ceramic bowl was made by Mudéjar potters (Muslims living under Christian rule) in the Valencian town of Paterna. The pinecone motif behind the unidentified animal is a typical design that appears on utilitarian ceramics, a sign of Paterna’s Islamic artistic heritage.","type":"Tin-glazed earthenware","holder":"Burrell Collection, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira 8th century / AD 14th century.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"Diameter 19 cm.","method_for_datation":"Artistic analysis: the distorted animal and vegetal designs on this dish are typical of this type of Mudéjar art; many similar examples have been found at Paterna.","provenance":"Paterna, Valencia, Spain.","obtention":"Part of the collection given to the City of Glasgow by Sir William and Lady Burrell in 1944.","bibliography":"Gaiger-Smith, A., *Tin-Glaze Pottery in Europe and the Islamic World, the Tradition of 1000 Years in Maiolica, Faience & Delftware*, London, 1973.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_ES_EN_001","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["domestic wares.","zoomorphic imagery"],"materials":["Tin-glazed earthenware."]},"7dc4562d-82ce-50c5-a832-2096a508aa3d":{"name":"Dish with artichokes and tulips","short_description":"Beginning sometime in the Hegira 950s / AD 1540s Iznik potters introduced manganese purple, sage green and black to their palette, while their decorative repertoire continued to focus on floral designs such as pomegranates, rosettes, tulips and artichokes. The latter two motifs form the main decoration at the centre of this large dish, where they are depicted in blue and green, while the cavetto and rim bear green pomegranates alternating with blue sprays of leaves or else tulips.","type":"Furnishings","holder":"Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)","dates":"Hegira c. 956–962 / AD c. 1550–55","location":"Los Angeles","dimensions":"Height: 6.7cm, Diameter: 35.9cm","method_for_datation":"Iznik wares with this specific color scheme, sage-green combined with more typical Iznik tones such as blue and turquoise, were produced for only a short period in the middle decades of the 16th century; the earliest dated example is the mosque lamp from Süleyman’s restoration of the Dome of the Rock (British Museum 1887,0516.1) dated Hegira 956 / AD 1549.","method_for_provenance":"The shape, technique, color scheme and decoration mark this dish as a product of Iznik.","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","obtention":"Collection of Dikran Kelekian (1867-1951) c. 1910. Collection of Maan Z. Madina (1926-2013), New York, until 2002 (sold to); LACMA, The Madina Collection of Islamic Art, gift of Camilla Chandler Frost.","bibliography":"Atasoy, Nurhan, and Raby, Julian, *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London: Alexandria, 1989: 139, fig. 247.  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Islamic Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art*, Rev. ed., Los Angeles: Museum Associates, 2005: 46, fig. 42.  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Lo Terrenal y lo divino: Arte islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Angeles*, Santiago, Chile: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015: 131, 168, 212.  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Beauty and Identity: Islamic Art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art*, Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2016: 206-207.  \n*Ausstellung München 1910 von Meisterwerken Muhammedanischer Kunst*, Munich: Rudolf Mosse, 1910: 37.","author":"LACMA Staff","keywords":["ceramic","floral decoration","Iznik pottery","Ottoman ceramic"],"materials":["Fritware","underglaze-painted"]},"7e112851-d569-579f-a466-578f55fc9c3a":{"name":"Bowl with Design of Standing Figure and Four Birds","short_description":"A Nishapur-style bowl on a ring base has an exterior lip decorated with a band of dark triangles; below are horizontal, equidistant lines in the same glaze down toward the base. Also on the exterior are irregular areas of light red and yellow glaze. The interior of the rim has four horizontal dark lines outlining three bands of yellow, red, and white glaze. The rest of the interior has a bright yellow background. The central, male figure is thickly outlined in dark glaze and has a squared head, simplified eyes, nose, moustache, and mouth, and wears an ankle-length, belted garment with a black overlay. Above the waist the garment is red with yellow X designs. The skirt is decorated with patterned squares in dark outlines and a horizontal, blue band across the bottom; he also wears dark, pointed shoes. The figure is surrounded by numerous stylized, geometrical and vegetal designs, pseudo-*Kufic* inscriptions, and four long-necked birds with crests, possibly peacocks. Irregularly around the central field and edges of the bowl are intentional spots of turquoise glaze. The exterior and bottom of the bowl are covered in buff glaze and are undecorated. The bowl rests on a low foot, bottom slightly concave, covered in the same buff glaze.  \nThere is much chipping and cracking in the glaze, especially around the rim and over the entire exterior of the bowl; hairline cracks throughout. There are numerous, restored breaks, and chipping around the foot.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Saint Louis Art Museum","dates":"Hegira Late 2nd to late 4th / AD 10th century","location":"Saint Louis","dimensions":"Height: 10.2cm; Diameter of mouth: 22.9cm; Diameter of body: 23.8cm; Diameter of foot: 9.8cm","method_for_datation":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","method_for_provenance":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","provenance":"Nishapur, Khorasan, Iran, Asia","obtention":"Museum Purchase, 1954","bibliography":"Al Khemir, Sabiha, *Beauty and Belief: Crossing Bridges with the Arts of Islamic Culture*, Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Museum of Art, 2012.","keywords":["Asia","bowl","ceramics","earthenware","Fritware","Glazed","Iran","Khorasan","Nishapur","painted","Persian","slip"],"materials":["glazed and slip-painted earthenware","Nishapur ware"]},"7ec4c61a-0b37-51f0-9e27-faeecc7abdb3":{"name":"Dish with triangle decoration.","description":"A bossed dish with a broad brim painted in brown lustre on a cream background. The main decorative motif is a ring of triangles around the inner edge of the brim, painted in solid lustre. The brim also bears another similar motif in carved lines that is for the most part separate from the painted decoration. Between the triangles there are, alternately, stars and dots, known as ‘*solfas*’ or musical notes, and spiral motifs on a striped background, along with large dots and curl patterns. In only one instance is the *solfas* motif repeated twice consecutively. A thick lustre band marks the outer edge of the brim. An inscription, contained by two thick bands of solid lustre, surround the hemispheric boss, which is decorated with a three-petalled flower. The outside of the dish is painted in brown-red lustre with concentric circles following a spiral pattern.","short_description":"This bossed dish, produced in the Valencia area, is principally decorated with triangles and motifs known as *solfas* (musical notes).","type":"Dish, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”","dates":"Hegira 10th century / AD 16th century.","location":"Rome","dimensions":"Height 4.5 cm, diameter 34 cm.","method_for_provenance":"The dish is one of a series of reasonably common Valencian products that were widespread in the second half of the 10th / 16th century. The style incorporates decorative themes belonging to fine dishes with pod-shaped decoration of the end of the 9th / 15th century and the beginning of the 10th / 16th century, simplified to suit popular taste.","provenance":"Spain, Valencian workshop.","obtention":"Purchase.","bibliography":"Ainaud De Lasarte, J., *Cèramica y Vidrio*, Ars Hispaniae, Vol. 10, Madrid, 1952.  \nFronthingham, A. W., *Lustreware of Spain*, New York, 1951.  \nTorre, P., “Maioliche a Lustro Ispano-Moresche”, *Serie Schede Museo Nazionale d'Arte Orientale*, 7, Rome, 1987.  \nTorre, P., *Le Mille e una Notte: Ceramiche Persiane, Turche e Ispano-Moresche, Faenza*, 1990.  \nTorre, P., “Techniques Journeying from East to West at the Time of the Crusades”, *Crusades: Myth and Realities*, Nicosia, 2004.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_ES_EN_001","author":"Paola Torre","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["Dish","geometric decoration","lustre","Mudéjar art"],"materials":["Lustre-painted ceramic."]},"7f3ad75b-9c30-59f5-bd90-9efafe607dc8":{"name":"Bowl.","description":"A shallow, stone-paste (fritware) footed bowl with a flat top rim: it is decorated with six rectangular rotating bands with heavy black outlines, which form a hexagon in the centre; the rim is decorated with pseudo-Arabic in *kufic* script. Organic decoration fills the background between the bands and in the centre of the hexagon.  \n  \nRaqqa was one of two major pottery-production centres in Ayyubid Syria, the other being Rusafah. In Raqqa there were a number of pottery workshops that produced a range of ceramics including lustre-painted, relief-moulded, and underglaze-painted vessels. The pottery ceased production when the Mongols razed the city to the ground in AH 657 / AD 1259.  \n  \nSyrian wares of this type were also found widely throughout Egypt, due to Fustat in Egypt being both a busy international port and due to the fact that Syrian potters settled in Fustat, establishing their own pottery workshops.","short_description":"Raqqa, where this bowl was made, was one of two major pottery-production centres during the Ayyubid period in Syria. The style and decoration of this dish, and the composition of the glaze and how it has deteriorated, are typical features of Raqqa pottery.","type":"Fritware, stonework, ceramic","holder":"Burrell Collection, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira 7th century / AD 13th century.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 11.4 cm, diameter (of rim) 20.9 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis, together with analysis of the material composition of the vessel's body which is distinctively that of Raqqa. Furthermore, the nature and extent of the deterioration of the glaze is also typical of Raqqa ceramics.","method_for_provenance":"The vessel is typical of Raqqa ceramics in both its material composition and in the nature of the deterioration of the glaze.","provenance":"Raqqa, Syria.","obtention":"Part of the collection given to the City of Glasgow by Sir William and Lady Burrell in 1944.","bibliography":"Fehervari, G., *Ceramics of the Islamic World in the Tareq Rajab Museum*, London, 2000.  \nGrube, E. J., *Cobalt and Lustre: The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery*, the Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, Vol. 9, London, 1994.","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["calligraphic decoration","domestic vessels","geometric decoration"],"materials":["black decoration under a transparent green glaze.","painted","Stone-paste (fritware)"]},"80702cfd-ff0c-515c-86ba-e43978e9e1de":{"name":"Figurine of a dromedary","short_description":"The stonepaste vase is in the shape of a dromedary; there is a large vase on its hump and a few small ones on its body as well. The lustre-painted decoration includes the trappings and a saddlecloth, as well as a medallion with a harpy.  \nItinerant craftsmen from Fatimid Egypt or Ayyubid Syria may well have introduced lustrewares produced in the town of Kashan from the late 12th century onwards. It is now generally agreed that they these lustrewares are the work of different kilns within the town, produced over a continuous period of more than a century. Throughout this time, the town appears to have successfully maintained its monopoly and exported little if anything westwards to Anatolia, Syria or Egypt: finds outside the borders of present-day Iran (for example, in Central Asia or Afghanistan) have also been very few.","type":"Pottery; figurine; dromedary; stonepaste ware; lustre painting","holder":"Khalili Family Trust – Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art","dates":"AD 13th century","location":"London","dimensions":"39.5 x 25 x 13cm","method_for_datation":"Date and provenance are based on stylistic and technical grounds.","provenance":"Iran, Kashan","obtention":"Habib Anavian Collection, New York.","bibliography":"Grube, E.J., *et al.*, *Cobalt and Lustre. The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery*, London: The Nasser D Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, volume 9, 1994: cat.267, pp.236–7.  \nRogers, J.M., *The Arts of Islam. Masterpieces from the Khalili Collection*, London: Thames & Hudson, 2010: no.129, pp.114–15.","keywords":["camel","dromedary","Iran","Kashan","lustre","Seljuq","stone-paste"],"materials":["decorated in lustre over an opaque white glaze","Stonepaste ware"]},"80775105-576a-504c-b3ae-7ae96a26ce22":{"name":"Wedgwood pilgrim flask","description":"Illustrates the influence of Egyptian motifs on Victorian ceramics. Part of the second wave of Egyptianisation, related to the construction of the Suez Canal. Shown at the Paris exhibition of 1878.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"The British Museum","dates":"1877","location":"London","provenance":"United Kingdom"},"80cabe22-0796-50d8-b4b1-b4e1801d847c":{"name":"Bowl.","description":"A stone-paste (fritware) bowl of flaring shape with straight sides, decorated with black painted stripes on the sides and a roundel of highly stylised calligraphy in the centre of the well, which may read: 'al-'izz … Muhammad' ('the glory... Muhammad'). The decoration is typical for this type of bowl where the body of the unglazed vessel is painted with black pigment, and a transparent glaze (in this case turquoise) is then subsequently applied overall. Raqqa was one of two major pottery-production centres in Ayyubid Syria, the other being Rusafah. There were a number of pottery workshops şn Raqqa that produced a range of ceramics including lustre-painted, relief-moulded, and underglaze-painted vessels. The pottery ceased production when the Mongols razed the city to the ground in AH 657 / AD 1259.","short_description":"The centre decoration of this bowl has a calligraphic inscription which may read 'al-'izz … Muhammad' ('the glory... Muhammad'), painted in black pigment under a transparent blue glaze. The popular use of good wishes inscriptions and blessings on Middle Eastern ceramics goes back to the earliest part of the Islamic period.","type":"Fritware, stonework, ceramic","holder":"Burrell Collection, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira 7th century / AD 13th century.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"15.8 cm, diameter (of base) 6.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis, together with analysis of the material composition of the vessel's body which is distinctively that of Raqqa. Furthermore, the nature and extent of the deterioration of the glaze is also typical of Raqqa ceramics.","method_for_provenance":"The vessel is typical of Raqqa ceramics in both its material composition and in the nature of the deterioration of the glaze.","provenance":"Raqqa, Syria.","obtention":"Part of the collection given to the City of Glasgow by Sir William and Lady Burrell in 1944.","bibliography":"Fehervari, G., *Ceramics of the Islamic World in the Tareq Rajab Museum*, London, 2000.  \n  \nGrube, E. J., *Cobalt and Lustre: The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery*, the Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, Vol. 9, London, 1994.","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["calligraphic decoration","domestic vessels"],"materials":["black decoration under a transparent blue glaze.","Stone-paste (fritware) painted"]},"8153536b-21de-5451-826b-5c0aed191888":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"Some *mina’i* ceramics enjoy a particularly close relationship to poetry. Many examples are inscribed with verses, and others are decorated with figures referring to well-known poetic themes and tales. Several of these colorful wares, including this bowl, appear to depict the act of poetic recitation itself: taking place at a *majlis* (an assembly of courtiers and literati for the purpose of poetic recital), it can be imagined that the performer here, seated at the left before a courtly audience, is delivering the verses inscribed along the exterior rim of the bowl, which begin: \"If the beloved leaves me, what am I to do? If s/he does not see the wisdom of our union, what am I to do?\"","type":"Furnishings","holder":"Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)","dates":"Hegira Muharram 583 / AD March 1187","location":"Los Angeles","dimensions":"9.2 x 21.27cm","method_for_datation":"The bowl is dated Hegira Muharram 583 / AD March 1187. It is one of five *mina’i* bowls dated to the month of Muharram in its inscriptions. Among these, three have very similar scenes of a literary *majlis*. Two of them, the LACMA bowl and another in the British Museum (1945,1017.261) are dated Muharram 583, the third, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (64.178.1), dated 4th Muharram 582 / AD 27th March 1186, is signed by Abu Zayd. Both the Metropolitan Museum and LACMA bowls share the same curious figure at far left, a young man standing with his right leg bent and foot pointing downward; in the former, the figure is clearly holding his leg as though tired from standing. The LACMA bowl can be attributed to Abu Zayd, who not only created works in both *mina’i* and luster but was a talented poet. He is known to have included some of his own verses among the poetic inscriptions on his luxury ceramic wares.","method_for_provenance":"The bowl is decorated in the *mina’i* technique. A modern designation from the Persian word for \"enamel\", *mina’i* is almost entirely restricted to Seljuq Iran. While *mina’i* wares once were variously attributed to several sites on the basis of archaeological finds, the evidence demonstrates at present that the central Iranian city of Kashan was the nucleus for the production of these objects as well as contemporary luster wares; in fact, both types of wares were made by some of the same potters, in the same workshops. The *mina’i* technique involves the application of as many as seven colors, resulting in a well-controlled, polychromatic decorative surface not possible in other contemporary pottery types. The method for producing the polychrome enamel pigments is described in a treatise on pottery making by Abu’l-Qasim of Kashan, completed in Hegira 700/1301 AD, by which time *mina’i* or haft rang (“seven colors”) wares, as they are known in the textual tradition, were no longer being produced.","provenance":"Iran, Kashan","obtention":"Possibly acquired by Mr. and Mrs. Allan C. Balch (1864-1943, and 1863-1943, respectively) from MacDermid Parish-Watson, New York (d. 1948). Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Allan C. Balch, until 1945 (gifted to); LACMA, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Allan C. Balch.","bibliography":"Komaroff, Linda, *Lo Terrenal y lo Divino: Arte Islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Ángeles*, Santiago: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015: 79.  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Beauty and Identity: Islamic Art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art*, Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2016: 152-153, cat. no. 73.  \nPancaroglu, Oya, \"Potter's trail: an Abu Zayd ewer in the Saint Louis Art Museum,\" in Venetia Porter and Mariam Rosser-Owen (eds), *Metalwork and Material Culture in the Islamic World: Art, Craft, Text*, London: I.B. Tauris, 2012: 397-409.  \nPope, Arthur Upham, and Ackerman, Phyllis (eds), *A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present*, Vol. 5, London: Oxford University Press, 1938: plate 687; Plates 511-980: Architectural Ornament; Pottery and Faience; The Art of the Book.  \nWatson, Oliver, “Documentary Mina’i and Abu Zaid’s Bowls,” in Robert Hillenbrand (ed), *The Art of the Saljuks in Iran and Anatolia: Proceedings of a Symposium Held in Edinburgh in 1982*, Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 1994: 171.","author":"LACMA Staff","keywords":["bowl","ceramic","figural motifs","Fritware","inscription","Iran","Kashan","Minai","overglaze-painted","poetry","Seljuq"],"materials":["Fritware","inglaze- and overglaze-painted (mina'i)"]},"81fcd4e9-7384-5569-aa53-bc862c54ad3f":{"name":"Jug.","description":"A fine, pear-shaped pottery jug with two handles, in a characteristic cream colour, decorated using various techniques such as incising, perforations and knife scraping. The decorative scheme is composed of a combination of geometric and floral patterns which were common in Islamic art.","short_description":"Pear-shaped, two-handled pottery jug from Tall Hisban, decorated using various techniques such as incising, perforations and knife scraping. The decorative scheme is composed of a combination of geometric and floral patterns.","type":"Jug, ceramic","holder":"Jordan Archaeological Museum.","dates":"Hegira, late 2nd–early 3rd century / AD second half of the 8th century.","location":"Amman","dimensions":"Height 28 cm, diameter (of mouth) 8 cm.","method_for_datation":"The jug was dated by stratigraphic context and comparison with similar jugs; Abbasid pottery is characteristically cream in colour.","method_for_provenance":"The jug was found at Tall Hisban during an archaeological excavation in 1973.","provenance":"Tall Hisban, Jordan.","obtention":"The jug was found during the course of an archaeological excavation at Tall Hisban in 1973.","bibliography":"Horn, S. H., 'The 1973 Season of Excavations at Tell Hesban', *Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan*, XIX, 1974, pp.151–6, plate LXXV, 2.  \n  \nHorn, R. S., and Horn, S. H., *Heshbon 1973*, Andrews University Seminary Studies, Miami, 1975.","author":"Aida Naghawy","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["floral decoration","geometric decoration"],"materials":["Wheel-thrown ceramic."]},"820a47e5-8aaa-59ae-93fc-e4b386f5f8b4":{"name":"Wellhead","description":"It is made of terracotta. The rim protrudes very slightly. The body is encircled by five parallel chain-like incised lines. Between the two central lines are trapezoidal incisions arranged in a chain-like geometric pattern.","type":"Wellhead","holder":"Edirne Museum Directorate","dates":"AH 13th / AD 19th century","location":"Edirne","dimensions":"Height: 57cm, mouth diameter: 51cm, base diameter: 63cm","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","keywords":["ceramic","Ottomans","water","wellhead"],"materials":["Terracotta"]},"821515fd-cabe-5567-8bf4-25c6db38bf00":{"name":"Three-handled jar","description":"Discovered in an unbuilt area adjacent to a complex of five houses, this three-handled transport jar was found during the 2007 excavation by the Qatari-French Mission. The unbuilt space between the houses served as an area with temporary installations, potentially functioning as open-air kitchens featuring fireplaces.  \n  \nFashioned from red clay and enveloped in a cream slip, this jar exhibits a high neck atop a globular body. The body is adorned with horizontal and wavy incised lines, while three vertical leaf-like patterns are incised on the upper part, positioned between the handles. These leaf patterns feature short double lines incised within them. This jar would have been utilized for the storage, transportation, and serving of liquids.","type":"Container","holder":"National Museum of Qatar","owner":"National Museum of Qatar","initial_owner":"Qatar Museums","dates":"Hegira late 2nd to late 3rd century / AD late 8th to late 9th century","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Height: 30cm, rim diameter: 7cm, base diameter: 8cm","place_of_production":"Arabian Peninsula or southern Iran","method_for_datation":"Stratigraphy/scientific analysis.","method_for_provenance":"Stratigraphy/scientific and laboratory analysis.","provenance":"Murwab, Qatar","obtention":"Archaeological excavation.","bibliography":"Carvajal Lopez, J., Guerin, A., and Georgakopoulou, M., \"Petrographic analysis of ceramics of Murwab, an early islamic site in Qatar\", *Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies*, 51 (2022): 55–70.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Preliminary pottery study: Murwab horizon in progress, ninth century AD, Qatar\", in *Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies*, 40 (2010): 17–34.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Territory and settlement patterns during the Abbasid period (ninth century AD): the village of Murwab (Qatar)\", *Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies*, 39 (2009): 181–196.  \n  \nHardy-Guilbert, Cl., \"Fouilles archéologiques a Murwab, Qatar\", in R. Boucharlat et J.-F. Salles (eds.), *Arabie Orientale, Mésopotamie et Iran méridional: De l’Age du Fer au début de la période islamique*, Paris: ERC 37, 1984: 169–188.  \n  \nKnuth, E., \"An Early Islamic fort and settlement at Murwab”, in F. Hojlund (ed.), *Danish Archaeological Investigations in Qatar 1956–1974*, Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 97 (2017): 83–98.","author":"Alexandrine Guerin","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","keywords":["earthenware","Jar","storage","Transportation"],"materials":["Earthenware"]},"8262afff-f5be-5577-ab18-a76c2170cb15":{"name":"Plate.","description":"A stone-paste ceramic plate painted with blue, turquoise and olive-green underglaze. Covering the centre of the plate is a vibrant design of so-called *saz* leaves, fantastical flowers and a pair of tulips. Around the rim is a more ordered arrangement comprising clusters of green leaves alternating with bunches of white and blue flowers. The tulips grow from a leafy tuft at one edge of the bowl, while the other flowers encircle them. Plates produced at Iznik often display plants springing from one edge, providing a vertical orientation for the design. This plate is a fine example of the ‘saz’, or ‘Damascus’ style that became popular in the AH mid-10th / AD mid-16th century.  \nThis plate exemplifies a type of ceramic produced during the 930s to 50s / 1530s to 50s, known collectively as one of the ‘Damascus’ group, as it was once thought to originate there. It has since been proven that the Damascus variety originated from Iznik designs, characterised in particular by the introduction of certain colours – olive-green, black and manganese purple – and the appearance of the so-called *saz* leaf and fantastical flowers.","short_description":"Tulips and fantastical flowers are depicted ‘growing’ from one edge of this ceramic plate, while *saz* leaves float around the bowl in a graceful arrangement. Ceramics of this type of design and palette were produced in Iznik although they were once considered products of the city of Damascus.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, glazed","holder":"The British Museum.","dates":"About hegira 956 / AD 1550.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Diameter 39.4 cm.","method_for_datation":"A mosque lamp in the British Museum dated 955 (1549) provides the key to both the dating of this plate and all other vessels employing a similar colour scheme and using such motifs as the cloud scroll. Another fixed point is a group of tiles both in the Yeni Kaplica *hammam* (baths) in Bursa dated 959–60 (1552–3) and in the Ibrahim Pasha Mosque in Istanbul, built in 956 (1550). These tiles have the same colours and decorative motifs as the 'Damascus' group of ceramic objects, such as this plate.","method_for_provenance":"Iznik in Turkey was the main centre of production for underglaze painted ceramics of this style and colour, and using this technique during the Ottoman period.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Henderson Bequest to the British Museum of 1878.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989, cat. no. 249.  \n  \nCarswell, J., *Iznik Pottery*, London, 1998, pp.63–8, fig. 38.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Emily Shovelton","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["floral decoration"],"materials":["Stone-paste ceramic with blue","turquoise and olive-green painting under the glaze."]},"82635f79-7381-59a0-8cbe-e72a1b631f83":{"name":"Dish","alternate_name":"Plato","description":"The Orientalism or Neo-Mudéjar style gave new light to different workshops, as Fajalauza in Granada. Following this revival, this workshop produced dishes and other object decorated with Alhambra motifs, in this case the gazelles from the very well-known \"Gazelle Vase\" from the Alhambra Palace, the inscriptions and interlaces.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"National Museum of Decorative Arts","dates":"1900–1930","location":"Madrid","provenance":"Fajalauza (Granada)","copy_editor":"Anne Dowell"},"82e33e2c-cc80-5d60-961b-f1c561116311":{"name":"*Habb* water cooler","description":"The *habb* is a large ceramic water storage jar and filtration device, used in domestic and communal contexts throughout Iraq. It is known for being used in public spaces to provide water for travellers, an offering known as *ma’ al-sabil*, “the water of the way”.  \n  \nThe ceramic structure is slightly porous, which has a cooling effect on the water inside due to evaporation from external surfaces. When it is placed on a metal or wooden support structure, Water drips slowly through the base and is collected in a container below, having been filtered by the clay. Placing charcoal inside the *habb* can also help to purify the water. Water ladles (traditionally made from basketry) and ceramic cups used with the *habb* are coated with pitch, which has antiseptic qualities.  \n  \nThe form of the *habb* is evidenced since ancient times, for example in cylinder seal impressions; similar vessels were also used as fermentation vats for beer.  \n  \nThe *habb* is still made in various parts of Iraq including Diwaniya, Najaf, Babylon and Baghdad, where traditional ceramic craft remains; the example in the collection of the Open Museum for Water Culture (Basra) was bought from a Basra street market but had been imported from nearby Iran.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Open Museum Initiative for Water Cultures","owner":"Safina Projects CIC","initial_owner":"Safina Projects CIC","dates":"AH 1443/ AD 2021","location":"Basra","dimensions":"Diameter: 40 cm, height: 70 cm","method_for_datation":"Estimated based on purchase date.","method_for_provenance":"Informed by seller.","provenance":"Iran (purchased in Basra, Iraq)","obtention":"Bought from Basra street market.","author":"Hannah Lewis","keywords":["ceramic","container","water"],"materials":["Earthenware","Iron","Pottery","smithing"]},"8360d938-1158-5dec-8d1b-26aa9fd74053":{"name":"Pair of tiles","short_description":"A key characteristic of Islamic art is to cover entire buildings with brightly coloured tiles. The pair of tiles provides a good example of how the walls of the sumptuous Safavid palaces must have looked.","type":"Ceramic; tile","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira late 10th century / AD late 16th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Height 22.8 cm, length 45.6 cm","provenance":"Iran","keywords":["ceramic","cuerda seca","Safawid","tile"],"materials":["Cuerda seca"]},"83d379f5-b3fb-5f8d-90e6-0d7825b5a477":{"name":"Oil lamp.","description":"A stone-paste (fritware) oil lamp with a long, open spout, cylindrical neck, looped handle and spherical body; an opaque turquoise glaze covers the whole lamp, inside and out. In style, this lamp is typical of AH 6th- / AD 12th-century Fatimid Fustat pottery. Fustat was one of the wealthiest cities in the Islamic world at that time, and was quite populous with many of its dwellings comprising of five to seven levels.  \n  \nThis lamp and many others like it lit the interiors of Fustat's buildings, and testify to its position as one of the leading cities of the Middle East during the Fatimid period (AH 296–566 / AD 909–1171). A busy port, the residents of Fustat included tradesmen who dealt with a wide variety of goods that arrived from all over the world, from places as far away as China. Fustat was also an important manufacturing centre, accommodating craftsmen who produced fine ceramics, glassware, steel and copper products and textiles.","short_description":"The shape of this lamp is typical of those found at the city of Fustat in Fatimid Egypt. Fustat was a densely populated city, with craftsmen and artisans' workshops catering for the local and export markets. They were exposed to a wide range of artistic styles that came through goods from far lands.","type":"Fritware, stonepaste, ceramic","holder":"Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira 6th century / AD 12th century.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 9 cm, length 13 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis: comparable examples have been found at Fustat, Egypt, dating back to the 6th / 12th century.","method_for_provenance":"Comparable examples have been found at Fustat, Egypt, dating back to the 6th / 12th century.","provenance":"Fustat, Egypt.","obtention":"Purchased by the Museum in 1919.","bibliography":"Fehervari, G., *Ceramics of the Islamic World in the Tareq Rajab Museum*, London, 2000.  \n  \nPhilon, H., *Early Islamic Ceramics: Ninth to Late Twelfth Centuries*, Athens, 1980.","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["lighting"],"materials":["Stone-paste (fritware)","with an opaque turquoise glaze."]},"842a5200-0594-5a9c-bea6-e441fe3c4f78":{"name":"Faience pottery tile","alternate_name":"Zilidj, balata khazafia","description":"This faience pottery tile is painted with a ship in a circle in its centre, surrounded by flying birds. The rest of the *zelige* tile is decorated with a stylised floral pattern in each of its four corners.","type":"Enamelled terracotta","holder":"Musée Public National des Antiquités","dates":"19th century","location":"Algiers","provenance":"Delft, Hollande","author":"Houria Cherid","translator":"Flaminia Baldwin"},"8469840c-c735-573f-aef2-fdf1fcbc3556":{"name":"Bottle-shaped vase","description":"This nipple or bottle-shaped vase, with its central ring-shaped handle and turned-up base, resembles a closed coffin when seen from the side. Vases in this shape are very rare, and this particular one, which is decorated with the image of a great yellow and brown bird, was used for bottle-feeding infants.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Musée National du Bardo","dates":"Late 18th century","location":"Le Bardo, Tunis","provenance":"Qallaline","translator":"Flaminia Baldwin"},"84aca75b-106a-53be-b6ce-f390d4bbcb97":{"name":"Pilgrim flask","description":"A round bodied pilgrim flask covered with intricate polychrome decoration and painted with floral motifs and circular medallions with checkered designs and red dots. In the centre, there is a stylised flower in yellow and dark blue.","type":"Flask","holder":"Benaki Museum","dates":"AH 1112-1214/18th century","location":"Athens","dimensions":"Height: 17cm, body diameter: 14.5cm","place_of_production":"Kütahya","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis","provenance":"Turkey","obtention":"Aquired in Alexandria","author":"Mina Moraitou","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","materials":["Glazed ceramic"]},"852e199d-7836-57bb-b3ff-c9ab19231d89":{"name":"Tile panel","short_description":"This large polychrome tile mosaic panel has a central field of interlocking floral, arabesque, and geometric motifs that form an overall repeat on an indigo background. An everted border on three sides has alternating floral and serpentine forms in hexagonal medallions. A wide outer border has dense inscriptions with interwoven scrolling vines. Narrow brown and turquoise bands separate the three main sections. Purchased at auction in 1992.","type":"Islamic, Indian & Southeast Asian works of art; tilework; ceramic","holder":"Shangri La, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira probably early to mid-14th century / AD early to mid-20th century","location":"Honolulu, Hawai'i","dimensions":"Overall: 171.5 x 162.6 cm","provenance":"Iran, probably Isfahan","keywords":["arabesque","calligraphy","floral decoration","geometric motifs","Iran","monochrome-glazed","mosaic","polychrome","stonepaste","tilework"],"materials":["monochrome-glazed fragments assembled as mosaic","Stonepaste"]},"85f637f2-bdd8-5043-82c2-2e742768a71a":{"name":"Inkwell.","description":"Almost cylindrical inkwell with a convex base and raised rim with four circular-section handles. The exterior is glazed and decorated using the green and manganese technique. X-rays reveal that from the aperture there is a channel going down 2.9 cm into the receptacle for the ink. This channel is also glazed and was made separately and later joined to the aperture. Various similar pieces are known: one can be found in the Museum of the Alcazaba of Almería; another in Corbières (France); a third, made of glass, is in Iran Bastan Museum, Tehran. A fourth example, held in the Louvre Museum in Paris, is an interesting precedent, since it dates from the AH 3rd / AD 9th century and was discovered during an excavation at Susa. This last piece, from the same era as others found in Samarkand, Nishapur and Siraf (Persia), suggests that these inkwells originate from the Middle East, from where they would have spread to the West.","short_description":"Portable inkwell worn from the belt. A duct, running from the opening down into the recipient, prevented the ink from spilling out. The calligrapher would have used it with a pen to write letters and documents for money, and it became the symbol of the writer.","type":"Inkwell, clay","holder":"National Archaeological Museum.","dates":"Hegira 4th century/ AD 10th century.","location":"Madrid","dimensions":"Height 7.6 cm, diameter 5.75 cm.","method_for_datation":"By its stylistic characteristics and its similarity to other inkwells of this era.","method_for_provenance":"The source of the inkwell is not stated in its documentation. Production of this type of object was very limited, and its possible origin has been established by the clarity and austerity of its decorative design linking it to Madinat al-Zahra, a major centre of production of ceramics in green and manganese.","provenance":"Madinat al-Zahra (Cordoba)?, Spain.","obtention":"The inkwell was acquired by the State and placed in the National Archaeological Museum at an unknown date.","bibliography":"*Al-Andalus y el Mediterráneo*, Cádiz, 1995.  \nBernus-Taylor, M., “Encrier”, in *Les Andalusies de Damas à Cordue*, Paris, 2000, p.128, no. 123.  \nLlagosteras, E. and Zozaya, J., “Análisis Radiográfico de un Tintero Califal”, *Revista de Archivos, Bibliotecas y Museos*, Vol. LXXX, no. 4, Madrid, 1977, pp.911–15.","author":"Ángela Franco","copy_editor":"Rosalía Aller","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["Madinat al-Zahra","science","writing"],"materials":["Clay","fired","glazed.","green and manganese","wheel-thrown"]},"86a596e6-b986-58ee-a208-14ec3fe50206":{"name":"Footed bowl (*tazza*)","description":"Footed bowl. A thick-walled vessel with scalloped rim which flares out from a deep cavetto (curved profile) bowl on a large, flared, hollow-pedestal base. Overall white underglaze decorated with deep blue designs. On the rim, a rock-and-wave pattern; on the interior wall, a band of trefoil arcades with small trilobed \"cloud\" patterns above the space between each arcade. Above each \"cloud\" element and arcade is a vertical L-shaped spike which fills the space. The trefoil arcade register surrounds the central medallion filled by a freely-drawn  bouquet with an elaborate central lotus surrounded by eight symmetrically arranged, stylized blossoms and leaves. The bundled stems grow from a cloud-like horizontal ground line with tendrils filling the space below. All registers are separated by concentric blue lines. On the exterior, horizontal lines define the changes in profile between rim, bowl and base while a freely drawn line traces the undulating curvilinear edge just under the scalloped rim. The body of the bowl and the pedestal foot are decorated with small circular sprays of stylized flowers surrounded by leaves and buds or fruit. Just above the bottom of the foot is a thickened horizontal rib thrown in the profile; this is highlighted above with a wide blue band. The underside of the pedestal foot is glazed overall, the juncture of the foot and body highlighted with a blue line and the bottom edge of the foot is unglazed. Some chips in the rim and foot have been filled and inpainted, while there is some wear on the interior glaze.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Saint Louis Art Museum","dates":"Hegira c. 977–998 / AD c. 1570–1590","location":"Saint Louis","dimensions":"Height: 15.9cm, diameter of mouth: 34.9cm, diameter of foot: 21.3cm","place_of_production":"Iznik","method_for_datation":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","method_for_provenance":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","provenance":"Iznik","obtention":"Hortense and Tobias Lewin Ancient Art Fund.","bibliography":"Atasoy, Nurhan and Raby, Julian, *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, edited by Yanni Petsopoulos, , London: Alexandria Press, 1989.  \n  \nFehérvari, Géza, *Islamic Pottery: A Comprehensive Study of the Barlow Collection*, London: Faber and Faber, Ltd., 1973.","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","materials":["Glazed fritware with underglazed painted decoration"]},"86c2720a-384b-58d3-92a2-3fc1aefd7f1c":{"name":"Small earthenware jar","description":"This double-handled and oval-shaped *qolla* has a long neck and a bulging lip. The decoration is polychromatic and organised in rows. On vase's belly, a row of medallions filled with flowers are bordered by a lattice strip and a herringbone strip on either side. The neck is decorated with alternating yellow, blue and green vertical lines. This item shows traces of both Ottoman and Andalusian influences.","type":"Ceramic; terracotta","holder":"Musée de la Céramique Sidi Kacem Jelizi","dates":"Late 18th century","location":"Tunis","provenance":"Qallaline","translator":"Flaminia Baldwin"},"86fa6510-d51d-5f73-84cd-e89730dfb6c9":{"name":"Ewer","short_description":"The Seljuq era is the golden age of Islamic ceramics, characterised by flourishing centres in what is now Iran capable of experimenting with different techniques.","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira late 6th–early 7th century / AD late 12th–early 13th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Height 19.6 cm, diameter max 14.9 cm","provenance":"Iran","materials":["carved decoration and turquoise glaze","Frit body"]},"879d6d42-f66f-5915-91b7-d2443a989446":{"name":"Tile with birds and rose","short_description":"This colourful tile, rendered in yellow, pink, green, turquoise and manganese purple, is taken from a tile panel with a continuous repeat pattern. It shows two birds flanking a large rose, perhaps a reference to the mystical Persian story of the rose and the nightingale. In it the rose symbolizes God and the nightingale the yearning believer.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation","dates":"Hegira 13th century / AD 19th century","location":"Sharjah","provenance":"Iran","keywords":["animal decoration","ceramic","Iran","Rose","symbol","tile"]},"87c29ad1-e053-5d4e-8dd9-6ee3532db84d":{"name":"Group of tiles","description":"A group of eight square wall tiles, mounted together a 4×2 grid. Each tile has a design of medallions, leaves, and seed pods, forming a repeating pattern in blue and green.","type":"Architectural elements, ceramics","holder":"Saint Louis Art Museum","dates":"Hegira second half of the 10th century / AD second half of the 16th century","location":"Saint Louis","dimensions":"Each tile has an approximate length and width of 22.9cm.","place_of_production":"Damascus","method_for_datation":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","method_for_provenance":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","provenance":"Damascus","obtention":"Museum purchase.","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","materials":["Glazed fritware with underglaze painted decoration"]},"87ca58dd-ec81-5c67-8d08-0373d3c1c371":{"name":"Large Bowl with Bird","short_description":"This fritware bowl is decorated with a bird painted in cobalt blue, turquoise, and manganese purple under a glaze. It was made using the *laqabi* technique, which used lines, either incised or in relief, to prevent glazes from running together during firing. This allowed for the creation of intricate patterns and for glazes of different colours to be used side-by-side.","type":"Bowl","holder":"MKG Museum for Applied Arts","dates":"Hegira middle of the 6th century / AD middle of 12th century","location":"Hamburg","dimensions":"Height: 8.3cm, Diameter: 33.1cm","method_for_datation":"Technique and decoration refer to the Seljuq period.","method_for_provenance":"Acquired by Hauswedel, 1959.","provenance":"Iran","obtention":"Purchased in 1960.","bibliography":"Fehrvari, G., *Islamic Pottery a Comprehensive Study Based on the Barlow Collection*, London: Faber and Faber, 1973.  \nHeukensfeldt, J. M.-A., *Majolica: Maiolica*, Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, 1961.  \nHempel, R., \"Erwerbungen der Asienabteilung in den Jahren 1958-1974,\" In *Jahrbuch des Hamburger Kunstsammlungen*, Hamburg: Dr. Ernst Hauswedell und Co. Verlag, 1975.  \nLane, A., *Early Islamic Pottery: Mesopotamia, Egypt and Persia*, London: Faber and Faber, 1947.  \nPope, A. U., *Masterpieces of Persian Art*, New York: Asia House, 1954.  \nWilkinson, C. K., *Iranian Ceramics*, New York: Asia House, 1963.","copy_editor":"Caitlin Link","keywords":["ceramics","laqabi","laqabi ware"],"materials":["Underglaze-painted design"]},"8825752a-6526-5ec0-8840-5242549e083b":{"name":"*Huqqa*","short_description":"Pear-shaped *huqqa* pipe reservoir, in Chinese style, covered with a cobalt blue engobe, painted in white and ochre slips under a transparent colourless glaze.","type":"Vessels & receptacles, ceramic","holder":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah","dates":"Hegira 11th century / AD 17th century","location":"Kuwait City","provenance":"Iranian world","keywords":["China","Glaze","Huqqa","Iran"]},"882edb61-7d84-519e-90cd-1e8568e3abc4":{"name":"*Mokhfia* conical dish","description":"This conical plate, or *mokhfia*, is concave on a ring-shaped base. It has an arcade decoration called \"turtle\". In the centre of the dish a five-pointed star with green central point is inscribed in a double circle. Six blue dots are inside and five are outside of this star. From this central motif is a radiating design of five large green rounded forms, or scales, each with two dots on either side of a wide decorative stripe edged in yellow. The inside rim of the cup features a braided pattern enhanced with small blue strokes. This particular decoration and type of ceramic are characteristic of Moroccan work between the 17th and 19th centuries. They are widespread in Morocco and Spain. We note the Andalusian influence in certain motifs, such as the use of geometry.  \nThis piece cannot be attributed with certainty to a single production centre. However, Fes is the most important one of the period. The decoration with concentric arches called \"turtle\" is characteristic of these polychrome Moroccan ceramics. In the 19th century, the colours used were more assertive, the shapes heavier, and the designs less spontaneous than before.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museum of the Arab World Institute","dates":"Hegira 13th century / AD 19th century","location":"Paris","dimensions":"Height: 12cm, Diameter: 28cm","provenance":"Morocco","obtention":"Purchased at auction on advice of Piasa, 2002.","bibliography":"Delpont, Eric (et al.), *Album du musée*. Paris: Somogy éditions d'art, 2012: p. 294; p. 386.  \n  \nRoux, Jean-Paul (ed), *Arts de l'Islam: des origines à 1700*, Paris: Musée national de l'Orangerie (Réunion des Musées nationaux), 1971: Fig. 83.","translator":"Judy Harter","materials":["Ceramic with polychrome decoration enhanced with red lead"]},"8838f3d0-31b0-5466-9a13-570fd28e82f1":{"name":"Jar fragments with incised décor","description":"This fragment, a kitchen ceramic, was excavated in 2007 by the French-Qatari Mission in one of the houses in Murwab. The water jar features a globular body and a high, straight neck with an unpreserved rim. Crafted from creamy white clay with inclusions of sand and basalt, the porous nature of the material makes it well-suited for keeping water cool.  \nA vertical decoration, created with a comb, adorns the entire upper part of the body up to the midpoint of the globular section. Additionally, a rounded handle was attached to the neck of the water jar.","type":"Container","holder":"National Museum of Qatar","owner":"National Museum of Qatar","initial_owner":"Qatar Museums","dates":"AH late 2nd to late 3rd century / AD late 8th to late 9th century","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Height: 52cm, rim diameter: 17.5cm, body diameter: 41cm","place_of_production":"Arabian Peninsula or southern Iran","method_for_datation":"Stratigraphy/scientific analysis.","method_for_provenance":"Stratigraphy/scientific and laboratory analysis.","provenance":"Murwab, Qatar","obtention":"Archaeological excavation.","bibliography":"Carvajal Lopez, J., Guerin, A., and Georgakopoulou, M., \"Petrographic analysis of ceramics of Murwab, an early islamic site in Qatar\", Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 51 (2022): 55–70.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Preliminary pottery study: Murwab horizon in progress, ninth century AD, Qatar\", in Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 40 (2010): 17–34.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Territory and settlement patterns during the Abbasid period (ninth century AD): the village of Murwab (Qatar)\", Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 39 (2009): 181–196.  \n  \nHardy-Guilbert, Cl., \"Fouilles archéologiques a Murwab, Qatar\", in R. Boucharlat et J.-F. Salles (eds.), Arabie Orientale, Mésopotamie et Iran méridional: De l’Age du Fer au début de la période islamique, Paris: ERC 37, 1984: 169–188.  \n  \nKnuth, E., \"An Early Islamic fort and settlement at Murwab”, in F. Hojlund (ed.), Danish Archaeological Investigations in Qatar 1956–1974, Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 97 (2017): 83–98.","author":"Alexandrine Guerin","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","keywords":["earthenware","Jar","storage","Transportation"],"materials":["Earthenware"]},"88af101d-92a2-5eaf-8d33-31977383ef1b":{"name":"Blue-and-white bottle with partridges","short_description":"This bottle, painted with confident black strokes in reserve against a blue background, combines a Chinese shape and colour scheme with a Persian interpretation of Eastern motifs – three fat partridges alternating with large, fleshy lotus flowers. Such wares were designed to compete with Chinese porcelain in markets at home and abroad.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation","dates":"Hegira second half of the 11th century / AD second half of the 17th century","location":"Sharjah","provenance":"Iran, possibly Kerman","keywords":["animal decoration","bottle","ceramic","China","Chinese influence","floral decoration"]},"88c3e9a5-4d43-5bac-af15-0e55e4b15da8":{"name":"Two tiles.","description":"Two stone-paste (fritware) glazed tiles, tile no. 159 a horizontal composition of naturalistically drawn vines with green leaves and fleshy red grapes that flank a central branch that has small blue and red flowers growing on it. Tile no. 160 shows a dense floral design, with two curved so-called *saz* leaves superposed in the centre and surrounded by four fantastical half-flowers. The background is filled with sinuous red cloud-bands and delicate blue scrolling.","short_description":"Since the late AH 950s / AD 1550s tiles like these, commissioned by the Ottoman court for their extensive building programmes in Istanbul and elsewhere, are known to have become the major concern for the Iznik workshops and a large number of examples remain *in situ*.","type":"Ottoman ceramic, stone paste","holder":"National Museums of Scotland (NMS).","dates":"Hegira, late 10th century / AD late 16th century.","location":"Edinburgh, Scotland","dimensions":"(159) 24.5 cm x 24.5 cm, (160) 22.8 cm x 22.8 cm.","method_for_datation":"The vine and flowering branch design on tile no. 159 relates to other examples dating to the second half of the 10th / 16th century, in particular those used in Takkeci Ibrahim Agha Mosque in Istanbul, dating to around 1000 / 1592 (see Atasoy and Denny, 2000). Tiles such as no. 160 were used in Murad III’s room in the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul in around 985 / 1578, and this design remained popular, if much simplified, until well into the 11th / 17th century.","method_for_provenance":"Ever since the late 950s / 1550s tiles like these were commissioned by the Ottoman court for their extensive building programs in Istanbul and elsewhere. Such tiles are known to have dominated output in the Iznik workshops and a large number of examples remain *in situ*.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Purchased from the Major W. J. Myers Collection in 1900.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., Denny, W. B., Mackie, L. W., and Tezcan, H., *Ipek, the Crescent and the Rose: Imperial Ottoman Silks and Velvets*, London, 2000, p.235, fig. 152 (for dating).  \nHaase, C. P., Kroger, J, and Lienert, U., *Oriental Splendour: Islamic Art from German Private Collections*,Hamburg, 1993, p.120, cat. no. 73.  \nScarce, J., *Domestic Culture in the Middle East: An Exploration of the Household Interior*, Edinburgh, 1996, p.48.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Ulrike Al-Khamis","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["grape","Iznik","stone-paste (fritware)","tilework","vine scrolls"],"materials":["Blue","green and black underglaze with a bole-red underglaze slip","over which a clear glaze.","Stone-paste (fritware)"]},"88d3503f-6102-578d-8dd9-c4a53576130e":{"name":"Dish","short_description":"The design for the large dish is attributed to the circle surrounding the important illuminator and director of the court workshops Kara Memi (active AD 1545–1566).","type":"Ceramic","holder":"MAK – Museum of Applied Arts","dates":"3rd quarter of the 16th century","location":"Vienna","dimensions":"Height: 8.5cm, Diameter: 46cm","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","obtention":"Assumption","bibliography":"Noever, Peter (ed), *Global:Lab: Kunst als Botschaft. Asien und Europa 1500-1700, Exh. cat. Museum of Applied Arts Vienna*, Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2009.","catalogue_holding_link":"https://sammlung.mak.at/sammlung_online?id=collect-46245","author":"Mio Wakita-Elis","keywords":["ceramic","floral decoration","Iznik style","Kara Memi"],"materials":["decoration: underglaze painting","Quartz frit ceramic"]},"88e1fa36-529e-53bc-bbcd-f2c0e91f810a":{"name":"Jug.","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.","short_description":"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.","type":"Fritware, stonework, ceramic","holder":"Burrell Collection, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira 6th century /AD 12th century.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 17.5 cm, diameter (of rim) 9.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis.","provenance":"Raqqa, Syria.","obtention":"Part of the collection given to the City of Glasgow by Sir William and Lady Burrell in 1944.","bibliography":"Fehervari, G., *Ceramics of the Islamic world in the Tareq Rajab Museum*, London, 2000.","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["crafts","Domestic wares"],"materials":["Fritware with opaque-blue glaze."]},"891c65b9-b73d-5c4b-be2d-0e7198d79575":{"name":"Dish.","description":"An undecorated, thickly potted dish with a heavily applied deep-turquoise glaze that is typical of Raqqa ware in both its manufacture and shape. Though badly deteriorating, the glaze still indicates how beautiful this plain dish would have been in its time. The colour turquoise was appreciated aesthetically, and was thought to have protective qualities, rendering it popular in ceramics throughout the Islamic Middle East.  \n  \nRaqqa was one of two major pottery-production centres in Ayyubid Syria, the other being Rusafah. In Raqqa there were a number of pottery workshops that produced a range of ceramics including lustre-painted, relief-moulded and underglaze-painted vessels. The pottery production ceased when the Mongols razed the city to the ground in AH 657 / AD 1259.","short_description":"Though badly deteriorated, this turquoise dish would have looked strikingly blue when still new. Raqqa in Syria was an important centre for the production of ceramics during the Ayyubid period, generating many pieces with turquoise glazing, which was a popular auspicious colour in the Middle East.","type":"Fritware, stonework, ceramic","holder":"Burrell Collection, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira 7th century / AD 13th century.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 4.1 cm, diameter (of rim) 15.2 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis, together with analysis of the material composition of the vessel's body which is distinctively that of Raqqa. Furthermore, the nature and extent of the deterioration of the glaze is also typical of Raqqa ceramics.","method_for_provenance":"The vessel is typical of Raqqa ceramics in both its material composition and in the nature of the deterioration of the glaze.","provenance":"Raqqa, Syria.","obtention":"Part of the collection given to the City of Glasgow by Sir William and Lady Burrell in 1944.","bibliography":"Fehervari, G., *Ceramics of the Islamic World in the Tareq Rajab Museum*, London, 2000.  \n  \nGrube, E. J., *Cobalt and Lustre: The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery*, the Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, Vol. 9, London, 1994.","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Domestic vessels."],"materials":["Stone-paste (fritware) with a deep-turquoise glaze."]},"891d79a5-c271-5792-99f2-8c563766ed94":{"name":"Dish","description":"Large, white plate adorned with sophisticated floral motifs such as blue tulips, red roses and other flowers, which had both ornamental and symbolic meanings. Rim decorated with black spirals. On the back side of the rim eight green and pale blue spots.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"National Museum in Kraków","initial_owner":"Muzeum Techniczno-Przemysłowe w Krakowie / Industrial Museum in Kraków","dates":"Late 10th century Hegira / Late 16th century AD","location":"Kraków","dimensions":"Diameter: 31cm, height: 5.4cm","method_for_datation":"Dating and origin based on similar pieces from other collections.","method_for_provenance":"Material, technique and design are characteristic for İznik, which was a centre of quality ceramic production in this period.","provenance":"İznik, Turkey","obtention":"Purchased by the Industrial Museum in Kraków from Adam Jaroszyński in 1896.","bibliography":"*Katalog wystawy kobierców mahometańskich, ceramiki azjatyckiej i europejskiej urządzonej w Muzeum Narodowem w Krakowie. Luty - czerwiec 1934*, Kraków, 1934, p. 97, fig. 215.  \n  \n*Wojna i pokój. Skarby sztuki tureckiej ze zbiorów polskich od XV do XIX wieku*, Warszawa 2000, p. 455, fig. 73.","author":"Bożena Kostuch","keywords":["flowers","Islam","Iznik"],"materials":["polychrome painted under transparent glaze","Stone-paste (fritware)"]},"894c4ade-7fb1-538a-a14f-a5e4acebdcde":{"name":"*Geometrical Elevation of the Building of the Chemical Laboratory* Azulejos","alternate_name":"Tile panel (*azulejos*)","description":"In 1772, under the educational reforms of King Jose I's Prime Minister the Marquis of Pombal, a new statute for Coimbra University emerged. The views of the Marquis and other Enlightenment figures replaced the Aristotelian school of thought previously taught by the Jesuits, who were expelled in 1759. The aim was to modernise teaching by basing it on practical experience and observation.  \nIn addition to hiring foreign teachers, buying new textbooks and the acquisition of specialised didactic teaching aids, the university replaced the Jesuit-built college with new buildings, one where the former College of the Jesus Society had been and another where the Paço das Escolas (School Hall) once stood.  \nThe buildings followed the designs of the English Engineer William Elsden, who was also responsible for the construction. The tile panel *Geometrical Elevation of the Building of the Chemical Laboratory* is one of nine panels decorating the Bishop’s palace.  \nThe building shown here was used by the science department, which had been newly created through Pombaline reform. Today the building hosts the Museum of Science, part of the University of Coimbra.  \nThe decoration of the Bishop's palace (today the Museu Nacional de Machado de Castro) was commissioned by the Bishop, formerly the Rector of the University. The panels were designed to celebrate the Pombaline reform of the University of Coimbra (1772–1777), and to mark the important role played by D. Francisco de Lemos de Faria Pereira Coutinho, known as “Reformer and Rector of the University of Coimbra”. He was picked out to lead local reform by the Marquis of Pombal.  \nThe panels were made at Nova Fábrica da Telha Vidrada, a factory founded in 1773 to meet the demands of (*azulejos*) required for the construction and renovation of the University buildings.  \nThe production of *azulejos* with repetitive patterns, single figures and ornamental and figurative panels are part of the second phase of the Rococo period (or Pombaline style) that occurred after the earthquake of 1755. In Coimbra this period was extended until the end of the century, whereas in Lisbon, *azulejos* from 1790 onwards had been designed in the Neo-classical style leaving the Rococo for the minor panels.  \nThe frames of bulky shell forms, similar to those present in some paintings of the period, probably belong to Salvador de Sousa Carvalho (1727–1810), who alternated with Manuel da Costa Brioso (1752–1776) as the director of the Nova Fábrica da Telha Vidrada.","short_description":"The panel is an excellent example of 18th-century quality ceramics produced in Coimbra. It represents a memorial of Pombaline reforms at the University of Coimbra depicting the façade of the Chemical Laboratory.","type":"Tile panel (*azulejos*)","holder":"Machado de Castro National Museum","owner":"Museu Nacional de Machado de Castro","initial_owner":"Museu Nacional de Machado de Castro","dates":"1773–1779","location":"Coimbra, Coimbra","dimensions":"H: 104 cm; w: 296 cm","place_of_production":"Nova Fábrica da Telha Vidrada, Rua João Cabreira, Coimbra","method_for_datation":"The date is set by analogy with other artist’s works and according to Salvador de Sousa Carvalho's presence at Nova Fábrica da Telha Vidrada during that period.","provenance":"Coimbra","obtention":"The *azulejos* are an integrated feature in the halls of the National Museum of Machado de Castro (Old Bishop's Palace).","bibliography":"Carvalho, R., *A História do Gabinete de Física da Universidade de Coimbra*, Coimbra, 1978.  \nFiolhais, C., \"Os meus livros favoritos de Rómulo de Carvalho\", pp. 15–17, *Gazeta de Física*, vol. 20, fasc. 1, Jan/Mar, 1997.  \nPimentel, A. F., *A Morada da Sabedoria. O Paço Real de Coimbra: das origens ao estabelecimento da Universidade*, Coimbra, 2005.  \nPais, A., Pacheco, A., Coroado, J., *Cerâmica de Coimbra do século XVI–XX,* Lisbon, 2007, p. 90.","workshop":"Rococo (Pombaline style)","copyright":"Copyright image: Divisão de Documentação Fotográfica /Instituto dos Museus e Conservação,IP.","author":"António Pacheco","translator":"Sara Johansen","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["azulejo","education","Enlightenment","glazed earthenware","Pombaline reform","science","Tile panel","tilework","University of Coimbra"],"materials":["Glazed earthenware tiles"]},"8951f6af-b5d8-564b-983b-9fd818e52be8":{"name":"Tabla","description":"The *tabla*, also known as the *durbakke*, is a small hand drum very common in traditional Arabic music. It is shaped like a vase, and is covered at the top with goat skin. *Tabla*s are often beautifully decorated, with metal, bone inlay, or paint.","type":"Musical instrument; ceramic; metalwork","holder":"Lebanese National Higher Conservatory of Music","dates":"19th century","location":"Beirut","provenance":"Lebanon","author":"Jeff El-Msanne","copy_editor":"Flaminia Baldwin"},"896034df-5b65-5b50-921e-f52b7e844979":{"name":"Large Jar","short_description":"The origins of this object are from Southern Mesopotamia; it’s a complete pottery jar with rolled edges, a short-straight neck, and a globular body. This piece is considered rare, made from fine clay with opaque white glaze and copper, blue, and black manganese splashes on the sides. Archaeologists were able to find many different pottery pieces from different historical periods, and this piece dates back to the 9th century AD. A vessel like this is usually used as a goblet. Typically, it’s a multi-use jar which could have been used for storage and cooking or storing water to keep it cold or to drink from directly.","type":"Archaeological Artefact","holder":"National Museum Oman","dates":"4th century AH / 9th century AD","location":"Muscat","dimensions":"Height: 30cm, Spout diameter: 12.2cm, Base diameter: 13cm, Weight: 2349.3g","provenance":"Sohar Fort (al-Batinah North Governorate). Origin: Southern Mesopotamia","obtention":"Ministry of Heritage and Culture Collection","author":"Balqees Nakhlah","copy_editor":"Valerie Pulsifer","keywords":["Jar","pottery"],"materials":["blue and black manganese splashes","Clay with opaque white glaze and copper"]},"899ab17a-563d-52eb-b76f-6ab3b73e0e14":{"name":"*Fanayeel* or *Fanyaal* (Coffee cups)","description":"*Fanayeel* (Coffee Ccups)  \nCoffee is always served at the beginning of a visit and is repeatedly offered until guests politely signal that they have had enough by rocking their cup from side to side. In order to keep coffee hot and fresh for unexpected guests it goes through many stages. After roasting and grinding the coffee beans the grains are added to boiling water inside a large *dallah* (coffee pot) called a *khamra*. Next, the liquid is poured into a medium-sized coffee pot called a *taljeemah*. At this stage cardamom seeds, saffron and rose water may be added for flavour. From this jug, the coffee is poured into a serving dallah referred to as a mezallah, where the coffee is refined and filtered. The server must hold the mezallah with their left hand and distribute the *fanayeel* (coffee cups) using the right hand. The coffee should fill less than half of the cup.","type":"Coffee cup","holder":"Sharjah Heritage Museum","owner":"Sharjah Museums Authority","dates":"Hegira mid 14th century / AD mid 20th century","location":"Sharjah, United Arab Emirates","dimensions":"Height: 55mm, Ddiameter: 75mm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis","method_for_provenance":"Stylistic analysis","provenance":"Arabian Peninsula","obtention":"Purchased","author":"Amanda Snyder","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","keywords":["ceramic","coffee","coffee cup","cup"],"materials":["Ceramic","Paint"]},"8a2ff55d-1f20-5c07-9cc0-adf4d8569dfe":{"name":"Incense burner","description":"Incense burners like this are usually made of clay mixed with water and kneaded until a mixture is formed that can then be shaped. The burner is then adorned with engravings, intricate drawings, and different colors. The incense burners are then fired in a kiln, after which they are ready for use. Note the handle; it makes the burner safe to carry from room to room. Incense occupies a central place in Omani life, as the passing of a fragrant burner at the end of a visit is customary in every region of the country.","type":"Ceramic, earthenware, acrylic colours","dates":"Hegira early 15th/AD early 21st century","dimensions":"Height: 10.5cm, width: 8.4cm, length (with handle): 11cm","provenance":"Dhofar Governorate","author":"Noora Al Balushi","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","materials":["acrylic colours","Earthenware"]},"8a443b74-27a8-5e30-8c10-9c63d1d95b0c":{"name":"Storage jar","short_description":"The jar belongs to a larger group of ceramic wares very popular during the Qajar dynasty, which illustrate the development of the blue-and-white style; its shape, originating in Mamluk Syria, was adopted in China and in Safavid Persia. Used for the storage of food, including olive oil, they were known in Romania as ‘mutton suet jars’, because of the underglaze staining and the particular smell they have retained to this day. Here, the elegant outlines of the motifs, notably of those on the shoulder, the variety of the multilobed shapes and the dynamic composition are quite remarkable. In the twentieth century, such jars were occasionally turned into lamp bases, as the perforation and the groove for electrical wire on the bottom appear to suggest.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"The National Museum of Art of Romania","dates":"Hegira 12th – 13th century / AD 18th – 19th  century","location":"Bucharest","dimensions":"Height: 31.5cm, Diameter (of mouth): 15cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis","method_for_provenance":"Stylistic analysis","provenance":"Iran","obtention":"Purchased by the Museum in 1966.","bibliography":"Dunca, M., *Islamic Art at the National Museum of Art of Romania*, Bucharest: National Museum of Art of Romania, 2015: 97, no. 42.","author":"Mircea Dunca","keywords":["Blue-and-white decoration"],"materials":["Fritware","underglaze painting"]},"8acf2eac-8e23-5efc-a927-dea5fc1c4c75":{"name":"Bowl with radial decoration.","description":"This piece, the shape of which is taken from contemporary Chinese porcelain from the T’ang period (AD 618–906), is decorated with blue cobalt paint with a large motif in the shape of stylised petals. In the background there is a star-shaped polygon, the points of which are hatched. In the centre there is a motif known as ‘Solomon’s Seal’, an extremely common decorative element in Islamic art.  \nThe bowl, decorated in a simple but pleasing style, could be considered typical of Mesopotamian pieces painted in blue cobalt only on a creamy white base. This type is of particular interest as it represents one of the oldest examples in the Islamic world of an imitation of the much-valued Chinese porcelain that was sent in significant quantities to Egypt and Iraq by sea and to Persia by land via the Silk Route.  \nThe imitation porcelain was produced using a heavy lead-oxide glaze to which was added tin oxide as an opacifier. The result is a consistent creamy white layer decorated with blue cobalt in an Islamic style.","short_description":"This piece is particularly noteworthy for its decoration inspired by Chinese porcelain from the T’ang period, evidence of contact and trade between China and countries such as Egypt, Persia and Iraq along the Silk Route.","type":"Bowl, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”","dates":"Hegira second half of 3rd century / AD second half of 9th century.","location":"Rome","dimensions":"Height 6 cm, diameter 19.8 cm.","method_for_datation":"Dating has been suggested on the basis of type (see description for analysis).","method_for_provenance":"It should be seen as a typical example of Mesopotamian pieces painted only in cobalt blue on a creamy white base.","provenance":"Iraq.","obtention":"Private deposit.","bibliography":"Fèhervari, G., *La Ceramica Islamica*, Milano, 1985. Folsach, K. von, *Islamic Art: The David Collection*, Copenhagen, 1990. Grube, E.J., *Cobalt and Lustre. The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery. The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art*, Vol. IX, London, 1994. Lane, A., *Early Islamic Pottery*, London, 1953. Scerrato, U., “Ceramica Irachena del IX–X Secolo”, *Serie Schede Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale* 2, Rome, 1968.","author":"Paola Torre","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","floral decoration","Glazed"],"materials":["Glazed ceramic."]},"8b2820f2-b570-5834-a941-6d905377879a":{"name":"Cock","description":"It was difficult to make and fire large ceramic figures like this one and the sphinx (Isl 56) with the technology of the day. They easily crackled or simply collapsed. The manganese, turquoise and blue glazes as well as the carved decoration are typical of laqabi ware, but while the glazes on a horizontal surface are kept in place by the carved decoration, this is not the case on an upright object like this one.  \n  \nAlthough both animals must be considered mythical creatures, the artist managed to depict the watchful and aggressive cock with all of this animal’s natural characteristics.","type":"Sculpture","holder":"The David Collection","owner":"The David Collection","dates":"AH 2nd half of the 6th / AD 2nd half of 12th century","location":"Copenhagen","dimensions":"Height: 38.5cm","place_of_production":"Raqqa (Syria)","bibliography":"Folsach, K., et al., Sultan, Shah and Great Mughal: the history and culture of the Islamic world, Copenhagen: The National Museum, 1996: cat. no. 204.  \n  \nDaneshvari, A., Of serpents and dragons in Islamic art: an iconographical study, California: Mazda Publishers, 2011: 172, 110.  \n  \nFolsach, K., “Paradise on earth: water and the Islamic garden” in John Kuhlmann Madsen et al. (eds), Water of life: essays from a symposium held on the occasion of Peder Mortensen's 80th birthday, Copenhagen: Forlaget Orbis, 2016: 191, fig. 5.  \n  \nCanby, S., et al., Court and cosmos: the great age of the Seljuqs, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016: fig. 98, 243.  \n  \nEastmond, A., Tamta's world: the life and encounters of a medieval noblewoman from the Middle East to Mongolia, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017: 256, fig. 87.","copy_editor":"Zeina Al Amad","keywords":["Ayyubids","ceramics","Fritware","sculpture","Sphinx","water","zangids"],"materials":["and manganese under a transparent glaze","cast","modeled and carved fritware","painted in blue","turquoise"]},"8b4cfd0b-0435-5653-9d1f-66f91996e7f4":{"name":"Group of 5 1/2 tiles, formerly in the shrine of Imamzada Yahya in Veramin, Iran","short_description":"Two cross tiles and three and a half star tiles are joined to form two panels. Each panel features a cross tile with a central quatrefoil flanked by arabesque bands down each side. Inscriptions are located around the perimeter. On both sides of the cross are stellate tiles. Each eight-sided tile has inscriptions around the edge. The interiors of the tiles are not identical, but each has scrolling arabesque forms. All of the star tiles are cut in half vertically.","type":"Islamic, Indian & Southeast Asian works of art; Tilework; ceramic","holder":"Shangri La, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira 660 / AD 1261–62","location":"Honolulu, Hawai'i","dimensions":"Each tile approximately: 30.5 x 30.5 cm","provenance":"Iran, Kashan","keywords":["Cross","Ilkhanid","Imamzada Yahya","Iran","Kashan","lustre","overglaze-painted","star","stonepaste","tilework","Veramin"],"materials":["overglaze-painted in luster","Stonepaste"]},"8b90eb6b-ced6-5988-a13e-7f83f166a462":{"name":"Coffee Container","description":"It is made of Lüleci clay. The base is in the shape of a circle and has a rounded centre. There is a Mevlevi headdress on the cover. It is decorated with flowers and parallel lines.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Ankara Ethnography Museum","owner":"The Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism","location":"Ankara","dimensions":"Height: 12.cm, diameter: 3.8cm","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","materials":["Terracotta"]},"8bc18f76-661e-508b-92b4-e262c93b5aa3":{"name":"Jar with turquoise-blue glaze","description":"This small ceramic jar is decorated in a turquoise-blue glaze. As the glaze covers the outside as well as the inside, liquids such as water, vinegar, oil and so on could be transported and conserved in the vessel. The jar has a short neck with a wide flat rim, allowing for a lid or flexible cover of fabric or leather to be fastened to it. Two small handles, one of which has broken off, indicate the jar could have been carried or suspended.  \n  \nThis type of turquoise-glazed pottery is very common on archaeological sites dating to the early Islamic period. These wares were produced in the workshops of Basra in southern Iraq and then exported all around the Abbasid Empire and beyond. Examples have been found around the Indian Ocean region, including East Africa, Sri Lanka and Cambodia.","type":"Container","holder":"National Museum of Qatar","owner":"National Museum of Qatar","initial_owner":"Qatar Museums","dates":"AH late 2nd to late 3rd century / AD late 8th to late 9th century","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Height: 33cm, base diameter: 16.9cm, body diameter: 16.4cm, rim diameter: 9.5cm, weight: 1.694kg","method_for_datation":"Stratigraphy/scientific analysis.","method_for_provenance":"Stratigraphy/scientific and laboratory analysis.","provenance":"Murwab, Qatar","obtention":"Archaeological excavation.","bibliography":"Guerin, A. and Na'imi, F., ‘Preliminary pottery study: Murwab horizon in progress, ninth century AD, Qatar’, in *Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies*, vol. 40 (2010): 17–34.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., 2009, ‘Territory and settlement patterns during the Abbasid period (ninth century AD): the village of Murwab (Qatar)’, in *Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies*, vol. 39 (2009): 181–196.  \n  \nHardy-Guilbert, Cl., ‘Fouilles archéologiques a Murwab, Qatar’, in R. Boucharlat et J.-F. Salles (eds.), *Arabie Orientale, Mésopotamie et Iran méridional: De l’Age du Fer au début de la période islamique*, Paris: ERC 37, 1984: pp. 169–188.  \n  \nCarvajal Lopez, J., Guerin, A. and Georgakopoulou, M., ‘Petrographic analysis of ceramics of Murwab, an early islamic site in Qatar\"’ in *Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies*, vol. 51 (2022): 55-70.  \n  \nKNUTH, E., 2017, Knuth, E., ‘An Early Islamic fort and settlement at Murwab’, in F. Hojlund (ed.), *Danish Archaeological Investigations in Qatar 1956–1974*, vol. 97: 83–98.","author":"Alexandrine Guerin","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","keywords":["Abbasid","Basra","ceramic","early Islamic period","earthenware","Glaze","Iraq","Jar","Murwab"],"materials":["Glazed earthenware"]},"8c014da5-017c-55b6-8f07-95eca4b0b551":{"name":"Stalactite element (*muqarbas*).","description":"*Muqarbas* are ornaments with an alveolate structure in the form of stalactites that are used to decorate domes or corbels, notably within Arab–Maghrebi architecture. The ceramic pieces in the shape of parallelepipeds that compose the whole consist of two parts: one plain, and the other formed by four vertical flutes. The cruciform base of each piece and the fluted part are covered by very light-coloured green enamel; traces of yellow appear on some of the sides. The pieces are assembled together as a pyramid, with cement on the plain parts whilst leaving the fluted parts visible.  \nThis type of stalactite was the first vestige that was brought to light in the Muslim West that can be attributed to the Hammadid Calif al-Mansur (r. AH 481–98 / AD 1089–1105).  \nThis *muqarbas* element was probably used to ornament the upper part of the exterior wall that looked onto the courtyard of the Dar al-Bahr; undoubtably, the decoration was applied.","short_description":"This *muqarbas* is an ornamental wall-covering in the form of a four-level parallelepiped made up of a number of ceramic pieces and divided into two parts: one full and the other fluted, with traces of green enamel. The pieces are bound to one another using cement.","type":"Muqarbas, ceramic","holder":"National Museum of Setif","dates":"Hegira 5th–6th centuries / AD 11th–12th centuries.","location":"Setif","dimensions":"Total height 41 cm, total length 21 cm, height of each piece 16 cm, dimension of each side of the pieces 5 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stalactite found in the Dar al-Bahr of the Qal'at Bani Hammad (5th–6th / 11th–12th centuries), according to Kitab al-Istibsar: 'The Banu Hammad built some important constructions in the *qal'a*…including \\[the palace\\] known as Dar al-Bahr, at the centre of which was a vast basin'.","method_for_provenance":"From de Beylié documents, which indicate that these stalactites were recovered from the foot of the wall looking over the southern side of the Dar al-Bahr courtyard.","provenance":"Qal’at Bani Hammad, Algeria.","obtention":"Archaeological repository (De Beylié excavations, 1908).","bibliography":"Beylié, général de, *La Kalaa des Beni Hammad, une capitale berbère de l'Afrique du Nord au XIe siècle*, Paris, 1909.  \nFernandez-Puertas, A., “Muqarnas”, *Encyclopédie de l'Islam*, Vol. VII, 1993, pp.501–2.  \nGolvin, L., *Recherches archéologiques à la Qal'a des Banû Hammâd*, Paris, 1965.  \nMarçais, G*., L'architecture musulmane d'Occident*, Paris, 1954.","author":"Houria Cherid","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"Maria Vlotides","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["architectural decoration","ceramic","Enamel","fluting","Hammadid","Muqarbas","palatial architecture","stalactite"],"materials":["Enamelled moulded ceramic."]},"8c32bee4-0f68-56fc-9da8-59caa6e72f6d":{"name":"Cup/Bowl.","description":"An open vessel, hemispherical in shape. It has a slightly everted semi-circular rim, a foot-ring, and is made from light-coloured paste. The surfaces are enamelled with polychrome decoration. In the centre there is a simple and charming depiction of a lotus bulb which is a symbol of eternal life. This type of piece, from its shape, especially its ring foot, indicates Iberian production in imitation of an oriental style. In addition to the decorated base the rim of the object also has a discontinuous decorative wavy line interrupted in three places.","short_description":"Bowl made in the Iberian Peninsula based on oriental models. This AH 4th / AD 10th century piece has a quite naïve representation of a lotus bulb in its centre, a symbol of the eternity of life.","type":"Cup, ceramic","holder":"Silves Municipal Archaeology Museum.","owner":"Silves Town Council.","dates":"Hegira 4th century / AD 10th century.","location":"Silves., Faro.","dimensions":"Height 4 cm, diameter (of rim) 15.6 cm, diameter (of base) 6.8 cm.","method_for_datation":"On the basis of its archaeological context and ceramics of a  similar style.","method_for_provenance":"Excavation carried out in Silves in the courtyard next to the cistern, directed by Mário Varela Gomes. Inventory number Silves 3, Q37 – C3.","provenance":"Courtyard adjacent to the cistern (now the site of Silves Municipal Archaeology Museum), Silves.","obtention":"Housed in the Silves Municipal Archaeology Museum after the excavation carried out in the 1980s.","bibliography":"*Portugal Islâmico: Os últimos Sinais do Mediterrâneo,* 1998, p.98.  \nGomes, R. V., *Palácio Almóada da Alcáçova de Silves*, Lisbon, 2001, p.57. (37)  \nGomes, R. V., *Silves (Xelb), Uma Cidade do Gharb Al-Andalus, Arqueologia e História (Séculos VIII–XIII)*, Lisbon, 1999.  \nGomes, R. V., “Silves (Xelb): Uma cidade do Gharb Al-Andalus: A Alcaçova”, *Cadernos do Instituto Portuguès de Arqueologia*, Lisbon, 2004, p.402.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_PT_EN_001","author":"Maria da Conceição Amaral","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["floral decoration"],"materials":["Ceramic with polychrome decoration."]},"8c95b79c-1630-52c9-b76b-3d50a79d2673":{"name":"Dish.","description":"A circular stone-paste (fritware) dish that has a shallow well, an everted, flat rim and a low, circular foot. The well shows a young man wearing a green kaftan with a red belt, a blue undershirt and trousers, red boots and a green turban. In his raised right hand he holds a scroll. To the right of the figure is a tall spray of blue hyacinths and a red rose, to his left a blue iris and a blue hyacinth. There is additional floral detailing behind and above the figure, and the rim has a debased wave border executed in black. The underside of the dish is enhanced by an alternating pattern of three blue sprigs and three green sprigs with black outlines. A group of related dishes with similar figures survives, and it has been suggested that the man depicted may be the fictional young lover named Ibrahim, known from popular Ottoman literature. It has been suggested that such plates were produced on the Golden Horn in the 17th century on order from ordinary citizens. A very similar plate is in Château d’Ecouen, Musée de la Renaissance.","short_description":"Plates showing individual figures flanked by flowers mark the last phase of Iznik production for the popular market, starting in the early AH 11th / AD 17th century. It has been assumed that the man depicted may be a young unfulfilled lover named Ibrahim, known from popular Ottoman literature.","type":"Ottoman ceramic, stone paste","holder":"National Museums of Scotland (NMS).","dates":"Hegira, early 11th century / AD early 17th century.","location":"Edinburgh, Scotland","dimensions":"Diameter 27.3 cm.","method_for_datation":"Plates like this one, showing individual figures flanked by flowers, mark the last phase of Iznik production starting in the early 11th / early 17th century.","method_for_provenance":"Stylistically related pieces are known to have been produced in Iznik during the early 11th / 17th century.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Purchased from Bluett and Sons, London, in 1967.","bibliography":"Raby, J., and Atasoy, N., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989, pp.274–5, figs. 781–2.  \nRackham, B., *Islamic Pottery and Italian Maiolica*,London, 1959, p.47, cat. no. 201, and plate 87 A.  \n*Türkische Kunst und Kultur aus osmanischer Zeit*, exhibition catalogue, Recklinghausen, 1985, p.162, cat. no. 2/44.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Ulrike Al-Khamis","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["hyacinths","Iznik","stone-paste (fritware)"],"materials":["black","blue and bole-red underglaze","green","over which a clear and slightly greenish glaze.","Stone-paste (fritware)"]},"8cac8019-a3fa-5a86-bdc9-c979d80c824f":{"name":"Tankard","short_description":"Such stonepaste tankards with straight cylindrical bodies and applied flat angular handles were produced in the workshops of Iznik from the second half of the 16th century onwards. The specific shape most likely originated from Eastern European or Balkan leather, wooden or metal prototypes. Such tankards could probably serve both as vessels for drinks and as flower vases or interior decorations.  \nThe Khanenko Museum tankard is painted in fine free \"calligraphic\" manner with repetitive motifs of tall greyish blue tulips and two kinds of red flowers entwining with their naturally bent stems the body of the vessel. Two ribbons of a meandering pattern run around the rim and at the foot of the tankard. The style of the painting and its colour gamut suggest considering the piece was produced in the first half of the 17th century.","type":"Ceramics; Tankard","holder":"The Khanenko Museum","dates":"First half of AD 17th century","location":"Kyiv","dimensions":"Height: 20.5cm, Diameter: 10.5cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis by Yu. Miller (examination, 1961, date, origin).","method_for_provenance":"According to the entry in the old Museum Inventory Register (1925-1946).","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey","obtention":"Purchased by Bohdan and Varvara Khanenkos. Donated by Varvara Khanenko in 1918, nationalized by Bolshevik regime in 1919.","bibliography":"Bilenko, H. and Rudyck (Rudyk), H., *Oriental Collection*, guidebook, Kyiv: The Khanenko Museum, 2005.  \nCarswell, John, *Iznik Pottery*, London: British Museum Press, 1998.  \nDenny, W.B., *Iznik: the Artistry of Ottoman Ceramics*, London: Thames and Hudson, 2004.  \nRudyk, Hanna, \"Ottoman Collection in The Khanenko Museum\", *Chronicles-2000*, 1: 95 (2013): 479-495.  \nVyazmitina, M. (ed), *Mystetstvo krain islamu (Art from Islamic Countries)*, catalogue, VUAN Museum of Art, Kyiv: All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, 1930.","author":"Antonina Makarevych","copy_editor":"Janice Medina","keywords":["ceramics","Iznik","Ottoman","stonepaste","Tankard","Turkey"],"materials":["polychrome painted under transparent glaze","Stonepaste"]},"8cd96f1a-abb6-5bcf-809b-2f3caf95df11":{"name":"Bowl.","description":"An incised (sgraffiato) splashware (or slipware) bowl with green, brown and manganese glaze that was used popularly as ordinary tableware. Drawn with incised lines under the glaze there is a striking depiction of an archer, mounted on a rearing horse, and drawing his bow and arrow. The splashware technique with polychrome glaze was derived from Chinese T'ang pottery. The incised or sgraffiato technique was widespread in the medieval world – both Christian and Islamic – but relates more specifically to the sgraffiato Aqhkand ceramics produced near Tabriz in Iran in the 12th and 13th centuries. The Iranian product is characterised by a central bold motif with vigorous drawing of incised lines that would have been used to keep the glaze from running outside the design. The system was eventually carried to regions of Italy via Anatolia and then to the Byzantine provinces. Polychrome sgraffiato wares were also popular in Mamluk Egypt, where the technique was used for inscriptions and heraldic devices rather than for figurative designs.","short_description":"A bowl with incised, or *sgraffiato*, decoration of an archer on a rearing horse, drawing his bow and arrow. The technique of polychrome glaze splashed onto the surface was derived from Iranian ceramics, in their turn inspired by Chinese T’ang pottery.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"The British Museum.","dates":"Hegira 7th century / AD 13th century.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Diameter 26.3 cm.","method_for_datation":"The piece relates to wares discovered in excavations that can be dated to the AH 7th / AD 13th century, for example that found at Qal'at Jabar, where the archaeology belongs to the period AH 6th and 7th / AD 12th and 13th centuries only.","method_for_provenance":"The bowl was found in Aleppo and stylistic analysis confirms that it is from northern Syria.","provenance":"Northern Syria.","obtention":"Purchased in 1931.","bibliography":"Hobson, R., \"A Near Eastern Pottery Bowl\", British Museum Quarterly, Vol. XL, 1931, p.37.  \nLane, A., Early Islamic Pottery, London, 1947, p.26.  \nL'Orient de Saladin au temps des Ayyoubides, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 2001, p.102, cat. no. 75.  \nPorter, V., and Watson O., \"Tell Minis wares\"in Allan J., and Roberts C., (eds.), Syria and Iran: Three Studies in Medieval Ceramics, Oxford University Press, 1987, pp.175–247.  \nTonghini, C., Qal’at Jabar Pottey: A Study of a Syrian Fortified Site of the Late 11th to 14th Centuries, New York, 1998, pp.73–4.","author":"Emily Shovelton","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["figurative decoration","hunting scene","Tableware"],"materials":["brown and manganese glaze.","Incised (sgraffito) splashware (or slipware) ceramic","with green"]},"8d436c70-8d15-5b93-b5b5-044a974ad60d":{"name":"Cooking pot.","description":"Pot with vertical straight rim with flattened lip and external flange, circular mouth and cylindrical neck. The body is shaped like a truncated cone with sharp carination close to the base. It has two strap handles with a central ridge and convex base. There are horizontal incisions around the rim, neck and body and fire marks indicate that it was used in cooking. The object has been restored.","short_description":"Kitchen implement with an extremely simple form and very little decoration. This type of pot was found in an Almohad oven excavated in Mértola and appears almost exclusively in this region, which helps to identify it as a local product.","type":"Pot, ceramic","holder":"Mértola Museum.","dates":"Early Hegira 7th century / early AD 13th century.","location":"Mértola., Beja.","dimensions":"Height 21.5 cm, width 35 cm, diameter (of rim) 23.5 cm, diameter (of base) 19 cm.","method_for_datation":"It was dated to the Almohad period on the basis of stratigraphy, since it was found in the abandoned levels of one of the houses of the citadel vacated after the Christian conquest of Mértola in AH 635–6 / AD 1238.","method_for_provenance":"This type of pot has been found in an Almohad kiln excavated in Mértola and is almost exclusive to this region. This indicates that it was produced locally.","provenance":"Mértola.","obtention":"Found in the archaeological excavations carried out by the Campo Arqueológico de Mértola in the citadel of the Castle of Mértola.","bibliography":"Gómez Martínez, S., “Catálogo da Cerâmica”, in *Museu de Mértola. Arte Islâmica*, ed. S. Macias, Mértola, 2001, pp.107–67.  \nTorres, C. and Macias, S. (eds.), *O Portugal Islâmico*, Lisbon, 1998, p.155.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_PT_EN_001","author":"Susana Gómez Martínez","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["cooking","Daily life","food"],"materials":["Common ceramic made from reddish paste","modelled on a potter’s wheel and fired in an oxidising atmosphere."]},"8d76b341-a93b-5d3a-8003-baf0071d63f7":{"name":"Vase","alternate_name":"Jarrón","description":"The Orientalism or Neo-Mudéjar style gave new light to old techniques like decorating ceramic with lustre; new ceramic artisans such as Pickman, in Seville, produced pieces in Neo-Mudéjar or Orientalist style. This piece won an award in one of the International Exhibitions. It reproduces the shape of the vase known as \"The Alhambra vase\" in lustre decoration.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"National Museum of Decorative Arts","dates":"1899–1930","location":"Madrid","provenance":"Pickman y compania, La Cartuja (Seville)","author":"Ana Cabrera","copy_editor":"Anne Dowell"},"8dfc5c9a-d7a1-5ca9-b551-ffaee845f356":{"name":"Decorated ceramic wares from Asyut","short_description":"In the second half of the 19th century, a cruise along the Nile was one of the highlights of a trip to Egypt for prosperous Europeans. In Asyut, en route from Cairo to Aswan, tourists purchased the typical products of the pottery metropolis. In hundreds of houses potters created wares for local demand, for tourism, and for export: incense vessels for the mosques of Asyut, flacons for rose water, or crocodile shaped foot rasps. Previously, vases from ancient Egypt influenced the form and decoration of silver and porcelain wares in Europe. At this time, silverware from France and Vienna began to serve as models for the potters in Asyut. In the wake of tourism and transnational trade, a mixture of local pottery art and European expectations was created. These new wares were sufficiently \"Egyptian\" to appear exotic, while remaining trusted and inexpensive to be brought home as  \"typical\" souvenirs. Today, no one in Asyut remembers the once flourishing pottery industry.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Weltmuseum Wien","dates":"1893","location":"Vienna","dimensions":"H: max. 27cm","method_for_datation":"Entry in the general inventory and archival documents.","method_for_provenance":"Entry in the general inventory book.","provenance":"Egypt, Asyut","obtention":"Catalog entry: \"Collected by curator Josef Szombathy, donated by Wilhelm Ritter von Gutmann, 1893.\"","bibliography":"Steinmann, Axel, \"It should be Genuinely Egyptian!\", in Christian Schicklgruber (ed), *Weltmuseum Wien, exhibition catalogue*, Vienna: Weltmuseum Wien, 2017: 198-199.","materials":["Ceramic"]},"8e119327-6e4c-5502-ac20-00d69c2be9c3":{"name":"Calligraphy bowl","short_description":"This bowl presents a reddish clay body coated with white slip to create a uniform background ornamented with elegant calligraphy carrying an auspicious message in black *kufic* script.","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 4th century / AD 10th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Height 8 cm, diameter 24 cm","provenance":"Eastern Iran (Nishapur)","keywords":["calligraphy","ceramic","inscription","pottery","Samanid"],"materials":["Earthenware","white slip and black slip decoration under transparent glaze"]},"8e2d8258-5733-5cff-a71b-a0329ecb34b2":{"name":"Portable stove.","description":"A portable stove consisting of an upper or fire chamber, a grate and a lower chamber or ash collector. The upper chamber has a vertical rim or moulding into which another object is fitted, a circular mouth, a cylindrical body with sharp carination, holes to ventilate the fire and two vertical strap handles with a conical protuberance at the top. The grate is convex with circular openings between the upper chamber and the ash collector, which is almost cylindrical with an oval opening and flat base. It is decorated with a cord of impressed fingernail marks at the point of carination, three parallel wavy incised lines and white paint on a reddish background which traces interlacing vertical and horizontal lines. The object has many fire marks from its use as a portable stove for cooking or heating. The object has been restored.","short_description":"Kitchen utensil from the Almohad era, probably produced locally. The stove consists of an upper (or fire) chamber, a grill and a lower (or ash) chamber. This type of item has been used up to the present day in this region.","type":"Stove, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Mértola.","dates":"Hegira early 7th century / AD early 13th century.","location":"Mértola., Beja.","dimensions":"Height 22.2 cm, width 33.5 cm, diameter (of mouth) 29.2 cm, diameter (of base) 15.6 cm.","method_for_datation":"It was dated to the Almohad period on the basis of stratigraphy, since it was found in the abandoned levels of one of the houses of the citadel vacated after the Christian conquest of Mértola in AH 635–6 / AD 1238.","method_for_provenance":"This type of object was usually traded locally. Moreover it is a very common form in the region, with technical and formal characteristics typical of items produced in Mértola.","provenance":"Mértola.","obtention":"Found in the archaeological excavations carried out by the Campo Arqueológico de Mértola in the citadel of the Castle of Mértola.","bibliography":"Gómez Martínez, S., “Catálogo da Cerâmica”, in *Museu de Mértola. Arte Islâmica*, ed. S. Macias, Mértola, 2001, pp.107–67.  \nGómez Martínez, S., “La Cerámica Decorada Islámica de Mértola”, in *VI Colloque International sur la Céramique Médiévale en Méditerranée, Aix-en-Provence, 1995*, Aix-en-Provence, 1997, pp.311–25.  \nGómez Martínez, S., “Contenedores de Fuego en el Garb al-Andalus”, in *Actas do III Congresso de Arqueologia Peninsular. Vila Real de Trás-os-Montes, Setembro de 1999, vol. VII: Arqueologia da Idade Média da Península Ibérica*, Porto, 2000, pp.421–34.  \nTorres, C. and Macias, S. (eds.), *O Portugal Islâmico*, Lisbon, 1998, p.155.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_PT_EN_001","author":"Susana Gómez Martínez","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["Daily life","domestic vessels","fire","furnishing","kitchenware"],"materials":["Common ceramic made from moderately fine reddish paste","modelled on a potter’s wheel and fired in an alternating oxidising and reducing atmosphere."]},"8e67c517-318a-50e5-bf21-5fd465b11ddd":{"name":"Nine-tiled panel","short_description":"The panel reproduces the transversal section, stylised, of the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina. Below the upper tier, a central cuspid arch and two lateral arches supported by four elegant spiral columns, crowned by a crescent. Three mosque lamps are suspended in correspondence to the centre of the vaults of the arches. In the middle, a central scroll displays the inscription \"Glory to Allah\".","type":"Tile panel; ceramic","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 11th century / AD 17th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Height 84 cm, width 84 cm","provenance":"Syria","keywords":["architectonic decoration","panel","tiles","tilework"],"materials":["Underglaze decoration"]},"8ebb69af-e6c3-5fed-b470-2f450f6466b1":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"The bowl displays the characteristic polychrome decoration of in and overglaze colours, which were occasionally expertly finished off by partial gilding after the second firing. This technique is known as *minaʿi*, the Persian word for enamel. Alternatively, the term “seven colours” (Pers. *haft rang*) is used.  \n  \nThe base of the bowl is dominated by an enthroned ruler sitting with legs crossed on a low throne, complete with a backrest. On his flanks, two attendants who are traditionally interpreted as ministers or counsellors accompany him. Symmetrically arranged peacocks, symbolizing the magnificence of the ruler, occupy the free area above and below this group. Meanwhile, the wall of the vessel presents twelve seated men, some of whom have recognisable attributes like falcons and a tambourine whilst others appear to be engaged in conversation. Courtly entertainment like music, the reciting of poetry, drinking of wine, and hunting had been part of classical courtly iconography since the seventh century. Such iconography was not only witnessed in Iran but throughout the entire Islamic world and further influenced secular Christian art in the Mediterranean region.","type":"Ceramic vessel","holder":"Museum Rietberg","initial_owner":"Private collection, Switzerland","dates":"Hegira end or 6th-beginning of 7th century / AD end of 12th-beginning of 13th century","location":"Zurich","dimensions":"Heigth: 9.1cm, Diameter: 19.5cm","method_for_datation":"By comparison with similar dated objects","method_for_provenance":"By comparison with stylistically similar works","provenance":"Iran, Kashan","obtention":"Bequest of Martha and Ursula Wirz","bibliography":"Watson, Oliver, *Ceramics From Islamic Lands*, London: Thames & Hudson, 2004: esp. 363-371.","author":"Axel Langer","copy_editor":"Jonathan Turnbull","materials":["Frit ware","turquoise glaze and decoration using inglaze and overglaze colours"]},"8eee28ae-e98c-58dd-82dd-0212290a8232":{"name":"Strainer.","description":"The greyish earthenware fragment showing openwork at the centre was part of a jug with strainer. The slightly convex strainer was placed at the juncture of neck and shoulder of the vessel and was intended to protect the stored liquid from pollution and insects. Its design is inscribed in a circle and shows a quadruped passing to the left. The motif is set against a filigree background of rhombs. The major outlines of the animal, usually called a gazelle, are incised into the material. The remaining surface of the body is left plain. A striated zigzag line between two circles surrounds the quadruped.  \nDecorated strainers are known from excavations of sites dated to the AH 2nd–9th / AD 8th–15th century. Strainers of the Fatimid period, which was the high point of their development, show not only the most varied patterns, but also the most elaborated compositions and the finest execution. As well as gazelle-like quadrupeds, other zoomorphic motifs such as elephants, lions, hares, birds or fish are depicted on the strainers.  \nThe strainers are only small fragments of vessels, but they call attention to themselves. One reason might be the unexpected combination of simple earthenware, mostly undecorated on the outside, with costly designs inside the neck of the jugs. Another might be that the potters created a highly aesthetic form for a simple utilitarian object. The complex patterns of the openwork carried out within small areas reveal the skills of the craftsmen.","short_description":"Earthenware fragment which was integrated in a vessel as a strainer. The latticework displays a quadruped, possibly a gazelle, passing to the left. The strainer was placed at the juncture of neck and shoulder of the earthenware vessel to protect the stored liquid from insects and pollution.","type":"Strainer, earthenware","holder":"Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities (Medelhavsmuseet).","owner":"National Museum of Fine Arts, Stockholm. In order to reorganise the expanding collections, the main part of the Islamic collection has been on permanent loan to the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities since 1982.","dates":"Hegira 5th century / AD 11th century.","location":"Stockholm","dimensions":"Diameter 6.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"A strainer also showing a gazelle was excavated at al-Fustat and dated according to numismatic evidence of undisturbed loci to the 5th / 11th century.","method_for_provenance":"Similar strainers were excavated at al-Fustat and their place of manufacture ascribed to the city. According to F. R. Martin, this strainer comes from excavations at al-Fustat.","provenance":"Al-Fustat, Egypt.","obtention":"Purchased from the collection of the Swedish art dealer and art historian F. R. Martin in 1921.","bibliography":"Olmer, P., *Catalogue Général du Musée Arabe du Caire: Les Filtres de Gargoulettes*, Cairo, 1932.  \nScanlon, G. T., *Fustat Expedition Final Report. Vol. 1: Catalogue of Filters*, Winona Lake, 1986.  \nWittkowski, G., “Arabic Filters from the Collection of the Cracow Archaeological Museum”, *Materialy Archeologiczne* XXX, 1997, 41–55.","author":"Friederike Voigt","copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["animal decoration","earthenware","purity of water","water","zoomorphic imagery"],"materials":["Earthenware","incised.","unglazed"]},"8f458da9-54d7-5f9f-b148-b999f3b4cd27":{"name":"Ablution Ewer","short_description":"Geometric patterns and floral motifs in red and liquid gold adorn this white porcelain ewer from Ottoman Turkey. The bird-shaped body is reminiscent of similar pieces from the Umayyad dynasty. These types of vessels would pour water, often scented, for ablution purposes or to clean guests’ hands before a feast.  \n  \nWhile borrowing elements such as flowers, the paisley leaf and fruit from the Iznik art, a craftsman likely designed the ewer for the Hungarian market. With growing interest in Asian and Ottoman ceramics in 19th century Europe, craftsmen from Italy, France and Hungary attempted to imitate Iznik pottery. Meanwhile, Turkish artisans wished to suit the European palate, tailoring the typical Ottoman production.  \n  \nThis ewer embodies the lavish Ottoman trend of blending influences from China, the Italian Renaissance, the Balkans and Iznik style. From this imitation of art through mutual admiration, new objects were created. Their unique interplay of styles is studied until today.","type":"Domestic tools","holder":"FBQ Museum","owner":"Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani","dates":"19th century","location":"Shahaniya","dimensions":"Length: 20cm, Width: 11cm, Height: 46.5cm","method_for_datation":"The date and origin were established in research-based comparison from an examination of material, painting, shape and style","method_for_provenance":"The date and origin were established in research-based comparison from an examination of material, painting, shape and style","provenance":"Turkey","obtention":"Purchase","bibliography":"Artan, T., \"EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY OTTOMAN PRINCESSES AS COLLECTORS: Chinese and European Porcelains in the Topkapı Palace Museum\", *Ars Orientalis*, 39 (2010): 113–147.  \nGoekce, E., \"Iznik Ceramics: History and Present-Day\", *Athens Journal of Humanities and Arts*, 5 (2018): 225–242.  \nLe Corbeiller, C., \"A Medici Porcelain Pilgrim Flask\", *The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal*, 16 (1988): 119–126.  \nMleziva, J., \"Iznik or Paris? Imitations of Ottoman pottery in the collection of the West Bohemian Museum in Pilsen\", *Annals of the Náprstek Museum*, 37 : 1 (2016): 33–40.  \nRice, D., \"Studies In Islamic Metal Work—V\", *Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies*, 17: 2 (1955): 206–231.  \nYeni̇şehi̇rli̇oǧlu, F., \"Ottoman Ceramics in European Contexts\", *Muqarnas*, 21 (2004): 373–382.","author":"Sarah Schroeder","copy_editor":"Janice Medina","keywords":["Ablution","ewer","Porcelain","Turkey"],"materials":["Porcelain"]},"8f8ea92e-671e-5c67-8e28-151c8dfb79b3":{"name":"Dish with stylised bird.","description":"A deep dish with curved sides and a flat base, decorated with a large figure of a stylised bird with filiform, almost plant-like, long wings. The body is rendered using a series of rectangular panels filled with thick zigzag lines. The base of the dish is mostly decorated with large flowering bushes, palmettes and clusters of small dots within a frame consisting of a fringed motif that runs below a brim painted in solid lustre.","short_description":"The decoration of this deep dish is typical of late Valencian production, characterised by flowering bushes, large birds and red lustre.","type":"Dish, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”","dates":"Hegira end of 12th century / AD end of 18th century.","location":"Rome","dimensions":"Diameter 36 cm.","method_for_provenance":"The dish belongs to late Valencian production in the 12th / 18th century characterised by specific decorative motifs such as the carnation plants and large birds, as well as a vivid red lustre.","provenance":"Spain, Valencian workshop.","obtention":"Purchase.","bibliography":"Ainaud De Lasarte, J., *Cèramica y Vidrio*, Ars Hispaniae, Vol. 10, Madrid, 1952.  \nFronthingham, A. W., *Lustreware of Spain*, New York, 1951.  \nTorre, P., “Maioliche a Lustro Ispano-Moresche”, *Serie Schede Museo Nazionale d'Arte Orientale*, 7, Rome, 1987.  \nTorre, P., *Le Mille e una Notte: Ceramiche Persiane, Turche e Ispano-Moresche, Faenza*, 1990.  \nTorre, P., “Techniques Journeying from East to West at the Time of the Crusades”, *Crusades: Myth and Realities*, Nicosia, 2004.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_ES_EN_001","author":"Paola Torre","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["Dish","figurative decoration","floral decoration","lustre","Mudéjar art"],"materials":["Metallic lustre-painted ceramic."]},"8fd8864e-24a3-584e-8096-e0df273d81e1":{"name":"Hanging lamp.","description":"A ceramic lamp with bulbous body and flaring neck, painted blue-and-white. The neck bears an inscription in angular *kufic* script between friezes of geometric knotted designs. Small split-palmette tendrils emanate from some of the letters. The words are illegible but may derive from the phrase 'wa-asu Sahwan' ('and they grieved distractedly'). Around the main body is a scroll of lotus blossoms with the distinctive 'tadpole' leaf common to a number of blue-and-white ceramics of this period. The row of elongated pointed panels around the shoulder of the lamp is a design that is also found on Ottoman silverware, and a motif that recalls Balkan silverware. This presents an interesting example of the innovative exchange both artistically and culturally that saw shapes, designs and patterns shift between different materials and between the cultures of Europe and Asia.","short_description":"Around the neck of this blue-and-white ceramic lamp is a *kufic* inscription of illegible words. Although modelled on a glass prototype, this ceramic lamp would clearly give little light. Its function must have been more symbolic or decorative than functional.","type":"Blue-White ceramic","holder":"The British Museum.","dates":"About hegira 917 / AD 1512.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 22.7 cm.","method_for_datation":"It is thought that this lamp came from the Turbe of Bayezid II (d. 917 / 1512), because of its close resemblance to a group of four lamps made for this building.","method_for_provenance":"Iznik was the main centre of production for ceramics of this quality in Ottoman Turkey.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Bequeathed to the British Museum by John Henderson 1878.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989, no. 109.  \n  \nCarswell, J., *Iznik Pottery*, London, 1998, pp.41–3, plate 23.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Emily Shovelton","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["blue-and-white","Mosque interior decoration"],"materials":["Blue-and-white underglaze painted ceramic."]},"900e462b-7bd7-52b5-bff8-75c6f5cccaf4":{"name":"Vase.","description":"A magnificent flower-vase with a circular body, flaring foot and tall, flaring neck with curved arms. The construction of this type of vase is complicated and very few have survived. Covering the entire vase is a vine-leaf pattern painted in blue and brown lustre. Displayed in a roundel on the main body is the coat of arms of Piero 'Il Gottoso' ('the Gouty') de Medici (AD 1414-69), or his son, Lorenzo 'Il Magnifico' ('the Magnificent', AD 1449-92). This comprises seven circular shapes, one of which is painted with lilies, the symbol of the Kings of France that was added to the Medici arms in AD 1465. On the reverse of the vase is another roundel with the Medici symbol of a diamond and gold ring, painted in gold lustre, symbolising eternity, and two feathers. Lustre was made by applying iridescent metallic decoration to twice-fired pottery, which was then fired for a third time. This technique was first introduced to craftsmen in Malaga, southern Spain. Throughout the AH 9th / AD 15th century Valencia was a thriving centre of lustre-ware manufacture; Valencian wares soon becoming renowned throughout Europe. Italy had a particularly active trade with Spain and also began to manufacture luxury ceramics in direct competition with Valencian wares. Although largely a Christian area, both Christians and Muslims were said to have been employed as potters during this period.","short_description":"A spectacular vase covered in a repeat vine-leaf pattern in blue and brown lustre. On one side of the body is a roundel with the coat of arms belonging to the Italian Medici family. On the reverse of the vase is another roundel with a Medici symbol of a diamond and gold ring with two feathers.","type":"Earthenware, ceramics","holder":"The British Museum.","dates":"Hegira 869–97 / AD 1465-92.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 57 cm.","method_for_datation":"The coat of arms belongs to Piero de Medici (816–73 / 1414–69). In 869 / 1465 King Louis IX of France granted Piero the honour of including the lilies of France in the Medici arms. Lilies are included in the design of this vase which means it must have been produced between 869 / 1465 and Piero's death in 873 / 1469.","method_for_provenance":"The shape and technique are typical of ceramic wares produced in Valencia during the 9th / 15th century. Large quantities of lustre-wares were exported to Italy, particularly to the wealthy families of Tuscany. Furthermore, during the 9th / 15th century Valencia was the major centre for the production of ceramics in Spain.","provenance":"Valencia, Spain.","obtention":"Part of the Godman Bequest to the British Museum in 1983.","bibliography":"Martínez Caviró, B., Cerámica Hispanomusulmana, Madrid, 1991.  \nRubin, P. L., and Wright, A., Renaissance Florence, London, 1999, cat. no. 81.  \nWilson, T., Ceramic Art of the Italian Renaissance, exhibition catalogue, London, 1987, pp.28–31, cat. no. 16, pl.16.","author":"Emily Shovelton","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Coats of arms","floral decoration"],"materials":["Moulded and applied earthenware with white glaze","painted with blue and brown lustre and manganese."]},"90313d34-f14e-568c-b0bd-898e9a4aef37":{"name":"Bowl","description":"This bowl was made using the *mina'i* enamel technique. Patterns and figures are depicted in cobalt blue, brown, green, red and black on a white primed surface. The centre of the bowl depicts a round-faced, almond-eyed, human figure with arched brows holding a goblet while seated cross-legged on a throne. On each side of this figure is a person standing with folded arms.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts","dates":"The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts","location":"Istanbul","dimensions":"20.6cm, 8.6cm","place_of_production":"Iran","materials":["Ceramic","Mina’i technique"]},"90eb5666-a36c-5490-8731-23f1e4f7d426":{"name":"Water jug","description":"This artefact is inscribed in Ottoman Turkish with the phrase:  \n  \n\"İçdikçe bulasın şifa, bu mâ-i lezîzden.\"  \n  \n\"May you find healing each time you drink from this delightful water.\"","type":"Jug","holder":"İstanbul Su Müzesi / Istanbul Water Museum","dates":"Hegira early 14th century / AD early 20th century","location":"Istanbul","dimensions":"Height: 31cm","place_of_production":"Anatolia","method_for_datation":"Determined by the experts of the Istanbul Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts.","method_for_provenance":"It was determined by the experts of the Istanbul Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts.","provenance":"Kütahya","obtention":"Purchased.","author":"Ercan Topçu","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","materials":["Ceramic"]},"9143cd75-c9e3-5465-8800-1db8617ff642":{"name":"Dish.","description":"An example of an early blue-and-white Iznik 'grape dish', the design for which is based on a 15th-century Chinese prototype of three bunches of grapes amid vine leaves. The original Chinese porcelain designs had grapes and vine leaves surrounded by 12 sprays of flowers; this Iznik example has only 11 sprays of flowers. It is also interesting to note that the Iznik potter has chosen not to copy the original early 15th-century Ming-style wave pattern on the rim, but has used instead a 14th-century Yuan-style rim. The potters of Iznik had access to, and were influenced by, Chinese porcelains. This was especially so after Sultan Salim the Grim (r. AH 917–26 / AD 1512–20) conquered Tabriz in Iran, Damascus in Syria, and Cairo in Egypt, where he obtained large quantities of Chinese ceramics which were brought back to the Ottoman capital, Istanbul, between AH 919 and 922 / AD 1514 and 1517.","short_description":"Although it may look Chinese, this dish was made in the town of Iznik in Turkey during the AH 10th / AD 16th century. The Ottomans loved Chinese ceramics, especially the blue and white ones. They commissioned the potters of Iznik to reproduce these designs with some adaptations to suit Ottoman taste.","type":"Ottoman ceramic","holder":"Burrell Collection, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira 10th century / AD early 16th century.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 8 cm, diameter 42 cm.","method_for_datation":"Artistic analysis: examples of the original Chinese versions of the Yuan- and Ming-period dishes survive, and examples are to be found in the ceramic collections of the Topkapi Palace, Istanbul.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Part of the collection given to the City of Glasgow by Sir William and Lady Burrell in 1944.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1994.  \n  \nCarswell, J., *Iznik Pottery*, London, 1998.  \n  \nLane, A., *Later Islamic Pottery, Persia, Syria, Egypt, Turkey*, London, 1971.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Chinese motifs","Commerce","court life","floral decoration","grape","vine scrolls"],"materials":["Fritware","slipped and painted under a lead glaze."]},"915b2a0a-3698-5292-bb7d-21c5904180f8":{"name":"Jar.","description":"A virtually undamaged jar with a swelling body and a narrow neck with an everted rim. Except for the foot-ring the whole jar is glazed and decorated with lustre painting. The lustre decoration begins about a third of the way up from the foot and is divided into horizontal bands. The bottom band features interlaced ribbons painted in reserve; above them, a wider band has heart-shaped palmettes. At the top is a band which displays five fish, their scales and other details scratched through the lustre to appear in white. The neck is decorated with a band of triangles and dots. The jar’s decoration is reminiscent of Coptic art: fish are a traditionally Christian motif, and motifs using repeated fish (and birds) are found in early Coptic textiles.","short_description":"A large vase with extensive decoration in lustre, including a band of prominent fish around the shoulder. The presence of the fish may indicate that the vase was made for use in the Coptic Christian community, as early Coptic textiles feature similar repetitions of fish-motifs.","type":"Painted glazed ceramic","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum.","dates":"About hegira 390–415 / AD 1000–1025.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 31.9 cm, diameter 24.4 cm.","method_for_datation":"A very similar jar (although with no figural decoration) was found in Fustat in 1966 and was dated to the first quarter of the 11th century.","method_for_provenance":"The object was found at Fustat (old Cairo).","provenance":"Probably Cairo, Egypt.","obtention":"In 1910 the art collector Dikran Garabed Kelekian placed his collection of Islamic ceramics on loan to the V&A.  Fifteen of the finest pieces, including this jar, were purchased by the Museum (with the assistance of the National Art Collections Fund) after Kelekian’s death.","bibliography":"Contadini, A., Fatimid Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1998, pp.86–7.  \n  \nSoustiel, J., La céramique islamique, Fribourg, 1985, p.133, no. 147.","author":"Barry Wood","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Christian themes","figurative decoration","water"],"materials":["Painted glazed ceramic."]},"925c28b8-4c6f-550b-8808-705ed2594359":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"The centre of the bowl is decorated with fine precise motifs in black under a brilliant glaze and underlined in blue.  An elegant inscription runs along the inner rim.","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 6th–7th century / AD 12th–13th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Diameter max 14 cm","provenance":"Iran","keywords":["ceramic","frit body","pottery"],"materials":["blue and black decoration under transparent glaze","Frit body"]},"92d942fe-2bc5-5d4f-9f93-e15c911e7d1c":{"name":"Footed bowl.","description":"An incised, circular earthenware bowl with steep flaring sides, a rimless lip and a flat base that is supported by a high, splayed foot. Inside the bowl, just below the rim, are fish alternating with brief inscriptions in *thuluth* script. On the outside, underneath the rim, is a scroll band and beneath this, above the foot, is a pseudo-epigraphic frieze. This bowl is a typical example of *sgraffito* earthenware produced in Mamluk Cairo, being a rather crude utilitarian ware, the reddish body of which is covered with a white slip with *sgraffito* decoration under a yellow, or sometimes green, glaze. Additional elements of the design, particularly epigraphic details and blazons, are generally highlighted in brown slip, an approach that echoes, conceptually at least, the metal inlay on contemporary brass vessels. Many pieces of this type have been attributed to one particular contemporary potter named Sharaf al-Abawani.","short_description":"The potters of Mamluk Cairo produced much utilitarian ware from coarse red clay, a white slip through which the decoration was carved and a yellow-green glaze. Epigraphic details and blazons are often highlighted in brown slip, an approach that echoes the metal inlay on contemporary brass vessels.","type":"Earthenware, ceramics","holder":"National Museums of Scotland (NMS).","dates":"Hegira, mid-8th century / AD mid-14th century.","location":"Edinburgh, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 13.4 cm, diameter 21 cm.","method_for_datation":"This bowl belongs to a well-known and chronologically defined group of Mamluk ceramics that date to around the mid-8th / 14th century.","method_for_provenance":"Items of this type are known to have been produced at Fustat in Cairo during the Mamluk period. Large quantities of complete vessels and sherds are held by museums worldwide and many sherds have been found at Fustat.","provenance":"Fustat, Cairo, Egypt.","obtention":"Purchased by NMS from Spink and Son Ltd, London, in 1981.","bibliography":"Atil, E., *Renaissance of Islam: Art of the Mamluks,* Washington D.C., 1981, pp.148–9; p.188, cat. no. 95 (for a similar bowl and other ceramics).","linkcatalogs":"IAM_EG_EN_001","author":"Ulrike Al-Khamis","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["earthenware","Sgraffito","Thuluth"],"materials":["Incised (sgraffito) red earthenware with a white slip and yellow glaze."]},"92faf071-041f-5e86-a8af-4013003f481e":{"name":"Water jar, with one handle","description":"The upper section of this water jar, discovered in one of the houses at Murwab, was found during the Qatari-French Mission's excavation in 2007. This kitchenware features a globular body paired with a high, straight neck. The neck is adorned with incised horizontal lines, and the lip is simple with a rounded end. Crafted from red clay, the surface is covered with a thicker, darker red slip, albeit significantly damaged over most of the surface.","type":"Container","holder":"National Museum of Qatar","owner":"National Museum of Qatar","initial_owner":"Qatar Museums","dates":"AH late 2nd to late 3rd century / AD late 8th to late 9th century","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Height: 28.5cm, rim diameter: 10cm, body diameter: 31cm","place_of_production":"Arabian Peninsula, or southern Iran","method_for_datation":"Stratigraphy/scientific analysis.","method_for_provenance":"Stratigraphy/scientific and laboratory analysis.","provenance":"Murwab, Qatar","obtention":"Archaeological excavation.","bibliography":"Carvajal Lopez, J., Guerin, A., and Georgakopoulou, M., \"Petrographic analysis of ceramics of Murwab, an early islamic site in Qatar\", *Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies*, 51 (2022): 55–70.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Preliminary pottery study: Murwab horizon in progress, ninth century AD, Qatar\", in *Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies*, 40 (2010): 17–34.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Territory and settlement patterns during the Abbasid period (ninth century AD): the village of Murwab (Qatar)\", *Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies*, 39 (2009): 181–196.  \n  \nHardy-Guilbert, Cl., \"Fouilles archéologiques a Murwab, Qatar\", in R. Boucharlat et J.-F. Salles (eds.), *Arabie Orientale, Mésopotamie et Iran méridional: De l’Age du Fer au début de la période islamique*, Paris: ERC 37, 1984: 169–188.  \n  \nKnuth, E., \"An Early Islamic fort and settlement at Murwab”, in F. Hojlund (ed.), *Danish Archaeological Investigations in Qatar 1956–1974*, Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 97 (2017): 83–98.","author":"Alexandrine Guerin","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","keywords":["earthenware","Jar","storage","Transportation"],"materials":["Earthenware"]},"93034e8f-4ac4-536a-bb90-de0d5a497f5a":{"name":"Ceramic bottle","short_description":"This vase is typical of local Moroccan earthenware. It is glazed with blue ornamentation on whitish ground. This vase was acquired in 1873 at the Vienna World Fair.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"MKG Museum for Applied Arts","dates":"Hegira 13th century / AD 19th century","location":"Hamburg","dimensions":"Height: 28.7cm, Width: 13.5cm","method_for_datation":"Acquired at the Vienna World Fair, 1873.","method_for_provenance":"Weltausstellung 1873 Wien (World Exposition 1873 Vienna).","provenance":"Morocco","obtention":"Purchased in 1873.","copy_editor":"Caitlin Link","keywords":["vase"],"materials":["Glazed ceramic"]},"934df7dd-8577-516b-8cc1-6742a0d27a2d":{"name":"Mosque lamp.","description":"A large ceramic mosque lamp with a high flaring neck and a bulbous, almost pear-shaped body on a low foot. The lamp is divided into three registers by thin white bands. In the top register, around the neck, a Qur'anic inscription features part of the famous Light Verse (24: 35), which, because it likens the light of God to a lamp, was often used on mosque lamps. The lower two registers are decorated with floral motifs on the body which are painted under the glaze in turquoise, cobalt-blue, black, and red. Curiously, the floral motifs, most noticeably the large bisected quatrefoil motifs in red, do not line up between the middle and lower registers; perhaps the painter was working from a design not originally meant for an object of this shape. Around the middle of the lamp are large bosses alternating with handles, one of which is now missing. The loss of one handle may be the reason that the suspension chains have been riveted directly to the lamp's body.  \n  \nThis 'lamp' – which would have shed no light, being made of ceramic, and is thus clearly meant to be symbolic – is reputed to have been made for the mosque complex in Istanbul built by Sultan Süleyman 'the Magnificent'. This complex was an important act of architectural patronage which provided a major stimulus to the Ottoman ceramic industry, centred at Iznik. One result was the addition of a brilliant red to the colour range of Ottoman ceramics. The clearly tentative quality of the red on this lamp, the thin and uneven application of the pigment, indicates that it comes from the early phases of the Ottoman potters' experimentation with the colour.","short_description":"A ceramic ‘lamp’ with a bulbous body and flaring neck. Although clearly meant to hang from a ceiling like a regular lamp, it would have shed no light, and is thus clearly meant to be symbolic. It is reputed to have been made for the Süleymaniye mosque complex, which was completed in AH 963 / AD 1557.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, glazed, calligraphy","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum.","initial_owner":"Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent.","dates":"Around hegira 963 / AD 1557.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 48 cm, diameter 31 cm.","method_for_datation":"The lamp is supposed to have been made for the mosque complex built by Sultan Süleyman in around 963 / 1557.","method_for_provenance":"Iznik was the centre of quality ceramic production in this period.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Purchased by the Museum in 1885.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, Istanbul/London, 1989, p.224.  \n  \nAtil, E., The Age of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, Washington, DC, 1987, pp.264–7.  \n  \nLane, A., Later Islamic Pottery: Persia, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, London, 1957, p.56.  \n  \nStanley, T., with Rosser-Owen, M. and Vernoit, S., Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Middle East, London, 2004, p.28, p.103.  \n  \nWatson, O., \"An Iznik Mosque-Lamp,\" Oriental Art 35:4, Winter 1989–90, pp.194-5.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Barry Wood","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["calligraphy","floral decoration","Mosque interior decoration","patronage","religious object"],"materials":["Painted and glazed ceramic."]},"93aea7f2-ded4-548e-b4d4-d89f40968a55":{"name":"Tile panel.","description":"The rectangular panel is composed of square tiles dominated by a white and brown horseshoe-shaped arch (*mihrab* – prayer niche) with a yellow half-moon on it. The arch is supported by two columns, decorated with a zigzag pattern in turquoise, opaque yellow and light blue, each standing on a base and with a capital. A dense, symmetrical floral design fills the area under the arch emerging from a large footed bowl supplemented by a second smaller one and a vase above. The bowl is flanked symmetrically with cypress-like trees with half-moons on the top and two birds beside the foot. Two other birds are shown on the rim of the large bowl from which also spring two sprays of flowers. From the centre of the vase a fantastic composite-blossom emerges with the stems of other flowers on its point. The sprays of flowers growing out from the stems of the central axis fill the field within the arch. Two sprays with blossoms like carnations and peonies and two serrated-edged leaves in combination with sprays of white flowers take up the remaining area under the arch. The spandrels are symmetrically filled with half-palmette motifs and scrollwork in reverse against a blue background. Although the potters used a standardised repertoire of decorative elements such as the *mihrab*, vase motifs and symmetrical composed flowers, the decoration of these tile panels is individual.  \nIn the AH 11th and 12th / AD 17th and 18th centuries, faience (glazed coloured earthenware) became the dominant element of Tunisian architectural decoration. After a first firing the tiles are covered with an opaque white tin glaze. The mineral pigments used for the polychrome decoration are applied over the dried glaze. In a second firing, glaze and pigments are melted together. The colours used – antimony yellow, copper turquoise, cobalt-blue and manganese brown – are typical for faience, suitable for withstanding high temperatures.","short_description":"Rectangular panel of faience tiles painted with a horseshoe-shaped arch. A dense floral design, emerging from a footed bowl, fills the area under the arch. In the AH 11th–12th / AD 17th–18th centuries, faience (glazed coloured earthenware) became the dominant element of Tunisian architectural decoration.","type":"Panel, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities (Medelhavsmuseet).","dates":"Hegira 12th–13th centuries  / AD 18th–19th centuries","location":"Stockholm","dimensions":"Height 139 cm, width 73.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"This tile panel shows close similarities to panels made by a faience atelier working from about the mid-12th–mid-13th / mid-18th–mid-19th centuries.","method_for_provenance":"The style of decoration was characteristic of ateliers in Tunis.","provenance":"Tunisia, possibly Tunis.","obtention":"There is no information about acquisition.","bibliography":"*Coleurs de Tunisie: 25 Siècles de Céramique*, Exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1994.  \nLoviconi, A. and Loviconi, D., *Les Faiences de Tunisie*, Aix-en-Provence, 1994.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TN_EN_001","author":"Friederike Voigt","copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["architectural decoration","ceramic","floral decoration","Tile panel"],"materials":["Ceramic","faience."]},"93c26b61-bb1e-54cf-b39b-ecc84bcbe143":{"name":"Bowl with polo player","short_description":"The bowl depicts a mounted equestrian figure, along with birds and flowers, on a yellow background. To the left of the figure, along the rim, there is a pseudo-*kufic* inscription. The bowl’s decoration in yellow, green, and black is typical of Nishapur buff ware. Representations of similar figures are often linked to a Sassanid hunting motif, but the image could also depict a polo player. Later, in the Seljuq period, representations of polo were frequently used in both lustre and *mina'i* ware.","type":"Dish","holder":"MKG Museum for Applied Arts","dates":"Hegira 4th century / AD 10th century","location":"Hamburg","dimensions":"Height: 8.9cm, Diameter: 21.4cm","method_for_datation":"By comparison with other objects excavated in Nishapur.","method_for_provenance":"Auction Hauswedel.","provenance":"Iran, Nishapur","obtention":"Purchased in 1956.","bibliography":"Erdmann, K., “Keramische Erwerbungen der Islamischen Abteilung: 1960-1963,\" *Berliner Museen*, 14 : 1 (1964): 8-18.  \nJakobsen, K., *Islamische Keramik*, Hamburg: Bilderhefte des Museums für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, 1959.  \nPal, P., *Islamic Art: The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection*, Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1973.  \nWilkinson, C. K., *Iranian Ceramics*, New York: Asia House, 1963.  \nWilkinson, C. K., *Nishapur: Pottery of the Early Islamic Period*, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1973.","copy_editor":"Caitlin Link","keywords":["ceramics","Nishapur"],"materials":["buff ware","Earthenware","polychrome decoration under transparent glaze"]},"93c34ced-5cb1-5c21-8d26-5401ec1708ee":{"name":"Coping from a well.","description":"An octagonal coping of a well, in green-enamelled ceramic. The embossed decoration is distributed over five registers that extend above a base that juts out slightly and a remaining segment of edge. The lower register features arches adorned with cells that are bordered on three sides by rosettes. The second register is embellished with rosettes that have four petals each and are surrounded by foliage, forming a square, the corners of which are decorated with flowers. The third register is replete with interlacing foliage that end in flowers. The fourth and fifth registers are decorated with palmettes that have diverging lobes.  \nThis type of well was often used in houses.","short_description":"Octagonal ceramic well-coping painted beneath a green glaze with a protruding base and the remains of a rim. The stamped plant decoration is divided between five sections. This object was placed above wells inside houses.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museum of Tlemcen (National Agency of Archaeology)","dates":"Hegira 9th century / AD 15th century.","location":"Tlemcen","dimensions":"Height 66 cm, diameter 33 cm, thickness 2 cm.","method_for_datation":"After W. Marçais.","bibliography":"Bel, A., “Quelques monuments de céramique trouvés à Tlemcen (Algérie)”, *Bulletin archéologique du Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques*, 1911, pp.407–20.  \nInstitut du Monde Arabe, *L'Algérie en héritage*, *art et histoire*, catalogue, Paris, 2003.  \nMarçais, W., *Musée de Tlemcen*, Paris, 1906.","author":"Leila Merabet","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"Maria Vlotides","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","Enamel","engraving","floral decoration","geometric decoration","Tlemcen","water"],"materials":["Embossed and enamelled ceramic."]},"93ee1091-8763-5b6d-885f-d833bd95f55d":{"name":"Incantation bowl","description":"The bowl is inscribed in Mandean script, in Aramaic Mandean dialect. The text spirals from the bottom of the bowl about fifteen times around. The beginning of the text is unreadable because of a crystal deposits and blackening. The name of the sponsor, the beneficiary of these incantations, which is typically stated at the beginning of the text, remains unknown here. The remaining lines consist essentially of a repetition of names of demons exorcised by linked formulas, including the female demon Lilith, her ancestors (“all her families and lineages”), and her offspring. The Aramaic communities of Mesopotamia are heirs to ancient beliefs dating back to the Akkadian and even Sumerian texts, according to which demons were of an inexhaustible variety. The Mandean, because of his dualistic faith, believes in evil spirits whose harmful actions he dreads. Magic is therefore an essential aspect of his religious life. This practice, consisting in burying the cups thus inscribed at the four corners of the house, was widely diffused among the various religious communities of Mesopotamia until the Muslim conquest and beyond.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museum of the Arab World Institute","dates":"Before Hegira 2nd-1st century / AD 6th-7th century","location":"Paris","dimensions":"Height: 6.4cm, Diameter: 19cm, Base diameter: 5.8cm","provenance":"Nippur (?), Iraq","obtention":"Purchased at Art Musulman gallery in 1984.","bibliography":"Delpont, E., et al., *Album du musée*, Paris: Somogy éditions d'art, 2012: 295.  \n  \nMoulierac, J., et al., *Céramiques du monde musulman: collections de l'Institut du monde arabe et de J.P. et F. Croisier* , Paris: Institut du monde arabe, Paris, 1999: 151.  \n  \nSafadi, Y.H., *Calligraphie islamique*, Paris: Chêne, 1978: 6.  \n  \nRéunion des Musées nationaux, *Naissance de l'écriture: cunéiformes et hiéroglyphes*, Paris: Réunion des Musées nationaux, 1982: 113, 183, Fig. 73, 74.  \n  \nSoustiel, J., *La céramique islamique*, Fribourg: Office du Livre, 1985: 34, Fig. 16.  \n  \nTeixidor, J., \"The Syriac Incantation Bowls in the Iraq Museum\", Sumer,18 (1962): 51–62.","translator":"Judy Harter","materials":["inscription traced in black ink.","Unglazed ceramic"]},"942b5555-2328-5dfd-90f3-ee19e1e5c033":{"name":"Tile","short_description":"The tile, in vibrant colours of blue, green, turquoise, yellow and white, shows a bearded courtier surrounded by stylised floral compositions.","type":"Ceramic; tile","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 11th century / AD 17th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Height 23.9 cm, width 24 cm","provenance":"Iran","keywords":["cuerda seca","Safawid","tile"],"materials":["Cuerda seca"]},"94486bb4-8abc-5ee1-9c9e-fc1868afc059":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"Earthenware bowl, metallica lustre-painted in copper red and olive green with whirling half-palmettes. The bowl was wheel-thrown, glazed and metallic lustre-painted.","type":"Vessels and receptacles, earthenware","holder":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah","dates":"Hegira 3rd century / AD 9th century","location":"Kuwait City","provenance":"Iraq"},"94f76ace-8af6-5ec8-aec6-d15a08b2f250":{"name":"*Albarello*","short_description":"This *albarello*, or pharmacist vessel, is decorated with vertical blue stripes. The transparent, colourless glaze applied after painting has turned into a patchy, mother-of-pearl layer. The simple stripe decoration was very popular during the period in Iran. Although *albarello* has a Latin root, the shape originated in the Middle East and was introduced to Europe sometime around the 15th century. *Albarelli* were used as both functional and decorative objects in traditional pharmacies. The jars were generally sealed with a piece of parchment or leather tied with cord.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"MKG Museum for Applied Arts","dates":"Hegira late 6th century-early 7th century / AD late 12th-early 13th century","location":"Hamburg","dimensions":"Height: 26cm, Diameter: 12.5cm","method_for_datation":"By comparison with similar objects.","method_for_provenance":"Purchased from Collection H. Hellebronth.","provenance":"Iran","obtention":"Purchased in 2005.","bibliography":"Drey, R. E., *Apothecary Jars. Pharmaceutical pottery and porcelain in Europe and the East 1150–1850*, London: Faber, 1978.  \nHaase, C.-P., Kröger, J. and Lienert, U., *Oriental Splendour: Islamic Art from German Collections*, Hamburg: Museums für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, 1993.  \nWallis, H., *Islamic Ceramic Art: The Albarello, A Study in Early Renaissance Maiolica* , London: B. Quaritch, 1904.  \nWilkinson, C. K., *Nishapur: Pottery of the Early Islamic Period*, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1973.","copy_editor":"Caitlin Link","keywords":["Albarello"],"materials":["Fritware"]},"94fe0097-4bb5-5659-a22f-0a97faeb593d":{"name":"Jug","short_description":"Towards the end of the Hegira 5th (AD 11th) century, Egyptian potters tried out a new material that revolutionised ceramic production in the Middle East: they mixed a small amount of the traditional white potter’s clay with quartz and glass powder (the so-called frit) and obtained a glass-hard, sugar-white body. The effect of this technique was a quality of ceramique more akin to that of Chinese porcelain. From Egypt, the new material reached Persia via Syria in the first half of the Hegira 6th (AD 12th) century and gradually replaced the traditional clays. The turquoise-coloured glaze was also new and related to the new material quartz frit.  \n  \nThe novel properties of this innovative material quickly led Iranian potters to experiment with it, and the large jug with a handle bears witness to this burst of creativity. Its melon-shaped body, the thin handle and the beak-shaped spout are elements that could not be made in ordinary clay. Similar jugs made of metal, often copper or brass, served as models.","type":"Ceramic vessel","holder":"Museum Rietberg","initial_owner":"Private collection, Switzerland","dates":"Hegira end or 6th-beginning of 7th century / AD end of 12th-beginning of 13th century","location":"Zurich","dimensions":"Height: 38.5cm","method_for_datation":"By comparison with similar dated objects","method_for_provenance":"Old museum inventory.","provenance":"Iran","obtention":"Bequest","bibliography":"Watson, Oliver, *Ceramics From Islamic Lands*, London: Thames & Hudson, 2004: esp. 347-353.","author":"Axel Langer","copy_editor":"Jonathan Turnbull","materials":["decoration painted in blue and black under a transparent glaze","Frit ware"]},"9526c6c2-eb52-500b-9322-1caf7402bc8a":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"The conical shaped bowl is decorated in white, green and black. The central roundel is surrounded by four large birds (*simurgh*) painted in green and white. All around the panels are dots.","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 3rd-4th century / AD 9th -10th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Diameter max 34.9 cm","provenance":"Eastern Iran","keywords":["ceramic","imaginary animal","pottery","Samanid","Simurgh","zoomorphic imagery"],"materials":["Earthenware","polychrome slip decoration under trasparent glaze","slip"]},"9550bb5f-dcd9-54bc-a521-b59609c24581":{"name":"The Tavira Vase.","description":"Vessel made from red clay.The sides, sloping slightly outwards, become thicker at the top to form an invisible channel through which water could pass after having been poured into a kind of funnel-neck which stands out clearly from the overall piece. The water would run through the channel and then be poured into the interior of the vase through eight of the 14 figurines standing around its edge.Two armed and mounted knights, accompanied by a dismounted archer, stand on either side of a woman also on horseback. Then come two musicians, who would have been part of a quartet, now incomplete. This set of human figures was followed by five animals, four of which remain: a bovine, a camel, a deer or gazelle, another camel and a lion. A flock of doves is perched on the funnel-neck.This is an extraordinary piece of popular art probably representing the ceremonial abduction that took place before a wedding ceremony, in which the animals are intended to be an allegory of good fortune for the couple. The water coming from the eight gargoyles would be for a shrub planted in the vase, possibly basil as this plant was associated with the cult of love in Iberian and Mediterranean traditions.","short_description":"This pot, an example of popular art, represents the ceremonial abduction enacted before a wedding ceremony. The human figures (woman, crossbowman, knights and musicians) are accompanied by animals, intended as a good omen for the newly weds. The pot would have contained a plant.","type":"Vase, ceramic","holder":"Tavira Municipal Museum.","dates":"Hegira end of 5th or beginning of 6th century / AD end of 11th or beginning of 12th century.","location":"Tavira., Faro.","dimensions":"Height 36 cm, width 42 cm.","method_for_datation":"By stratigraphic references and typological comparison with related artefacts.","method_for_provenance":"Collected during archaeological excavations directed by Maria and Manuel Maia, near the Porta de D. Manuel in Tavira.","provenance":"Tavira, Portugal.","obtention":"Deposited in Tavira Municipal Museum following archaeological excavations.","bibliography":"Maia, M., “O Vaso de Tavira e o Seu Contexto”, in *Actas do Colóquio Internacional sobre Portugal, Espanha e Marrocos. O Mediterrâneo e o Atlântico*, Faro, 2004, pp.143–66.  \nTorres, C., *O Vaso de Tavira*, Mértola, 2004.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_PT_EN_001","author":"Cláudio Torres","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","firing in an oxidising atmosphere","marriage","modelled","popular art","Tavira","vase","wedding","wheel"],"materials":["Ceramic fired in oxidising atmosphere","made on the wheel and modelled."]},"95b8eda9-e7cf-5537-afd3-f65ff7d2e85d":{"name":"Lajvardina bowl","short_description":"At the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries a new type of luxurious enamel-painted ceramics called '*lajvardina*\" emerged in Ilkhanid Iran. The Persian word \"*lajvard*\" means \"lapis lazuli\", which pointed in this case to the specific deep blue colour of the vessel background provided by cobalt-based glaze. The bowl, presumably made in Kashan, presents an impressive sample of this showy and costly technique. The polychromous decor of floral motifs arranged overglaze in a cross pattern is supplemented by the elements of gold foil. The hemispherical shape of the bowl reveals artistic influence of Yuan porcelain ware of China.","type":"Ceramics; Bowl","holder":"The Khanenko Museum","owner":"The Khanenko Museum","dates":"AD late 13th–early 14th century","location":"Kyiv","dimensions":"Height: 5.5cm, Diameter: 15.5cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis by V. Krachkovskaya (1926, origin), Leon Guzalian (1953, date),  H. Rudyk (publication, 2017, specified date and origin).","method_for_provenance":"Publication of Vera Krachkovskaya (1927). Old Museum Inventory Register (1925-1946).","provenance":"Kashan, Iran, probably","obtention":"Purchased by Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko.","bibliography":"Bilenko, H. and Rudyck (Rudyk), H., *Oriental Collection*, guidebook, Kyiv: The Khanenko Museum, 2005.  \nKeblow-Bernsted, Anne-Marie, *Early Islamic Pottery: Materials and Techniques*, London: Archetype, 2003.  \nKomaroff, L. and Carboni, S. (eds), *The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256–1353*, New York: The Metropolitan Museum, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002.  \nKrachkovskaya, V., \"Musulmsnskoye iskusstvo v sobranii Khanenko (Muslim Art from the Khanenkos' Collection)\", in Bartold V.V. (ed), *Zapyski Kollegii Vostokovedov (Notes of the College of Orientalists)* at Asian Museum of USSR Academy of Sciences, Vol II, Leningrad: USSR Academy of Sciences, 1927.  \nRudyk, H. (ed), *Charisma of Iran. Persian art of 12th–19th centuries from museum collections of Ukraine*, Kyiv: The Khanenko Museum, 2017.","author":"Antonina Makarevych","copy_editor":"Janice Medina","keywords":["ceramics","Iran","Kashan"],"materials":["overglaze painted in enamels and gilded (lajvardina technique)","Stonepaste"]},"9649e657-d081-5990-b3dd-ee2b6d2ee696":{"name":"Washing Set (Pitcher and Wash Basin) with Chamber Pot","description":"The 19th century witnessed major changes in the political, social, cultural, and economic spheres in Serbia. The uprisings against centuries-long Ottoman rule, in 1804 and 1815, led to the enactment of Sultan Mahmud II’s hatt-i sharif in 1830, the establishment of the autonomous Principality of Serbia, Serbia’s full independence, confirmed at the Congress of Berlin in 1878, and the proclamation of the Kingdom of Serbia in 1882. The transition from a feudal to a capitalist society was accompanied by cultural pluralism, which implied the establishment of new cultural models with a local Ottoman-Balkan imprint, as well as the adoption of cultural models common in bourgeois Europe. In this context, the items imported from Central and Western Europe got a significant place in everyday life and the visual culture of Serbia. While European influences in Serbia signified a gradual breaking up with Ottoman traditions, at the same time, due to the extensive reforms that permeated all spheres of society, they also significantly shaped the visual culture of the Ottoman Empire.  \nThe washing set with a chamber pot originates from the renowned ceramics production centre of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. This area was home to a collective of workshops that produced majolica, stoneware, and porcelain. One of these manufacturers was S. Fielding & Co. Adapting to fashion trends and market demands, the company exported high-quality ceramic pieces worldwide from 1870 to 1982.  \nThe wash set preserved in the Museum of Applied Art, and created in the Historicist style, is characterized by its subtle decoration and the combination of a green pastel ground with floral motifs. A floral garland follows a restrained black line running along the central section of each vessel. The black band is edged with delicate touches of gilding. On the bottom of the pieces is the mark of the workshop: Crown Devon, Fieldings, Stoke-on-Trent, England, indicating that the set is part of the Crown Devon collection, which was produced from 1880, while from 1912 onward, the items were made in series.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Museum of Applied Art","owner":"Museum of Applied Art, Belgrade","initial_owner":"Vojislav Nikolić","dates":"1912–1917","location":"Belgrade","dimensions":"Pitcher diameter: 13.5cm, Pitcher height: 31.5cm; Washing basin diameter: 40cm, washing basin height: 15cm; Chamber pot diameter: 23cm, chamber pot height: 13cm","place_of_production":"Stoke-on-Trent (Staffordshire)","method_for_datation":"By the mark of the workshop.","method_for_provenance":"Research and documentary evidence.","provenance":"England","obtention":"Given by Vojislav Nikolić from Belgrade in 2008.","bibliography":"Đurić, B., Washing Set (Pitcher and Washing Basin) with Night Pot, in: *New in the Collections: Acquisitions 2001–2010*, Belgrade: Museum of Applied Art, 2010: 108–109.","workshop":"S. Fielding & Co.","author":"Jelena Vukadinović","copy_editor":"Zeina Al Amad","keywords":["majolica","pitcher and wash basin","Stoke-on-Trent"],"materials":["Majolica"]},"96cf4210-b3bc-5e9b-8016-56c054beba7c":{"name":"Jug.","description":"A medium-sized jug that has a spherical-shaped body and a small 'S-shaped' handle. The body rests on a small, unglazed, foot. The jug is typically decorated with simple horizontal zigzag bands, painted with black pigment on the body of the unglazed vessel, and then glazed with a transparent turquoise glaze. 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.","short_description":"The black decoration under the transparent turquoise glaze is typical of ceramics made in Raqqa during the Ayyubid period. Raqqa was one of two major production centres in Syria, the other being Rusafah. Both were located near the river Euphrates.","type":"Fritware, stonework, ceramic","holder":"Burrell Collection, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira 7th century / AD 13th century.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 15 cm, diameter (of rim) 6.5 cm, diameter (of base) 7 cm.","method_for_datation":"Artistic analysis and analysis of the material composition of the clay body, which resembles in type that typical of Raqqa pottery.","provenance":"Raqqa, Syria.","obtention":"Part of the collection given to the City of Glasgow by Sir William and Lady Burrell in 1944.","bibliography":"Fehervari, G., *Ceramics of the Islamic World in the Tareq Rajab Museum*, London, 2000.  \n  \nGrube, E. J., *Cobalt and Lustre, The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery,* The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art,vol. 9, London, 1994.","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["domestic vessels","geometric decoration","water"],"materials":["Fritware","painted with black decoration under a transparent turquoise glaze."]},"97483099-f63d-546b-b906-7901886733ae":{"name":"Dish","short_description":"Wide bottomed dish with flaring cavetto and flaring lobed rim covered with a salmon covered engobe painted in white, middle blue, and red 'slips' and cobalt blue, greenish and black stains under a transparent colourless glaze.","type":"Vessels & receptacles, Ottoman ceramic","holder":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah","dates":"Hegira mid 10th century / AD mid-16th century","location":"Kuwait City","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","keywords":["?znik ceramics","floral motifs"]},"98bd70b5-7a3c-5e69-8bad-62f096449b47":{"name":"Jug","short_description":"This jug has a straight, slightly flared body with a clear carination above the foot and a sharply bent shoulder. The high, narrow neck is provided with a long raising tubular spout. A slim handle with a thumb knob connects the rim with the shoulder of the jug. The form but also the structured body with regular vertical grooves and the applications on the neck are derived from metalwork jugs. Especially the suggested ring-knob is an imitation of rings on metalwork jugs.  \nSlightly smaller jugs with similar neck and spout but globular body are frequently produced in earthenware with a simple brown or turquoise glaze. These belong to the simple mass-produced wares for daily use, as water jugs for example.  \nThe fritware material allows a more refined elaboration of the appliqué details as well as of the object shape. Although the general appearance of our object is sober, the few details such as the grooved body and the applications on the neck are thoroughly worked out and may have belonged to the fine equipment of a household.","type":"Pottery; fritware","holder":"University Museum of Islamic Art | The Bumiller Collection","dates":"Hegira 5-6th century / AD 11-12th century","location":"Bamberg","dimensions":"Height: 24cm, Diameter: 11cm","method_for_datation":"Similar jugs in earthenware were produced from the 10th to 12th century. Simple comparable.","method_for_provenance":"A very similar jug was found in Gurgan, Northern Iran.","provenance":"Iran","obtention":"Purchased at Christies London 1992","bibliography":"Franke, Ute and Müller-Wiener, Martina (eds), *Herat through time. The collections of the Herat Museum and Archive / Harāt dar ṭūl-i tārīḫ ; maǧmūʿa-i āṯār-i Mūziyum wa Āršīf-i Harāt, Ancient Herat research reports of the German-Afghan Archaeological Mission to Herat, Afghanistan*, Vol. 3, Berlin: Editor General, 2016: 108-109, 131-132, 321, 333.  \nSimeon, Pierre, *From Ordinary to Luxury. Islamic Ceramics from Iran, Central Asia and Afghanistan. Studies on the Bumiller Collection I*, edited by Verena Daiber, Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2020: 58.","author":"Verena Daiber","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega","keywords":["ceramic","Fritware","glazed ware","globular","Jug"],"materials":["Fritware","half transparent turquoise glaze"]},"9912e075-4003-59ba-9165-47ab7ab42398":{"name":"Dish.","description":"An Iznik ceramic dish decorated with a cruciform arrangement of tomato-red, blue and green floral clusters surrounding a central rosette and alternating with brackets of arabesque decoration. The outer rim of the dish is decorated with a Chinese-style wave-and-rock border. The brilliant tomato- red used on this dish (painted under the glaze) has a distinctive body and rises slightly once fired; this gives Iznik dishes like this one a distinctive texture. This dish belongs to the third phase of Iznik pottery manufacture, which lasted from AH 956 to 1111 / AD 1550 to 1700 and which saw the development of new techniques, such as underglaze painting, and a greater variety of colours, such as the brilliant tomato-red, known also as Armenian bole.  \n  \nIznik ware of this period became so very popular in several regions of the Ottoman Empire and some parts of Europe, that for a long time it was mistakenly attributed by European scholars to potters on the Island of Rhodes. This was mainly due to the extensive use of Iznik dishes in decorating the walls of Rhodian homes, thus giving the false impression that the ceramics had been made locally.","short_description":"This Iznik ceramic dish with its brilliant underglaze red colour belongs to the third period of Iznik pottery production, which was very popular in several regions of the Ottoman Empire and parts of Europe, including the island of Rhodes where such dishes were used to decorated domestic walls.","type":"Ottoman ceramic, stonepaste","holder":"The Burrell Collection, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira last quarter of the 10th century / AD around 1575–1580.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"Diameter 34 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis: the distinctive texture of the brilliant underglaze bole-red indicates that this dish was definitely produced by an Iznik workshop in the third period of Iznik pottery manufacture, which lasted from AH 956 to 1111 / AD 1550 to 1700. The style and layout of the floral decoration is also typically Iznik.","method_for_provenance":"The distinctive texture of the brilliant underglaze bole-red indicates that this dish was definitely produced by an Iznik workshop; the style and layout of the floral decoration is also typically Iznik.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Part of the collection given to the City of Glasgow by Sir William and Lady Burrell in 1944.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N. and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1994.  \n  \nCarswell, J., *Iznik Pottery*, London, 1998.  \n  \nLane, A., *Later Islamic Pottery: Persia, Syria, Egypt, Turkey*, London, 1971.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Commerce","floral decoration"],"materials":["painted under a transparent glaze.","Stone-paste (fritware)"]},"99eb7578-9253-520d-8e15-f2005c79e229":{"name":"Table jar with blue glaze","description":"This table jar, unearthed in 1981 during the French mission at the Murwab site in one of the houses with a plaster floor, exhibits a well-recognized design inspired by early Islamic metal needles. Featuring a notably tall (10cm) and wide (11cm rim diameter) straight neck with a slightly projecting rim, the jar boasts a mildly globular body that accommodates two handles on its upper portion. The straight handles suspend from the upper part of the neck. Although the blue glaze is considerably damaged, it reveals a very fine cream paste akin to eggshell. This artefact likely originated from the workshops of Basra.","type":"Container","holder":"National Museum of Qatar","owner":"National Museum of Qatar","initial_owner":"Qatar Museums","dates":"Hegira late 2nd to late 3rd century / AD late 8th to late 9th century","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Height: 15.4cm, body diameter: 14.3cm, rim diameter: 11cm","place_of_production":"Basra, Iraq","method_for_datation":"Stratigraphy/scientific analysis.","method_for_provenance":"Stratigraphy/scientific and laboratory analysis.","provenance":"Murwab, Qatar","obtention":"Archaeological excavation.","bibliography":"Carvajal Lopez, J., Guerin, A., and Georgakopoulou, M., \"Petrographic analysis of ceramics of Murwab, an early islamic site in Qatar\", Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 51 (2022): 55–70.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Preliminary pottery study: Murwab horizon in progress, ninth century AD, Qatar\", in Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 40 (2010): 17–34.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Territory and settlement patterns during the Abbasid period (ninth century AD): the village of Murwab (Qatar)\", Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 39 (2009): 181–196.  \n  \nHardy-Guilbert, Cl., \"Fouilles archéologiques a Murwab, Qatar\", in R. Boucharlat et J.-F. Salles (eds.), Arabie Orientale, Mésopotamie et Iran méridional: De l’Age du Fer au début de la période islamique, Paris: ERC 37, 1984: 169–188.  \n  \nKnuth, E., \"An Early Islamic fort and settlement at Murwab”, in F. Hojlund (ed.), Danish Archaeological Investigations in Qatar 1956–1974, Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 97 (2017): 83–98.","author":"Alexandrine Guerin","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","keywords":["earthenware","Jar","storage","Transportation"],"materials":["Glazed earthenware"]},"99f71437-c1aa-557c-a1a0-065a2171dd10":{"name":"Star dish.","description":"This deep dish, painted with blue on a stanniferous (tin-bearing) white base, has no inner brim and belongs to the group of utensils known as *tabsil*, which were used to serve dishes in sauce. Its classical geometric composition is based around a centrepiece consisting of a blue circle surrounded by festoons and small dots that link to a six-pointed star. Three lines of intertwined circles radiate from this star, which is highlighted with a blue braid and a white ribbon, before opening out into a six-petal corolla. The spaces in the intertwining pattern, alternating between strong and faded blues, contains small snake motifs left in reserve and half-flower motifs inspired by the efflorescence of blue-and-white Chinese dishes, which were known at this time in Morocco as a result of trade with the Far East.  \nThe decoration is completed on the curved brim of the dish with small bouquets of flowers and foliage coloured deep blue. The six medallions placed on the points of the central star are inscribed in reserve with two Arabic letters and four numbers indicating the year when the object was made (AH 1274 / AD 1857–8). This very elaborate composition, based on different shades of blue on the brilliant white background, makes this dish particularly interesting. It is one of five known pieces of this type of ceramic to be dated.","short_description":"This bowl, from a group of utensils known as *tabsil* used to serve dishes with sauce, is one of five pieces to be dated. Its highly elaborate, classical composition radiates from the centre. The small, blue seedlings are reminiscent of certain motifs on blue Chinese dishes.","type":"Dish, earthenware","holder":"Batha Museum.","dates":"Hegira 1274 / AD 1857–8.","location":"Fez.","dimensions":"Height 11cm, diameter 41.1cm, base diameter 21.6cm.","method_for_datation":"The two Arabic letters, *s* and *ain*, the first letters of the words *souni'a'* and *'am* meaning 'made in the year', and the numbers 1, 2, 7 and 4 painted inside the six medallions indicate the Hegira date 1274 (AD 1857–8).","method_for_provenance":"The town of Fez was known for its production of this type of ceramic.","provenance":"Fez.","obtention":"Purchased.","bibliography":"Bel, A., *Les industries de la céramique à Fès*, Algiers; Paris, 1918.  \nBel, A., “Potiers et faïenciers de Fès: les produits de leur fabrication; leurs croyances et leurs légendes”, *France-Maroc*, no. 3, 1919, pp.78–82.  \nKhatib-Boujibar, N., “La céramique émaillée”, in *Maroc, les trésors du Royaume*, catalogue, Paris, 1999.  \nLoviconi A. and Belfitah D., *Regards sur la faïence de Fès*, Aix-en-Provence, 1991.  \n*Andalusian Morocco: A Discovery in Living Art*, pp.128–9.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_MA_EN_001","author":"Naima El Khatib-Boujibar","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["floral decoration","geometric decoration","vegetal decoration"],"materials":["Tin-glazed earthenware painted with nickel and cobalt oxide."]},"9bbd279c-caa6-5b81-867d-5d87688d25b6":{"name":"Dish with anthropomorphic moon.","description":"Dish with slanted sides and a ring-base. The decoration, painted in a typical red lustre, as was common in later Hispano-Moorish products, consists of a large rhomboid motif containing a circle whose profile, accentuated by a slight groove, serve to link the brim and the side of the dish. In the spaces between the rhombus and circle there are 'feathered triangles' made up of a series of thick, opposed, parallel lines, producing an effect similar to stylised leaves. The brim, the edge of which is closed with a think band of solid lustre, depicts typical leafy shoots with a central element that appears to be a large round fruit (possibly a pomegranate). The leaves are rendered with a characteristic series of curved parallel lines that evoke the idea of metal springs. Practically identical plant shoots (missing only the central fruit) are repeated in the decoration of the base of the dish where, beside a popular anthropomorphic moon motif, two characteristic 'grotesque lions' confront one another.","short_description":"This plate is attributable to late Hispano-Moorish production by virtue of its typical red-lustre decoration, which consists of geometric shapes and an anthropomorphic moon flanked by grotesque lions.","type":"Dish, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”","dates":"Hegira 11th century / AD 17th century.","location":"Rome","dimensions":"Height 8.2 cm, diameter 36.5 cm.","method_for_provenance":"This type of decoration is fairly common in Valencian products from the first half of the 11th / 17th century and is used without significant alterations on a range of different objects (dishes, long-neck vases, handled jars, jugs).","provenance":"Spain, Valencian workshop.","obtention":"Purchase.","bibliography":"Ainaud De Lasarte, J., *Cèramica y Vidrio*, Ars Hispaniae, Vol. 10, Madrid, 1952.  \nFronthingham, A. W., *Lustreware of Spain*, New York, 1951.  \nTorre, P., “Maioliche a Lustro Ispano-Moresche”, *Serie Schede Museo Nazionale d'Arte Orientale*, 7, Rome, 1987.  \nTorre, P., *Le Mille e una Notte: Ceramiche Persiane, Turche e Ispano-Moresche, Faenza*, 1990.  \nTorre, P., “Techniques Journeying from East to West at the Time of the Crusades”, *Crusades: Myth and Realities*, Nicosia, 2004.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_ES_EN_001","author":"Paola Torre","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["Dish","floral decoration","geometric decoration","lustre","Mudéjar art"],"materials":["Lustre-painted ceramic."]},"9bd67ea8-6822-56f9-b47d-e269735e0352":{"name":"Panel of *azulejos* with a carpet composition","description":"The widespread use of *azulejos* ‒ that were initially produced in Seville during the first half of the 16th century ‒ in Portugal, allowed those involved in the placement of them in architectural settings many ways to experiment with a new decorative expression, giving an early original use to something that was previously foreign to Portuguese culture. In the 16th century, Spanish *azulejos*, like large tapestries with respect to the pattern, were used to create large walls expanses filled with the same motif.  \nIn the beginning, the Portuguese used the *azulejos* from Spain in the same way, but as time went on they started to become less concerned about the patterns in the *azulejos* and more interested in creating compositions. These compositions could be more architecturally related, like imitations of stained-glass windows, doors and *mihrab*s, or with the intention to re-create carpets, not by the repetition of the pattern, but by juxtaposing different decorations and thus creating something new, like this panel. This early and original understanding of the potential of *azulejo* became the basis for a tradition that has remained in Portugal to this day. This panel uses 16th-century *azulejos* in a composition that can be seen in the architecture of the church of Sé Velha in Coimbra.","type":"Tile; *azulejo*","holder":"National Tile Museum","owner":"National Tile Museum","dates":"1500‒1560","location":"Lisbon","dimensions":"H: 210cm, L: 132cm, W: 2.5cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis: in the 16th century, the *azulejos* in the techniques of *arista* or cuerda seca were imported to Portugal, because at that time there was no production of this type in Portuguese workshops.","method_for_provenance":"The National Tile Museum holds a large number of *azulejos* of unknown origin, many collected during the period of the destruction of the convents and palaces in the late 19th century, in the aftermath of the abolition of the religious orders in 1834.","provenance":"Unknown","obtention":"Probably salvaged during demolition of an unknown building where they had once been applied","bibliography":"Meco, José, *O Azulejo em Portugal*, Lisbon: Publicações Alfa, 1989.","workshop":"Seville, Spain","author":"Alexandre Pais","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["16th century","azulejos","pattern","Spain"],"materials":["Ceramic"]},"9c0d7e7b-502c-5d62-8588-ba4d3901df58":{"name":"Camel figurine","short_description":"The pottery of Dhofar is, like the region itself, quite distinct from the rest of the country in terms of form, producer and technique. Dhofari pottery can be broadly divided between Salalah ware and the combined ware of the coastal villages of Taqah and Mirbat. The key differences noted are the type of clay used and the featured stylistic forms. The simple terracotta camel figures made in the coastal villages of Dhofar bear a resemblance to pre-Islamic forms. However, modern potters attach neither spiritual nor religious significance to their use of ancient forms. Beyond their use as decorative objects, spiritual and religious significance has long since been lost in time.","type":"Craft Industries","holder":"National Museum Oman","dates":"14th century AH / 20th century AD","location":"Muscat","dimensions":"Length: 9.5cm, Height: 8.3cm, Weight: 94.7g","provenance":"Dhofar Governorate","obtention":"Donated by Marcia Dorr","copy_editor":"Valerie Pulsifer","keywords":["camel","Dhofar","Figurine","Terracota"],"materials":["Clay"]},"9d00287d-1b75-52cd-aaf2-a362c89a4645":{"name":"Footed dish or *tazze*.","description":"A circular stone-paste (fritware) dish with a shallow well, curved sides (*cavetto*), an everted scalloped rim and a low, circular foot-ring. The well is filled with a naturalistic arrangement of flowing flower stalks, rising from a tuft of green leaves. The flowers include red carnations, red roses, blue tulips, with red dotted detailing, and blue hyacinths, all of which are executed in order to exploit the shape of the well. The scalloped rim carries a wave border in blue and black. The underside is decorated with ten floral motifs disposed at regular intervals, consisting of an alternating pattern of five blue flower-heads with green centres, and five bouquets of three blue tulips.","short_description":"Ottoman Iznik was most famous for the production of brilliant polychrome wares revealing an exuberant naturalism which was influenced to a considerable extent by the innovative drawings of the leading Ottoman court designer Kara Memi. The best pieces were executed between AH 956 and 982 / AD 1550 and 1575.","type":"Ottoman ceramic, stone paste","holder":"National Museums of Scotland (NMS).","dates":"Hegira 956–82 / AD 1550–75.","location":"Edinburgh, Scotland","dimensions":"Diameter 30.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"This dish belongs to a group of Iznik wares characterised by a naturalism that was influenced by the innovative drawings of the leading Ottoman court designer Kara Memi and datable to between 956–82 / 1550–75.","method_for_provenance":"Dishes of this naturalistic, floral decorative style are known to have been produced in Iznik during the second half of the 10th / 16th century.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Bought from J. M. Whitehead, London in 1883.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989, pp.222–30, fig. 397 (for a related piece and discussion of this type from Iznik).","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Ulrike Al-Khamis","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["hyacinths","Iznik","Kara Memi","stone-paste (fritware)"],"materials":["and bole-red underglaze-slip","green and black underglaze","over which a clear glaze.","Stone-paste (fritware) with a blue"]},"9dd54e6a-3ac7-5825-b7ce-cc73c549cb45":{"name":"Jar with lid.","description":"The spherical jar stands on a high foot and has a cylindrical rimless neck with a flat lid with a knob. The body is covered inside and outside with an opaque, pale turquoise-coloured tin glaze. In the lower part the glaze is not thick enough so that the reddish colouring of the body shines through the glaze. The abstract decoration of the jar is mainly composed of a series of vertical stripes alternating with dotted lines, called 'millipedes', around the neck and a scale pattern filled with stylised half-carnations on the spherical section of the jar. The foot-ring is undecorated. The colours used are a deep limonite yellow, two gradations of brown, a light one of iron oxide and a dark one of manganese, and cobalt-blue and copper green. The use of brown, yellow, blue and green as full, unmixed tones is the characteristic colour scheme of Moroccan polychrome faience. Faience is the type of decoration: after a first firing the potters put on the opaque tin glaze on the earthenware vessel; the mineral pigments used for the polychrome decoration were applied over the dried glaze; in a second firing glaze and pigments melted together.  \nThe small and large red dots irregularly spread over the whole outside surface of jar and lid are a striking feature. It is a paste with a base of red lead applied over the glaze by fingertip. After drying, the paste appears like red wax. However, this kind of decoration was not executed by the potters themselves. It was done by the faience traders, at first to cover the traces of the firing tripods on plates and later on all kinds of pottery vessels.  \nFaience was an urban ceramic in Morocco whose most important centre of production was Fez. The objects made by the faience potters were mostly functional and for everyday use. This pot was possibly used for storing fat or yeast. Unlike other examples of this kind of stock pot, however, this one does not have the usual two handles.","short_description":"Jar on a high foot and with a flat lid with knob. The decoration is composed of vertical stripes alternating with dotted lines and stylised half-carnations. The colour scheme is characteristic of Moroccan polychrome faience. This pot might have been used for storing fat or yeast.","type":"Jar, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities (Medelhavsmuseet).","dates":"Possibly Hegira 13th century / AD 19th century.","location":"Stockholm","dimensions":"Height approx. 21.3 cm, diameter of rim 10.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"Dating is difficult. There are only a few dated faiences and the same forms and patterns were used throughout various periods. The red dots were probably common from the end of the 12th / 18th century.","method_for_provenance":"On the basis of the pattern, the technique and the colour scheme.","provenance":"Morocco, possibly Fez.","obtention":"Bequest from the Bielke collection.","bibliography":"Bel, A., *Les Industries de la Céramique à Fès*, Alger, Paris, 1918.  \nBoukobza, A., *Poteries et Céramiques Marocaines*, Casablanca, 1974.  \nHakenjos, B., *Marokkanische Keramik*, Stuttgart, 1988.  \nHasson, R., *Pottery from Morocco: 19th–20th century C. E.*, Jerusalem, 1982.  \nHedgecoe, J. and Damluji, S. S., *Zillij: The Art of Moroccan Ceramics*, Reading, 1992.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_MA_EN_001","author":"Friederike Voigt","copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["Faience","geometric ornament"],"materials":["Ceramic","faience."]},"9de82036-a221-545b-84e8-7f91036b9036":{"name":"Dish.","description":"A circular stone-paste (fritware) dish with a shallow well, broad, everted rim and a low, circular foot-ring. The well is decorated with seven bouquets, comprising one at the centre, surrounded by six others. The flowers are naively drawn and the pigments overall very pure: red, green and blue with black. The rim has a white, cusped zigzag band, reserved against a green ground; a narrow blue line accentuates the zigzag patterning and contrasts with the white and green.","short_description":"Towards the end of the late AH 10th century / AD 16th century the artistic quality of Iznik wares began to decline. Raw materials were less refined, colour schemes duller and designs simpler. Dishes with simple floral bouquets were made between the AH late 10th / AD last quarter of the 16th century.","type":"Ottoman ceramic, stone paste","holder":"National Museums of Scotland (NMS).","dates":"Hegira, late 10th century / AD late 16th century.","location":"Edinburgh, Scotland","dimensions":"Diameter 29 cm.","method_for_datation":"Dishes with similar floral designs have been attributed to the late 10th / late 16th century.","method_for_provenance":"Ceramics of this type are known to have been produced in Iznik during the late 10th / late 16th century.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"A gift from Miss Beatrice Danford, Newton St. Boswells, in 1953.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989, p.234, figs. 425, 426 (for comparable pieces).","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Ulrike Al-Khamis","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Iznik","stone-paste (fritware)."],"materials":["Blue","green and black underglaze","over which a clear glaze.","red","Stone-paste (fritware)"]},"9e38c5ee-2be1-5810-be6d-783f681533c7":{"name":"Ceramic dish.","description":"A large round ceramic dish glazed in blue, green and manganese-purple with incised decoration, known as 'laqabi ware', or polychrome carved pottery. The figure dominating the centre of the dish is a harpy, a fantastical animal with the body of a bird and a human head. The first stage in the production process comprised cutting the overall design into the unfired ceramic: the harpy, the swirling vegetal scroll behind the figure, and the border pattern. After the first firing, the glaze was applied to the incised lines which were intended to stop the glaze from running. The design around the border is a simplified version of the rope motif typical of 'laqabi ware' ceramic dishes. Dishes of this type would have been used as tableware and were a cheaper alternative to metal plates and bowls.","short_description":"A large, round ceramic dish with a picture of a harpy, a fantastical animal with the body of the bird and a human head. The very specific technique of this dish – with incised decoration and polychrome glaze – is known as ‘*laqabi* ware’, and was produced in Raqqa, Syria.","type":"Ceramic, glazed pottery","holder":"The British Museum.","dates":"Hegira 6th century /AD 12th century.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Diameter 41.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"By comparison with other objects excavated in Syria.","method_for_provenance":"Lane (1947) attributed 'laqabi ware' to Iran, but Porter (1981) has shown that in terms of shape, body and design this type of ceramic was more likely to have been produced in northern Syria.","provenance":"Raqqa, northern Syria.","obtention":"Purchased in 1923.","bibliography":"Grube, E. J., and others, Cobalt and Lustre: the First Centuries of Islamic Pottery, London, 1994, pp. 249–57.  \n  \nLane, A., Early Islamic Pottery, 1947, p.35.  \n  \nPorter, V., Medieval Syrian Pottery, Oxford, 1981, p.35–6.","author":"Emily Shovelton","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["animal decoration","ceramic dish","figurative decoration","imaginary animal","lagabi ware"],"materials":["Blue","green and manganese-purple glazed and incised pottery."]},"9fb409e3-528f-533c-9017-82d63273b965":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"The Seljuq era was distinguished by its extensive use of lustre techniques – painting with metal oxides then fired in a reduction kiln – to produce fine ceramics. The high quality achieved by the ceramic painters is borne out by countless bowls, bottles and vases decorated with thin brushstrokes that outline geometric shapes, floral patterns and human figures.","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 6th–7th century / AD 12th–13th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Diameter 22.5 cm","provenance":"Iran (Kashan)","keywords":["ceramic","lustre","pottery"],"materials":["Frit body","lustre decoration"]},"9fd48483-773e-56ef-a4ac-80ac9b4f89d0":{"name":"*Ataifor* (bowl).","description":"This *ataifor* is a dish with a convex base, curved sides and a smooth rim. The piece is made from reddish clay; the outside is covered with a honey-coloured greenish glaze and the inside with a white glaze. The inside of the receptacle is decorated with elements in green and manganese on a white base. The large circular border that runs round the edge of the plate, with fan-shaped palmettes joined by undulating stems, gives the piece a tri-lobed appearance. The central strip completes the decoration with an inscription in archaic *kufic*, where the phrase ‘al-Mulk’ (power) is repeated. The letters outlined using dark manganese lines are filled with copper green, creating a contrast with the white base that was common in the ceramics of the era.","short_description":"This bowl or *ataifor*, produced in the palace workshops of Madinat al-Zahra, is thought to have symbolic significance: the word ‘al-Mulk’, ‘the power’, represents sovereignty, while the white, green and black represent the Umayyad dynasty, Muhammad, and the austerity of the Qur’an respectively as well as the sovereignty of the caliph.","type":"Ataifor, bowl, ceramics","holder":"National Archaeological Museum.","dates":"Hegira 324–66 / AD 936–76.","location":"Madrid","dimensions":"Height 7 cm, diameter 26 cm.","method_for_datation":"The writing style could date it to the second third of the 4th / 10th century. The simple *kufic* inscription belongs to an initial stage of production at Madinat al-Zahra, before the reign of al-Hakam II (350–66 / 961–76).","method_for_provenance":"The *ataifor* came from archaeological excavations at Madinat al-Zahra. Both its shape and decoration are characteristic of palatine production at Madinat al-Zahra.","provenance":"Córdoba, Spain.","obtention":"The *ataifor* was given to the National Archaeological Museum by the State on 5 February 1943.","bibliography":"*Al-Andalus: Las Artes Islámicas en España*,Exhibition catalogue, Madrid, 1992, p.232. English edition: *Al-Andalus: The Art Of Islamic Spain* (ed. J. D. Dodds), New York, 1992.  \nCamps Cazorla, E., “Cerámica y Vidrios Califales de Medina Azahara”, in *Adquisiciones del Museo Arqueológico Nacional (1940–1945)*, Madrid, 1947, pp.148–54.  \nCastejón y Martínez de Arizala, R., *Excavaciones del Plan Nacional de Medina Azahara (Córdoba), Campaña de 1943.* Informes y Memorias no. 8, Madrid, 1945.  \n*El Esplendor de los Omeyas Cordobeses*, Exhibition catalogue, Granada, 2001.  \nPavón Maldonado, B., *El Arte Hispanomusulmán en Su Decoración Floral, Madrid, 1981, pp.115–25.*","workshop":"Madinat al-Zahra workshops (Córdoba).","author":"Margarita Sánchez Llorente","copy_editor":"Rosalía Aller","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","epigraphy","floral decoration","patronage"],"materials":["Ceramic","fired","glazed.","green and manganese","wheel-thrown"]},"9fe1e828-67e2-5249-a654-e86e4a5b6c0c":{"name":"Irrigation bucket","description":"The cylindrical object features a straight mouth and pointed base, with retaining recesses located at the start of the mouth and base. The surface shows traces of hand modelling, leaving indentations on the body in the form of perimeter circumferences and on the base in parallel lines following the conical shape.  \n  \nMade of whitish porous, unglazed clay, it retains traces of *almagra* (reddish pigment) drips on both the exterior and interior. Functionally, such objects can be understood within the context of irrigation and hydraulic systems in al-Andalus. Their development enabled the introduction of new plant species, the expansion of arable land, and the diversification of the diet. These innovations changed working methods, the agricultural cycle, and the landscape.  \n  \nWaterwheels spread throughout the Iberian Peninsula. The waterwheel buckets, which were secured with ropes at the top and halfway down their cylindrical body, underwent technical improvements. These elements reflect a series of small but significant technical advances. The earliest ones, with an annular or pointed bottom, gradually were replaced by others with a perforated bottom that prevented their tilting and breakage in addition to the backward movement of the wheel.","type":"Irrigation bucket","holder":"National Archaeological Museum","initial_owner":"Unknown","dates":"Hegira 4th–5th century / AD 10th–11th century","location":"Madrid","dimensions":"Length: 28.7cm, diameter: 12.2cm","method_for_datation":"Comparative study of typologies; references provided by previous owner.","method_for_provenance":"References provided by previous owner on file.","provenance":"Arcos de la Frontera, Cádiz","obtention":"The bucket was donated to the National Archaeological Museum on 1 January 1987.","bibliography":"Cara Barrionuevo, L. and Malpica Cuello, A. (coord), *II Coloquio Historia y medio Físico. Agricultura y regadío en al-Andalus*. Conference proceedings. Almería, 9–10 June 1995, Almería: Instituto de Estudios Almerienses, 1995.  \n  \nGómez Espín, J.M. and Hervás Avilés, R. M. (coord), *Patrimonio hidráulico y cultura del agua en el Mediterráneo*, Murcia: Fundación Séneca, AECID, 2012.  \n  \nPoveda Sánchez, Á., “Un estudio sobre las norias de sangre de origen andalusí: el caso de la alquiería de Benassal (Castellón)”, *Historia Agraria*, 32 (April 2004): 37-58.","author":"Helena Lahoz Kopiske","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","materials":["Ceramic","pigment"]},"a0a31a62-7361-5268-8ad7-1a7b0126f09d":{"name":"Alhambra vase.","description":"This piece is one of the so-called 'Alhambra vases'. Formally, all of these are similar: a large egg-shaped body and a narrow, unglazed base from which two large, flat handles emerge, and an octagonal neck reinforced with vertical mouldings.  \nThe decoration of pale gold on a white base is arranged horizontally in broad bands of different widths that are separated from one another by other smooth, narrower bands. The central, and widest, band contains vegetal motifs and an inscription in *kufic* characters in white on a golden background, in which the word 'forgiveness' is repeated several times. Both above and below the central band there are other similar bands decorated with plant arabesques and gold circles, all joined by a thread. The decoration of the main body is completed by another two bands, one on the lower part with small arches and another nearer the neck with a *kufic* inscription, now almost completely disappeared.  \nThe neck, which has eight sides separated by mouldings, is decorated with stylised vegetal motifs. The handles, attached close to the body, are decorated with the hand of Fatima (*hamsa*) on each side.  \nThe Alhambra vases constitute the most important examples of Nasrid ceramic production. These pieces became extremely well known for their delicate decoration and large size, and were exported to other places. The best-preserved examples are to be found in Palermo (Regional Museum of Sicily), St Petersburg (Hermitage), Stockholm (National Museum of Fine Arts) and Madrid (Institute of Valencia de D. Juan and the National Archaeological Museum). Some are decorated exclusively in gold and others in gold and cobalt-blue, always on a tin-glaze background.  \nAlthough its form derives from large storage vessels, its cumbersome size and the absence of any strengthening elements in the handles suggest a purely ornamental function.","short_description":"The so-called ‘Alhambra vases’ were luxury items because of the technical complexity of their manufacture and the beauty of their decoration and lustrework. The intended use is not known, but their renown led them to be exported to Sicily and Mamluk Egypt.","type":"Vase, ceramic","holder":"National Archaeological Museum.","initial_owner":"Unknown, Cristóbal Bermúdez Plata","dates":"Hegira 8th century / AD 14th century.","location":"Madrid","dimensions":"Height 126 cm, max. diameter 63 cm.","method_for_datation":"It is difficult to determine the date of manufacture of these vases. Nonetheless, all writers agree that, on the basis of the inscription, the oldest examples are those decorated solely with gold on white, which were produced from the last third of the 7th / 13th century and, in particular, during the 8th / 14th century.","method_for_provenance":"Although all of these pieces are known generically as the Alhambra vases, they were produced in Malaga and exported. From the 7th / 13th century, Arab writers begin to mention Malaga as a large centre for the production and export of ceramics with gold or metallic highlights.","provenance":"Malaga, Spain.","obtention":"The piece was found by chance at the beginning of the 20th century during work to shore up vaults in the monastery of Santa María de la Defensión in Jerez de la Frontera (Cadiz). It was donated to the National Archaeological Museum on 29 July 1930.","bibliography":"Llubía, L. M., *Cerámica medieval española*, Barcelona: Nueva Colección Labor (2nd edition), 1973: 82–110.  \nMartínez Caviró, B., *Cerámica hispanomusulmana: andalusí y mudéjar*, Madrid: El Viso, 1991: 76–7.  \nSerrano García, C., “Los Jarrones de la Alhambra”, in *Estudios dedicados a D. Jesús Bermúdez Pareja*, Granada: Asociación Cultural de Amigos del Museo Hispanomusulmán, 1988: 127–62.  \nTorres Balbás, L., \"Arte Almohade, Arte Nazarí, Arte Mudéjar\", *Ars Hispaniae*, Vol. IV, Madrid: Plus Ultra, 1949: 217.  \nPatronato de la Alhambra y Generalife (sel.), *Los Jarrones de la Alhambra. Simbología y poder*, Madrid: Junta de Andalucía, Patronato de La Alhambra y Generalife, 2006.","author":"Margarita Sánchez Llorente","copy_editor":"Rosalía Aller","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["Alhambra","Alhambra vase","ceramic","Malaga","Nasrids"],"materials":["Ceramic","glazure","lustreware"]},"a15286eb-a10a-5ff6-92f0-7aa1105bf571":{"name":"Sherds","short_description":"Lustre painting is an elaborate technique requiring several firings, the last one without oxygen. Used to decorate ceramics but also glass, it was much appreciated for its luxurious, iridescent effect suggestive of glittering gold and silver, the more so since Islam prohibited vessels made from precious metals. The present sherds illustrate the wide variety of motifs, colours and designs used by the potters of Fustat during the Fatimid dynasty.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"The National Museum of Art of Romania","dates":"Hegira late 5th – early 6th century / AD late 11th – early 12th century","location":"Bucharest, Romania","dimensions":"Diameter (largest): 12.3cm","place_of_production":"Fustat, Egypt","method_for_datation":"Comparison with related objects","method_for_provenance":"Comparison with related objects","provenance":"Cairo, Egypt","obtention":"In 1932 the Arab Museum in Cairo donated a collection of ceramic sherds to the Toma Stelian Museum in Bucharest, whose holdings were transferred to the National Museum of Art of Romania in 1949.","bibliography":"Watson, O., *Ceramics from Islamic Lands*, New York: Thames & Hudson, 2005.","author":"Mircea Dunca","keywords":["Lustre painting"],"materials":["Earthenware painted in lustre on an opaque glaze"]},"a16c230e-422f-5bde-8b7a-803161b630d9":{"name":"Grenades.","description":"A cone shaped vessel with a pointed base and a small opening, 3 cm in diameter. Made of thick black or gray burnished pottery ware, the vessels are decorated with almond-shaped designs in relief which are arranged into nine segments and divided by straight lines, starting at the neck and ending at the pointed base.  \n  \nScholars differ in opinion as to the function and use of these vessels. Some think they were used as containers for perfume or other precious liquids, while others believe they were filled with naphtha and used as grenades.","short_description":"Cone-shaped vessels from Ajlun Castle made of thick grey or black pottery. Their function and use are not certain; some scholars think they were containers for perfume or precious liquids, while others believe they were filled with naphtha and used as grenades.","type":"Grenade, ceramic","holder":"Ajlun Archaeological Museum.","dates":"Hegira 6th century / post-AD 1184.","location":"Ajlun","dimensions":"Height 12 cm, width 14.7 cm, circumference 29.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"The vessels are dated by stylistic analysis and by the fact that they were found as part of the archaeology of a dated building.","method_for_provenance":"The provenance is unknown but the grenades were probably produced in Syria.","provenance":"Unknown, probably Syria.","obtention":"The vessels were collected during an archaeological excavation carried out in the Castle of Ajlun.","bibliography":"العش، محمد، \"الفخار غير المطلي\" الحوليات الأثرية السورية، المجلد العاشر، 1960، ص 135-189.  \n  \nساري.صالح، الفخار الأيوبي و المملوكي في بلاد الشام 567-923 ه/1171 – 1517م، رسالة ماجستير، الجامعة الأردنية، 1979، ص 131، شكل 47.  \n  \nPentz, P., 'Medieval Workshop for Producing Greek Fire Grenades', *Antiquity* Vol. 62, cat. no. 234, 1988, pp.89–93.  \n  \nSeyrig, T., 'Flacons? Grenades? Colipiles?', *Syria*, tome XXXXI, 1959, pp.81–9.","author":"Aida Naghawy","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["relief decoration","weapon","weaponry"],"materials":["Wheel-thrown ceramic."]},"a1ecccac-7c93-51a2-925d-06173dfe0ef5":{"name":"Merlon.","description":"This merlon, with its rectangular base prolonged on both sides by two projecting notches, is crowned by an element in the shape of a leaf whose concave surface has two perforations at its centre. The green-coloured enamel that covers the surface runs over the edge onto the lateral sides. Fragmented into two parts, the piece was restored with plaster on its posterior side.  \nThis merlon, along with other similar elements, constitutes one of the friezes that crowned the summit of the façades of Hammadid palaces.  \nThe holes that can be seen on the surface of the leaf might have been used to accommodate the fixing of bolts.","short_description":"Rectangular-base merlon topped with a leaf-shaped object, the concave surface of which has two holes for attaching it. It is coloured with a blue-green glaze that has disappeared in places. This merlon was part of a frieze used to adorn Hammadid palaces.","type":"Merlon, ceramic","holder":"National Museum of Setif","dates":"Hegira 406–547 / AD 1015–1152.","location":"Setif","dimensions":"Height 64 cm, width 24 cm, depth 7.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"Merlon was found in the Qal'at Bani Hammad (5th–6th / AD 11th–12th centuries).","method_for_provenance":"The merlon was found by Golvin in the palace of Manar. Furthermore, these merlons have appeared in abundance in the palace of Manar, but have not appeared elsewhere.","provenance":"Qasr al-Manar, Qal’at Bani Hammad, Algeria.","bibliography":"Bourouiba, R, *Les H'ammadites*, Algiers, 1984.  \nGolvin, L., *Recherches archéologiques à la Qal'a des Banû Hammâd (Algérie*), Paris, 1965, pl. LXV.  \nInstitut du Monde Arabe, *L'Algérie en héritage*, *art et histoire*, catalogue, Paris, 2003.","author":"Leila Merabet","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"Maria Vlotides","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["architectural decoration","ceramic","façade","Glazed","Hammadid","merlon","palace","palatial architecture"],"materials":["Enamelled ceramic."]},"a21ffaa4-2f94-5760-8200-a9816e236687":{"name":"Eight-pointed star-shaped tile","short_description":"Tile in the shape of an eight-pointed star with a blue border. It is decorated with an eight-pointed star featuring a design in low relief: a running deer in a field of vegetation reserved in white against the lustre-painted ground. The text of the first Sura, *Fatiha* (*The Opener*), in Arabic, is inscribed between the parallel sides of the concentric polygons. The inscription, in *naskhi* characters, is painted in lustre on a white ground.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"The National Museum of Art of Romania","dates":"Hegira 8th century / AD 14th century","location":"Bucharest","dimensions":"Height: 21cm, Width: 21cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis","method_for_provenance":"Stylistic analysis","provenance":"Iran","obtention":"Purchased by the Ministry of Culture in 1978. Transferred to the Museum in 1979.","bibliography":"Dunca, M., *Scrierea în arta islamică*, Bucharest: National Museum of Art of Romania, 2000: 60, cat. no. 34.  \nKomaroff, L. and Carboni, S., *The Legacy of Genghis Khan. Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353*, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2002.","author":"Mircea Dunca","keywords":["Decorative tile"],"materials":["Fritware","moulded decoration","painted in lustre on an opaque white glaze with accents of blue and green"]},"a2dc11cb-45ba-5aad-a8e3-58331496893b":{"name":"Bowl.","description":"An example of underglaze polychrome lustre-ware, specifically the type renowned in the area of Raqqa and neighbouring Rusafa during the AH 6th / AD 12th century. Stylistically this type of ceramic 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*.  \nThe piece is a semi-spherical bowl with a tall base. Its interior is decorated with an illustration of a person – either a man or a woman, it is difficult to tell – who wears a small hat, has a halo surrounding her Turkoman moon-like face and a beauty spot on her left cheek. She carries in her right hand a cup. The clothing is decorated with embroidery consisting of stylised vegetal patterns; similar vegetal decorations also surround the figure.  \nAlong the inside rim of the vessel are stylised geometric designs. The outer surface of the vessel is decorated with a band of almond-shaped motifs. The whole decorative scheme has been executed in blue, black, red, green and brown on a background of ivory-beige; a light-green transparent glaze covers the vessel overall.","short_description":"The westwards movement of the Seljuqs from Central Asia brought a fashion for Iranian iconography. Syrian potters used their local method of underglaze polychrome painting while executing Eastern-inspired figurative images.","type":"Bowl, earthenware","holder":"National Museum of Damascus","dates":"Hegira 6th–7th century / AD 12th–13th century.","location":"Damascus","dimensions":"Height 10 cm, diameter 20.4 cm.","method_for_datation":"The bowl is dated by comparative analysis of similar finds from Raqqa believed to be of the Ayyubid period (6th–7th / 12th–13th centuries). Production of ceramics ended after the Mongol invasion and destruction of the city in 656–7/ 1258–9.","method_for_provenance":"Raqqa and Rusafa were known as centres for the production of wares of this type, specifically polychrome ware with underglaze painting in five or six colours and figural representation showing strong Persian or Central Asian influence.","provenance":"Raqqa region, Syria.","obtention":"Purchased in 1947.","bibliography":"Abu al-Faraj al-Ush, M., *A Concise Guide to the National Museum of Damascus,* Damascus, 1969, p.231.  \nDelpont, E., *L'Orient de Saladin l'art des Ayyoubides*, Paris, 2001, p.51; fig. 44.  \nPorter, V., *Medieval Syrian Pottery*, Oxford, 1981.  \nSoustiel, J., and Kiefer, C., *La céramique islamique*, Fribourg, 1985.  \nWatson, O., *Ceramics from Islamic Lands*, London, 2004.","author":"Mona al-Moadin","translator":"Hilary Kalmbach (from the Arabic)","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["bowl","ceramic","earthenware","polychrome painting","Raqqa","Rusafa","transparent glaze"],"materials":["Earthenware painted with polychrome underglaze."]},"a3383721-0dca-5dd7-9c36-0d0b44bcc62a":{"name":"Plate","description":"Plate produced in Brussels in Oriental style.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"MAK – Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art","dates":"Bought in 1895","location":"Vienna","provenance":"Belgium, Brussels","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega"},"a37a77c0-be32-5414-8a2a-ad1daa8bf28a":{"name":"Star tiles.","description":"The star and cross tiles in underglaze and lustre techniques, respectively, that once decorated the walls of the Kubadabad Palace in Beyşehir are rare examples of Seljuq tile art in regards to their decoration and symbolic meanings. The star tiles were produced using the underglaze technique, while the cross tiles were produced using the lustre technique. Representing a wide range of figurative imagery, the tiles are decorated with scenes from the daily lives of the sultans and of the palace in general. In addition, talismanic fantastic animals that were believed to protect the palace, as well as various domestic animals and game (e.g. sphinxes, sirens, peacocks, lions, double-headed eagles, birds, foxes, rabbits, wolves, horses, goats, camels, and ducks) were also depicted.  \n  \nIn the Kubadabad Palace, the eight-pointed star tiles were placed together with cruciform tiles to form large panels. While the star tiles have mostly figurative decoration, the cruciform ones generally have vegetal decoration. The underglaze painted examples are decorated in black, turquoise and dark-blue under a colourless transparent glaze.  \n  \nThe figurative decoration shows good observation of nature, a lively imagination and a realistic style. The double-headed eagles are depicted in profile and cover the entire surface of the tile. Their bodies, in frontal view, bear cartouches with inscriptions reading 'al-sultan', 'al mu'azzam' ('the great'), etc. Generally framed with plant motifs, the double-headed eagles are thought to bear symbolic meanings. Used in various periods as both a coat of arms and a totem, the image of the double-headed eagle is ascribed many meanings such as strength, power, protective spirit, nobility, and wisdom. The double-headed eagles on the Kubadabad Palace tiles are thought to symbolise power, most likely representing the sultan with inscribed panels on their bodies.","short_description":"One of the most important palaces of the Anatolian Seljuq period, the Kubadabad Palace is renowned for its wall tiles. The main theme of the tiles is the daily life of the sultan and his entourage and courtly life in general They reflect careful observation of nature and a wide-ranging imagination.","type":"Seljuk ceramics, glazed, underglazed techniques","holder":"Karatay Madrasa Tile Museum.","dates":"During the reign of Sultan Alaaddin ('Ala al-Din) Keykubad I (r. hegira 616–35 / AD 1220–37).","location":"Konya","dimensions":"Height of each 24 cm (4 pieces).","method_for_datation":"The Kubadabad Palace in Beyşehir was built by the Seljuq Sultan Alaaddin ('Ala al-Din) Keykubad I (r. AH 616–35 / AD 1220–37). Inscriptions and written documents show that the palace was completed in 634 / 1236. The tiles of the palace are dated to the same year.","method_for_provenance":"The tiles were found *in situ* at the palace but the place of production is not known. However, it is highly likely that they were produced at Beyşehir or Konya. The latest finds during the ongoing excavations suggest that they might have been produced on site at the palace.","provenance":"Beyşehir or Konya, Turkey.","obtention":"Initiated in the mid-20th century, the ongoing archaeological excavations at the Kubadabad Palace have brought to light a considerable number of tiles. Once forming the decoration of the walls of the palace, the tiles were taken for public display to Karatay Madrasa Museum in Konya after they had been studied.","bibliography":"Arık, R., *Kubad Abad*, Istanbul, 2000.  \nAslanapa, O., Anadolu'da Türk çini ve Keramik Sanatı (Turkish Art of Tile and Pottery in Anatolia), Ankara, 1965.  \nOral, Z., “Kubad Abad çinileri (Kubad Abad Tiles)”, *Belleten,* Vol. XVII, Issue: 66, Ankara, 1959, pp.209–22.  \nÖnder, M., “Selçuklu Devri Kubad Abad Sarayı çini Süslemeleri (The Seljuq Period Tile Decoration of Kubad Abad Palace)”, *Türkiyemiz* 6 (1972), pp.15-18.  \nÖney, G., *Turkish Tile Art*, Istanbul, 1976.  \nRoxburgh, D. J. (ed), *Turks: A Journey of a Thousand Years, 600–1600*, London, 2005, pp.392–94.","author":"Sevinç Gök Gürhan","translator":"Barry Wood","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Double-headed eagle","figurative decoration","Glaze","Sultan Alaaddin (Ala al-Din) Keykubad I","underglaze painting"],"materials":["Ceramic","underglaze technique."]},"a3dac180-1eea-5814-9963-a2c290044228":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"The bowl is decorated in turquoise, blue, and purple in a opaque white glaze. The decoration in black and red is overglaze. The bowl is embellished by leaf gilding decoration.","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira late 6th–early 7th century / AD late 12th–early 13th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Height 7.6 cm, diameter max 25.5 cm","provenance":"Iran","keywords":["ceramic","Minai","Seljuq"],"materials":["Frit body","mina'i decoration"]},"a4216aec-61b4-5519-bef1-4a5dd8bcb4b4":{"name":"Tile panel in the form of a doorway","short_description":"This large mosaic tile panel is installed on the east wall of the dining room lanai at Shangri La. To produce a panel such as this, a potter cut small shapes out of glazed and fired tiles, then fitted the small pieces together to produce a mosaic effect. Each shape had to be precisely cut to align perfectly with the surrounding shapes glazed in contrasting colors. The technique was often used in Iran and Central Asia to adorn buildings and other architectural structures such as gateways.","type":"Islamic, Indian & Southeast Asian works of art; Tilework; ceramic","holder":"Shangri La, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira probably 13th century / AD 19th century","location":"Honolulu, Hawai'i","dimensions":"Overall: 388.6 x 406.4 cm","provenance":"Iran","keywords":["arabesque","architectural decoration","doorway","floral decoration","geometric motifs","inscription","Iran","monochrome-glazed","mosaic","Qajar","stonepaste","tilework"],"materials":["monochrome-glazed fragments assembled as mosaic","Stonepaste"]},"a422b89c-541c-5d0c-b8ef-5292227a2201":{"name":"Pilgrim’s Flask.","description":"This canteen, often described as a pilgrim's flask, is a container used to carry water while travelling, on pilgrimage, or hunting trips. It is manufactured using a mould and its body is in the form of a disc with a mouth and a pair of loops attached to the side. To keep water from spilling out, the mouth is elongated by a tube of earthenware resembling a set of gradually narrowing rings stacked one on top of the other. The two loops flanking the flask's mouth can be strung by a rope to hang on the hip while travelling on foot, horse or camel-back.  \nThe surface of the body is decorated with a moulded imprint boldly portraying a Mamluk blazon, known in Arabic as 'rank'. The open-winged eagle on top of a chalice that is flanked by flowers is known to be the blazon of Prince Toquztimur. It is believed that he started out as an official cup-bearer and his blazontherefore displays the cup. When he rose to the rank of governor for Sultan Nasir al-Din Muhammad (r. AH 709–41 / AD 1309–40), he added the symbol of the eagle as a tribute to the Sultan. The six-petal roses that appear underneath the eagle may signify a tribute to Nasir al-Din's family, the Qalawun.","short_description":"This flask decorated with an emblem, a fashion that became popular during the Mamluk period, carries a symbol of an eagle and identifies the owner as Prince Toquztimur, the Mamluk Governor of Hama and later Aleppo.","type":"Flask, earthenware","holder":"National Museum of Damascus","initial_owner":"Prince Toquztimur (r. AH 742–6 / AD 1341–5), Mamluk Governor of Hama and then Aleppo.","dates":"Hegira 742–6 / AD 1341–5.","location":"Damascus","dimensions":"Height 27.3 cm, diameter (of body) 18.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"The canteen is datable by the blazon that identifies it with Prince Toquztimur (r. 742–6 / 1341–5). Similar objects have also been dated to this period.","method_for_provenance":"This object was found in Aleppo, but since Prince Toquztimur was the Governor of Hama and then of Aleppo, it is also possible that the flask was produced in Hama. Similar objects, in respect of both style of decoration and function have been given Syrian provenance.","provenance":"Aleppo or Hama, Syria.","obtention":"Purchased in 1933.","bibliography":"Abu al-Faraj al-Ush, M., *A Concise Guide to the National Museum of Damascus,* Damascus, 1969, p.225.  \nAtil, E., *Art of the Mamluks: Renaissance of Islam*, Washington DC, 1981, p.190.  \nCluzan, S. et al (eds), *Syrie: Mémoire et Civilisation*, Paris, 1994, p.454.  \nPorter, V., *Medieval Syrian Pottery*, Oxford, 1981.  \nSoustiel, J., and Kiefer, C., *La céramique islamique*, Fribourg, 1985, p.132.  \nWatson, O., *Ceramics from Islamic Lands*, London, 2004, pp.120–7.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_EG_EN_001","author":"Mona al-Moadin","translator":"Hilary Kalmbach (from the Arabic)","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["al-Nasir Muhammad","Aleppo","blazon (or rank)","canteen","cup","eagle","earthenware","moulded","Pilgrim flasks","pilgrimage","pottery","Toquztimur"],"materials":["Moulded earthenware."]},"a488d457-650b-5f4c-b27b-4e2bcbd9ff6d":{"name":"Tile Panel for a Spandrel","short_description":"Buildings in Isfahan, capital of the Safavid dynasty in the seventeenth century, were lavishly decorated with tilework. An innovation of this period, found in palaces and other secular structures, was the use of individually painted square tiles, which were combined to form a larger pictorial scene and employed the *cuerda seca* technique. First developed in Iran in the later 14th century, *cuerda seca* was designed to produce multicolored glazed tile decoration quickly, efficiently, and cheaply. To prevent the different glazes from running during the (single) firing process, the decorative motifs were outlined with a greasy pigment that burned off in the firing, leaving behind a dull, dark line. This tile panel is half of a pair of spandrels that was once set above an archway in a palatial pavilion known as the Hasht Bihisht, completed in Hegira 1080 / AD 1669-70. Here, amid a tranquil floral landscape filled with birds, a lion attacks a stag, a motif that can perhaps be interpreted as a visualization of a contemporary poetic metaphor for the arrival of spring. Other contemporaneous spandrels from the Hasht Bihisht on the eastern facade include animal combats, for example, a leopard and a gazelle and a tiger and a gazelle.","type":"Architectural Elements","holder":"Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)","dates":"Hegira 1080 / AD 1669-1670","location":"Los Angeles","dimensions":"114.9 x 105.4cm","method_for_datation":"The tile panel is very closely related in terms of style, subject matter (animal combat), technique and dimensions to other spandrels still in situ at the Hasht Bihisht pavilion in Isfahan, which dates to Hegira 1080 / AD 1669-70. It may have come from the western façade of the structure.","method_for_provenance":"The technique, style, and dimensions are consonant with tilework from the Hasht Bihisht.","provenance":"Iran, probably Isfahan, Hasht Bihisht, West façade","obtention":"Collection of Nasli M. Heeramaneck (1902-1971), New York, until 1973 (sold to); LACMA, The Nasli M. Heeramaneck collection, gift of Joan Palevsky.","bibliography":"Komaroff, Linda, *Lo Terrenal y lo Divino: Arte Islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Ángeles*, Santiago: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015: 191, 214.  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Islamic Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art*, Los Angeles: Museum Associates, 2005: 54, fig. 50.  \nLuschey-Schmeisser, Ingeborg, *The Pictorial Tile Cycle of Hašt Behešt in Isfahan and its Iconographic Tradition*, Rome: IsMEO, 1978: 211.  \nPal, Pratapaditya (ed), *Islamic Art: The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection*, Los Angeles: Museum Associates, 1973: 64-65, cat. no. 117.","author":"LACMA Staff","keywords":["animal decoration","bird","ceramics","cuerda seca","floral motifs","Fritware","Iran","lion","Safavid"],"materials":["cuerda seca technique","Fritware"]},"a49a47fe-f470-5805-9a91-aceb1f2dd325":{"name":"Bowl painted in blue and black","short_description":"The type of thin-walled bowls of an elegant bi-conic shape/decorated with refined blue and black painting belongs to the best achievements of Iranian ceramics of the AD 12th–13th centuries. The inner surface of the museum bowl is decorated with a cross-shaped composition with radial inscriptions in Persian, scratched on black ribbons in the \"dry kalam\" technique. The inscriptions make up a love poem: \"Since you cannot love me for a moment / Do not break further my wounded heart. / Be less cruel, less tyrannical to me, / Until my heart slowly leaves you\". Masterly drawn flowers, long-tailed birds and \"willow branches\" betray the hand of a subtle artist.","type":"Ceramics; Bowl","holder":"The Khanenko Museum","dates":"AD early 13th century","location":"Kyiv","dimensions":"Height: 8.5cm, Diameter: 21.5cm","method_for_datation":"Arthur Sambon's auction catalogue (1914, origin, inscription reading). Stylistic analysis by  V. Krachkovskaya (1926, date); T. Starodub (1976, specified origin).","method_for_provenance":"Arthur Sambon's auction catalogue (1914). Publication of Vera Krachkovskaya (1927). Old Museum Inventory Register (1925-1946).","provenance":"Kashan, Iran","obtention":"Donated by Varvara Khanenko in 1918. Previously purchased by the Khanenkos in Paris at the auction of Arthur Sambon collection in 1914.","bibliography":"Keblow-Bernsted, Anne-Marie, *Early Islamic Pottery: Materials and Techniques*, London: Archetype, 2003.  \nKrachkovskaya, V., \"Musulmsnskoye iskusstvo v sobranii Khanenko (Muslim Art from the Khanenkos' Collection)\", in Bartold V.V. (ed), *Zapyski Kollegii Vostokovedov (Notes of the College of Orientalists)* at Asian Museum of USSR Academy of Sciences, Vol II, Leningrad: USSR Academy of Sciences, 1927.  \nRudyk, H. (ed), *Charisma of Iran. Persian art of 12th–19th centuries from museum collections of Ukraine*, Kyiv: The Khanenko Museum, 2017.  \nSambon, Arthur, *Catalogue des Objets D'Art: Collection Arthur Sambon*, Paris: Galerie Georges Petit, 1914.  \nStarodub, T., \"K voprosy o datirovanii i atributsii keramiki s sine-chornoi rospisiyu\" (To the issue of dating and attribution of ceramics with blue and black painting) in *Iskusstvo i arheologiya Irana (Art and Archaeology of Iran)*, conference proceedings, Moscow: Nauka, 1976.","workshop":"The Khanenko Museum","author":"Antonina Makarevych","copy_editor":"Janice Medina","keywords":["ceramics","Iran","Kashan"],"materials":["painting in black and blue under a clear glaze","Stonepaste"]},"a4a2465e-0ea9-5fe8-9719-b7e20f0986e6":{"name":"Dish.","description":"'Brazier' dish with a large, flat circular base and straight, shallow sides finished with a narrow brim. The piece is made of red clay and covered with a tin glaze. It is decorated with gold and cobalt-blue lustre on a creamy white background. The base of the dish, decorated with interlaced, small and stylized vegetal patterns, is divided into quadrants with alternating blue and golden motifs. The brim is decorated with the traditional ‘fish-like border’ pattern. Golden spirals fill and break up the white background throughout the piece.  \nTechnically, ceramics from the AH 8th and 9th / AD 14th and 15th century are no more than a continuation of the Almohad tradition. However, the incorporation of cobalt oxide into the glaze in the Nasrid era gave rise to a wide range of blues, and the application of copper sulphate, silver and red ochre to achieve metallic highlights resulted in some exceptional pieces. Centuries-old gilded Andalusian ceramics had their heyday during the Nasrid reign in Granada.  \nThe manufacture of this type of ceramic required three firings. The final firing, in a reduction kiln, was the most delicate as it required perfect control of the kiln and its temperature. The mix of metal sulphides had to adhere to the piece without the glaze from the previous firing melting again.  \nThe importance of the pottery workshops of the kingdom of Granada, and specifically of Malaga as the main centre of production, caused the expression *obra de maliqa* (made in Maliqa) to be used, with some variations, to refer to gilded ceramics regardless of where they were produced. This term was also used in the Christian world for pottery workshops of Nasrid origin that, from the late AH 8th / AD 14th century, began to move to various places on the east coast of Spain, of which Manises was the most important centre for highlighted ceramics produced in the Malaga style for Christian customers.","short_description":"This enormous dish represents a continuation of the technique and decorative style of Nasrid ceramicists in Mudéjar workshops to meet the needs of their Christian clientele, who wanted new shapes like this shallow dish with its flat base, straight sides and horizontal rim.","type":"Dish, ceramic","holder":"National Archaeological Museum.","dates":"Hegira 802–38 / AD 1400–35.","location":"Madrid","dimensions":"Height 4.5 cm, maximum diameter 41.5 cm, base diameter 34.8 cm.","method_for_datation":"The perfect development of the technique, the type of decoration and the style of the plant arabesques are characteristic of ceramics with golden highlights from the first third of the 9th / 15th century.","method_for_provenance":"The growing decadence of the Nasrid kingdom, along with the development of the maritime power of the kingdom of Aragon and its control over the trade routes of the Mediterranean resulted in Mudéjar centres, contemporaries of the Nasrid producers that used the same traditional procedures and decorative styles, springing up around the east coast. The intense colour of the cobalt and its shape are more characteristic of Valencian pieces, but only an analysis of the clays could determine the precise origin of the piece.","provenance":"Nasrid kingdom of Granada or Christian kingdom of Valencia, Spain.","obtention":"The piece was purchased for the National Archaeological Museum by the State on 6 June 1875.","bibliography":"Camps Cazorla, E., *Catálogo Sumario del Museo Arqueológico Nacional. Cerámica Española (Nuevas Instalaciones)*, Madrid, 1936, pp.28–30.  \nCamps Cazorla, E., *La Cerámica Medieval Española*, Madrid, 1943, p.29.  \nMartínez Caviró, B., *Cerámica Hispanomusulmana Andalusí y Mudéjar*, Madrid, 1991, pp.76–82.  \nPérez Higuera, T., *Objetos e Imágenes de al-Andalus*, Barcelona, 1994, pp.24–5.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_ES_EN_001","author":"Margarita Sánchez Llorente","copy_editor":"Rosalía Aller","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","gilding","Granada","highlight","Manises","Mudéjar","Nasrids","Valencia"],"materials":["Ceramic","Glazing","metallic highlights."]},"a52ea6dc-cf4f-5836-a534-c806ce30745b":{"name":"Tile Bowl","description":"The bowl’s surface is coated in white clay and slip and decorated in blue and white under a transparent colourless glaze. On the exterior a dark grey-blue ivy branch, reminiscent of a Chinese cloud, is adorned with large stylised flowers and shoots in cobalt blue. The contours are grey-blue. The exterior of the rim is encircled by a band of short angled lines, and the interior by a band of half rosettes. Inside the bowl is a medallion featuring a large stylised flower with six petals in the centre. This is a unique example of the influence of Chinese porcelain.","type":"Utensil","holder":"Istanbul Archaeological Museums (The Tiled Kiosk)","dates":"Hegira second quarter of the 10th century / AD second quarter of the 16th century","location":"Istanbul","dimensions":"Diameter: 26cm; height: 11.4cm","place_of_production":"İznik/Bursa","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","materials":["Glazed terracotta/Tile"]},"a5329f82-997c-5624-abe3-aed18ec8753c":{"name":"Jar.","description":"Jar with an ovoid belly, with no neck or foot, resting on a narrow base. A roll acts as a spout. The marks left by the removal of the handles suggest that they were flat and perhaps wing-shaped like the famous jars of the Alhambra. The upper third of the belly is decorated with four horizontal strips covered with a green-bronze glaze. These strips have stamped motifs and are delimited by clay cordons with incised chevron patterns. The repetitive motifs that decorate the strips are plant-like (palm leaves and fleurons) or epigraphic. On the top strip, stylised patterns seem to reproduce the word 'Allah' or *al-yumn* (happiness), to express God's omnipresence and to have it protect the food kept in the jar. This form of decorative jar is frequently found on the archaeological sites from the Nasrid period of al-Andalus.","short_description":"This egg-shaped jar was used to store foodstuffs. The marks left when the handles were removed suggest that they were flat, possibly wing-shaped, like the famous 'Alhambra jars'.","type":"Jar, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Ceramics.","dates":"Hegira 7th-8th / AD 13th-14th centuries.","location":"Salé.","dimensions":"Height 59.5 cm, base diameter 12 cm, max. diameter 58.7 cm, neck diameter 16.6 cm.","method_for_datation":"From stylistic and comparatives studies with the Nasrid work.","method_for_provenance":"Discovered during chance excavations in Salé.","provenance":"Salé, Morocco.","obtention":"Excavated.","bibliography":"Bazzana, A., *Maroc, les trésors du Royaume*, catalogue, Paris, 1999.  \nCambazard-Amahan, C. and Erbati, E., *6000 ans d'art au Maroc*, catalogue, Paris, 1990.  \nRicard,P. and Delpy, A., “Note sur la découverte de spécimens de céramique marocaine du Moyen Âge”, *Hespéris* III, 1931, pp.227–37, pl. XXXIV.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_MA_EN_001","author":"Naima El Khatib-Boujibar","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["epigraphic decoration","floral decoration","geometric decoration","vegetal decoration","water"],"materials":["Clay-coil ceramic stamped and engraved","with a trace of glaze."]},"a55c2ebe-979d-535b-8bc8-31f893bda658":{"name":"Cup with *rubab* player.","description":"The cup is decorated in the centre with a figure playing a *rubab*, a traditional Iranian stringed instrument. The background is filled with dotted panels and the edge is decorated with semi-circles.  \nThe *rubab*\\-player motif, shown here seated as was the custom among nomads, appears frequently in Islamic art and seems, like the figure of the drinker, to evoke court scenes in celebration of the life of the sovereign. The musician, depicted in a style similar to that used in figurative Nishapur ceramics from the same period, is wearing characteristic headgear that was common among Turco-Mongolian people in Central Asia.","short_description":"This piece is decorated with, among other things, a male figure playing a stringed instrument, the *rubab*. The figure of the musician is common in Islamic art and, like the figure of the drinker, appears to evoke the splendour of court life.","type":"Cup, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”","dates":"Hegira 4th century / AD 10th century.","location":"Rome","dimensions":"Height 6.8 cm, diameter 23.5 cm.","method_for_provenance":"Many of the decorative elements, such as the dotted panels that make up the background, are typical of Iraqi ceramics of the 4th / 10th century.","provenance":"Iraq.","obtention":"Private deposit.","bibliography":"Lane, A., *Early Islamic Pottery*, London, 1953.  \nPhilon, H., *Early Islamic Ceramics*, London, 1980.  \nScerrato, U., “Ceramica Irachena del IX–X Secolo”, *Serie Schede Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale* 2, Rome, 1968.  \nTorre P., “Techniques Journeying from East to West at the Time of the Crusades” in *Crusades: Myth and Realities*, Nicosia, 2004.","author":"Paola Torre","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","decoration","geometric decoration","lustre"],"materials":["Metallic lustre-painted ceramic."]},"a5defb3f-7271-5a06-9b25-33267fdf495e":{"name":"Vessel","description":"The vessel is cream-coloured, with a ring base, convex body, long thin neck and scalloped rim. The figural, stylised geometric and floral decorations in a lustre technique cover the entire surface.","type":"Sürahi (*Sırlı Seramik*)","holder":"Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts","dates":"AH 6th century/AD 12th century","location":"Istanbul","dimensions":"Height: 21.8cm","place_of_production":"Iran","materials":["Ceramic"]},"a6a01024-6733-5cbd-9746-7f832e8a4d36":{"name":"Vase.","description":"This small pot, with a spherical body and a cylindrical neck fitted with two handles and a ring-foot, would have been used as a drinking vessel. The neck and upper part of the belly are covered in dark manganese-oxide paint and carved with decorative motifs. The motifs appear in a frieze on the neck and on the upper part of the belly. Horizontal and vertical dividing lines as well as a braid motif known as the 'eternity braid' are drawn on the neck. A pseudo-epigraphic motif, representing the name of Allah embellished with plant motifs and framed by a panel of horizontal volutes, can be seen on the belly. The handles are decorated with scattered oblique lines and with small painted disks. This type of decoration, reminiscent of metalwork, is typical of Almohad produce from North Africa and al-Andalus.","short_description":"This small pot with a rounded belly, cylindrical neck and two carrying handles, would have been used as a drinking vessel. The neck and upper part of the belly are covered in brown paint with excised decorative motifs: an 'eternity' plait and pseudo-epigraphic motifs.","type":"Vse, ceramic","holder":"Archeological Museum.","dates":"Hegira 6th century / AD 13th century.","location":"Tetouan.","dimensions":"Height 12 cm, base diameter 5.4 cm, max. diameter 13 cm, aperture diameter 9.9 cm.","method_for_datation":"Found in the rubble of a medieval bourgeois house on the archaeological site of Lixus. The date has been confirmed by stylistic and comparative study with reliably dated objects discovered in Murcia and Huelva in Spain from the end of the first third of 7th / 13th century.","method_for_provenance":"Excavated at the Lixus site.","provenance":"Lixus, Morocco.","obtention":"Excavated.","bibliography":"Ataallah, M., “La céramique musulmane à paroi incisée ou peinte de Lixus”, *Bulletin d'archéologie marocaine* VII, 1967, no. 117, pp.627–39, pl. I.  \nBazzana, A., “La céramique médievale”, in *Maroc, les trésors du Royaume*, catalogue, Paris, 1999.  \nNavarro Palazón, J., *La céramique hispano-arabe à décor esgrafié*, trans. Bazzana, Madrid, 1986.  \nPonsich, M., *Lixus, le quartier des Temples*, Etudes et travaux d'archéologie marocaine series, Vol. IX, Rabat, 1981.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_MA_EN_001","author":"Naima El Khatib-Boujibar","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["geometrical decoration","pseudo-inscription","vegetal decoration"],"materials":["painted and excised.","Wheel-thrown ceramic"]},"a6d99b72-8bf4-59da-85c1-3680ed3adc6d":{"name":"Jug","short_description":"Jug with rounded carination and flaring neck. The handle connects Jug with rounded carination and flaring neck. The handle connects the rim with the largest diameter of the body and is topped with a thumb rest. The object is entirely covered with an off-white slip. The rim is accentuated with a black slip painted band. The vessel is decorated with a purplish-black inscription band around the largest diameter of the body – reading *al-hamdu lillah* – the neck and along the handle. The inscription on the handle reads *Allah al-ʿalim bi-l-umur* (God is omniscient on all things). Also on the inner side of the neck we find a short illegible epigraphic decor. The combination of the widespread form with floriated *kufic* inscriptions is unusual. The small jug could be a drinking vessel.","type":"Earthenware","holder":"University Museum of Islamic Art | The Bumiller Collection","dates":"Hegira 5th century / AD 11th century","location":"Bamberg","dimensions":"Height: 145mm, Diameter: 125mm","method_for_datation":"Comparable script design is found on large conical bowls in the Nishapur excavations and in the Khalili Collection. Many examples of similar script but with inverted colours (white script on black slip) are found in Iranian museums. This type is common in Central and Northern Iran, but not found in Central Asia.","provenance":"Central or Northern Iran","obtention":"Purchased from Ibrahimi, Hamburg in 2001","bibliography":"Grube, E. J., *Cobalt and Lustre: the first centuries of Islamic pottery*, Oxford: Nour Foundation, 1994: 100-101, fig. 97-99.  \nKarīmī, F. and Kīānī, M. Y., *Honar-e sofālgarī-edawra-ye eslāmī-e Īrān* \\[Iranian pottery of the Islamic period\\], Tehran, 1985: 114-115.  \nWilkinson, C. K., *Nishapur: pottery of the early Islamic period*, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1973: 96-97, 113-114, No. 14-15.","author":"Verena Daiber","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega","keywords":["earthenware","epigraphic decor","Jug","slip painting"],"materials":["Earthenware","white slip with black slip painting under transparent glaze"]},"a6fb95de-a396-5ed1-a364-2182f9ed0860":{"name":"Dish","short_description":"A splendid example of the early Iznik ceramics is a big deep dish painted with vine or plane-tree leaves and the Chinese \"chi\" clouds. The dish is dated to the first half of the AD 16th century.  \nRefined painting in two different hues of cobalt-blue, dark and light, as well as the “chi” cloud motif point to the influence of Chinese Ming porcelain on the early Iznik ware. At the same time, the free composition of décor, with no distinct division on central field and border, reveals the inherent Turkish artistic traditions.","type":"Ceramics; Dish","holder":"The Khanenko Museum","dates":"First half of AD 16th century","location":"Kyiv","dimensions":"Height: 6.5cm, Diameter: 36cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis by Yu. Miller (publication, 1961, date, origin).","method_for_provenance":"Publication of Vera Krachkovskaya (1927): the Khanenkos' collection. The entry in the old Museum Inventory Register (1925-1946.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey","obtention":"Purchased by Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko. Donated by Varvara Khanenko in 1918, nationalized by Bolshevik regime in 1919.","bibliography":"Carswell, John, *Iznik Pottery*, London: British Museum Press, 1998.  \nDenny, W. B., *Iznik: the Artistry of Ottoman Ceramics*, London: Thames and Hudson, 2004.  \nKrachkovskaya, V., \"Musulmsnskoye iskusstvo v sobranii Khanenko (Muslim Art from the Khanenkos' Collection)\", in Bartold V.V. (ed), *Zapyski Kollegii Vostokovedov (Notes of the College of Orientalists)* at Asian Museum of USSR Academy of Sciences, Vol II, Leningrad: USSR Academy of Sciences, 1927.  \nMiller, Yu, *Art of Turkish Ceramics*, Leningrad: Aurora Publishing House, 1972.  \nRudyk, Hanna, \"Ottoman Collection in The Khanenko Museum\", *Chronicles-2000*, 1: 95 (2013): 479-495.","author":"Antonina Makarevych","copy_editor":"Janice Medina","keywords":["ceramics","Iznik","Ottoman","stonepaste","Turkey"],"materials":["cobalt-blue painting under transparent glaze","Stonepaste"]},"a7fd98fa-f450-5ba3-b6d2-3909a56326ac":{"name":"Decorated panel featuring a mosque","description":"An Ottoman-style mosque, identifiable by its cone-shaped minarets, sits in the middle of this horseshoe arch supported by two columns. The lower panel contains a vase with various flowers emerging from it, such as carnations, tulips, and vine leaves. A dense rinceau pattern with flowers and leaves fills the gaps in the arch and the keystone and decorates the capitals of the columns. The main colours are yellow green and blue, although beige and brown also feature. This item shows traces of both Ottoman and Andalusian influences.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Musée National du Bardo","dates":"Late 18th century","location":"Le Bardo, Tunis","provenance":"Qallaline","translator":"Flaminia Baldwin"},"a80ae3b6-0e85-5e1b-93e6-f4552c3eac51":{"name":"*Ataifor* (bowl).","description":"This *ataifor*, with a ring in the base and curved sides, is made of yellowish material and coated with a white glaze. The inside is decorated in green and manganese. The decorative theme is made up of a large circular border running round the edge of the plate in which it is possible to see the remains of a *kufic* inscription with the phrase ‘al-Mulk’ (power). The decoration is finished with two narrower strips that cross in the centre, with markings that appear to be a simplification of *kufic* writing but that are in fact meaningless. The decorative technique used, epigraphic motifs in copper green and manganese black visible through the white glaze, produces an impressive chromatic effect.  \nMadinat al-Zahra was the most important centre for the production and distribution of ceramics glazed and decorated in green and manganese during the Caliphate. Ornamentally, the clarity of the design and the austerity of the compositions, with extensive areas of the base undecorated, differentiates them from other works produced at the same time in al-Andalus.  \nThe function of this type of ceramic is still unclear, but what is clear is that production at Madinat al-Zahra constituted a fundamental technological advance. The use of copper and manganese oxides in the decoration and the glazing, which made the containers waterproof and stopped liquids soaking the earthenware, created a type of special crockery which was considered a luxury.","short_description":"Found in an archaeological dig at the palatine city of Madinat al-Zahra, this bowl or *ataifor* would have been part of the domestic crockery at the caliph’s home. This can be inferred from the inscription ‘al-Mulk’, ‘the power’, presumably referring to the power of the caliph.","type":"Ataifor, bowl, ceramics","holder":"National Archaeological Museum.","dates":"Hegira 324–66 / AD 936–76.","location":"Madrid","dimensions":"Height 7 cm, diameter 22 cm.","method_for_datation":"The *kufic* script belongs to an initial stage of production at Madinat al-Zahra, before the reign of al-Hakam II (350–66 / 961–76).","method_for_provenance":"The piece came from archaeological excavations at Madinat al-Zahra. Most of the ceramics are characterised by an open not a closed shape, and the majority of them are *ataifors*. The phrase ‘al-Mulk’, related to Umayyad power and legitimacy, is the inscription most frequently found in this type of ceramic.","provenance":"Córdoba, Spain.","obtention":"The *ataifor* was given to the National Archaeological Museum by the State on 5 February 1943.","bibliography":"Camps Cazorla, E., “Cerámica y Vidrios Califales de Medina Azahara”, in *Adquisiciones del Museo Arqueológico Nacional (1940–1945)*, Madrid, 1947, p.154.  \nCastejón y Martínez de Arizala, R., *Excavaciones del Plan Nacional de Medina Azahara (Córdoba). Campaña de 1943*. Informes y Memorias no. 8, Madrid, 1945.  \n*El Esplendor de los Omeyas Cordobeses*, Exhibition catalogue, Granada, 2001.","author":"Margarita Sánchez Llorente","copy_editor":"Rosalía Aller","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","epigraphy","geometric decoration"],"materials":["ceramics","fired","glazed.","green and manganese","wheel-thrown"]},"a842940f-0cc2-5088-a04d-869d51b9464b":{"name":"Pitcher, with one handle","description":"Uncovered in an unbuilt area adjacent to a cluster of five houses, this pitcher was discovered during the 2007 excavation by the Qatari-French Mission. The unconstructed space between the houses featured temporary installations, potentially serving as open-air kitchens, marked by ash and fireplaces.  \nThis jar features a single handle, a flared globular body, and a small flat base. Its body is adorned with a horizontal incised line as a decorative element. Crafted from red clay and adorned with a cream slip, the entire lower section of the body retains traces of red pigment. This kitchen vessel likely served the purpose of storing and transporting liquids.","type":"Container","holder":"National Museum of Qatar","owner":"National Museum of Qatar","initial_owner":"Qatar Museums","dates":"AH late 2nd to late 3rd century / AD late 8th to late 9th century","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Height 33.2cm, rim diameter 8cm, base diameter 8cm","place_of_production":"Arabian Peninsula or southern Iran","method_for_datation":"Stratigraphy/scientific analysis.","method_for_provenance":"Stratigraphy/scientific and laboratory analysis.","provenance":"Murwab, Qatar","obtention":"Archaeological excavation.","bibliography":"Carvajal Lopez, J., Guerin, A., and Georgakopoulou, M., \"Petrographic analysis of ceramics of Murwab, an early islamic site in Qatar\", *Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies*, 51 (2022): 55–70.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Preliminary pottery study: Murwab horizon in progress, ninth century AD, Qatar\", in *Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies*, 40 (2010): 17–34.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Territory and settlement patterns during the Abbasid period (ninth century AD): the village of Murwab (Qatar)\", *Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies*, 39 (2009): 181–196.  \n  \nHardy-Guilbert, Cl., \"Fouilles archéologiques a Murwab, Qatar\", in R. Boucharlat et J.-F. Salles (eds.), *Arabie Orientale, Mésopotamie et Iran méridional: De l’Age du Fer au début de la période islamique*, Paris: ERC 37, 1984: 169–188.  \n  \nKnuth, E., \"An Early Islamic fort and settlement at Murwab”, in F. Hojlund (ed.), *Danish Archaeological Investigations in Qatar 1956–1974*, Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 97 (2017): 83–98.","author":"Alexandrine Guerin","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","keywords":["earthenware","Jar","storage","Transportation"],"materials":["Earthenware"]},"a8732393-9f73-5349-bf08-2e06bf17b6f1":{"name":"Jar with animal decorations","description":"This oval-shaped double-handled *charbiya* has a long neck, a curved rim and a flat bottom. The main colours of the decorations are yellow, green and brown. On the shoulders, a strip of leaves in green and yellow are superimposed on a paler green background. A second strip of brown herringbone sits above a yellow and brown spotted cheetah, painted in profile with its head turned in full face and its big green eyes wide open. Its back is raised and topped with a ribbed crest. This item shows traces of both Ottoman and Andalusian influences.","type":"Ceramic; terracotta","holder":"Musée National du Bardo","dates":"19th century","location":"Le Bardo, Tunis","provenance":"Qallaline","translator":"Flaminia Baldwin"},"a8912ca5-9dcf-581c-885c-df8260626ef3":{"name":"Plate with battle scene.","description":"Round-based plate. The rim is ribbed on the outer wall and slopes slightly outwards. The glaze has been applied direct onto the grey clay with no slip coating. Shape and technique are typical of Ifriqiyan ceramics of the high Middle Ages.  \nThe plate is illustrated with a battle scene in which horsemen at the gallop brandish shields in their left hands. This stylised, imaginative decoration is Mesopotamian and was very much in vogue in the Fatimid era. Although seeming to derive from contemporary Oriental sources, it probably has its origin in a distant, Roman, North African past. In fact, the horses drawn on this plate are less naturalistic, more stylised than those of similar Mesopotamian artefacts. From their freedom of line and their particular decoration they are more reminiscent of contemporary Ifriqiyan plates. Moreover, the riders' faces possess that huge eye which is a common denominator of almost all Ifriqiyan human figures of the time and which would confirm the fundamental North African influence behind the decoration of this plate.","short_description":"This dish has a round base and sloping sides. It is illustrated with a war scene, suggesting a North African influence, while the stylised, fantasy decoration suggests a link with contemporary Eastern decoration. This type of decoration was extremely popular during the Fatimid era.","type":"Plate, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art.","dates":"Hegira, second half of the 4th–first half of the 5th century / AD 10th–11th centuries.","location":"Raqqada., Kairouan.","dimensions":"Height 11 cm, diameter 31 cm.","method_for_datation":"This object comes from the site of Sabra al-Mansuriyya, the short-lived capital of the Fatimids and then of the Zirids, (337–444 / 948–1053). This dates it from the second half of the 4th / 10th century to the first half of the 5th / 11th century. No publication exists identifying exactly the stratigraphic layer the object came from and so a more precise dating is not possible.","method_for_provenance":"The discovery of this plate on the Sabra site painted with Fatimid–Zirid decoration and made in the Ifriqiyan manner suggests it was produced locally at the Sabra potteries or at those of Kairouan, the nearest economic capital.","provenance":"Sabra al-Mansuriyya or Kairouan.","obtention":"The plate was among objects discovered on site during the 1979 excavations at Sabra al-Mansuriyya. It was acquired by the Museum of Islamic Art at Raqqada where it has been displayed since 1986.","bibliography":"*Couleurs de Tunisie* (exhibition catalogue), 1994, p.133, plate no. 73.  \n*30 ans au service du patrimoine* (exhibition catalogue), 1986, p.250, plate nos. 4-40.  \n*Tunisie: du Christianisme a l'Islam* (exhibition catalogue), Lattes, 2001, p.188.","author":"Mourad Rammah","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"David Ash","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["arms","figurative decoration","Zirid"],"materials":["Glazed ceramic."]},"a8a6f9eb-3333-5602-8d2c-2c290373e727":{"name":"Jug with lustre decoration","short_description":"The shape of the jug, with its angular shoulders, low feet and animal-shaped handle, derives from early Islamic metalwork. The exterior is decorated with a honeycomb pattern, filled with stylised floral motifs and wings that recall the Sasanian royal crown.  \n  \nThe technique of lustre painting was used initially on glass. By applying a combination of metallic oxides, sulphur and other substances to the glazed surface and firing in an oxygen-poor muffle kiln, a thin metallic layer of gold, silver or copper was deposited on the surface. The process was difficult to control, as over-firing tended to dull the colours. Abbasid potters initially aimed for polychrome decoration but later monochrome yellowish lustre became popular. Lustre-painted vessels and tiles were a luxury, but fragments have been excavated all over the Middle East, northern India and Brahminabad in Sind.","type":"Pottery; lustre; lustre-ware","holder":"Khalili Family Trust – Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art","dates":"AD 9th century","location":"London","dimensions":"29 x 16.4cm","method_for_datation":"Date and provenance are based on the shape of the vessel and the techniques used in its production.","provenance":"Iraq","bibliography":"Grube, E.J., *et al.*, *Cobalt and Lustre. The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery*, London: The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, volume 9, 1994: cat.20, pp.28–9.  \nRogers, J.M., *The Arts of Islam. Masterpieces from the Khalili Collection*, London: Thames & Hudson, 2010: no.22, pp.46–7.","keywords":["Abbasid","earthenware","Iraq","Iraqi ceramics","Jug","lustre","lustre-ware","pottery"],"materials":["Earthenware","painted with polychrome lustre on an opacified white tin glaze"]},"a8cad3b1-e877-5fbf-9d11-982f19d43ae1":{"name":"Ewer","short_description":"Fritware ewer with a pinched funnel like neck and crozier-shaped handle painted in black cobalt blue, turquoise, and ceiling wax red under a transparent colorless glaze. The lower part of the body and the upper part of the neck are covered in animal scenes (mostly in combat) including mythical creatures, lions, antelopes, dogs, hares and small birds.","type":"Vessels & receptacles, Ottoman ceramic, fritware ceramics","holder":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah","dates":"Hegira second half of the 10th century / AD 1560–1565","location":"Kuwait City","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","keywords":["?znik ceramics","animal decoration","Animal scene motifs"]},"a96b9761-d3ff-5abd-8595-89489283b72f":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"Chinese porcelain from the Tang Dynasty was traded as luxury ware across the Indian Ocean into Iraq. Iraqi potters quickly began to develop local equivalents. They imitated the white colour by inventing an opaque white glaze to and embellished them with a cobalt blue inscription or design, most inscriptions refer to good fortune or the name of the potter. This bowl is an exceptional example of the so called “blue and white ceramics”, bearing a single bold line of kufic script.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira 3rd century / AD 9th century","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Height: 7.5 cm, diameter: 21cm","provenance":"Iraq, Basra","obtention":"Jasim al-Homaizi Collection, inv. no I/642 until 1999; sold to Qatar Museums","bibliography":"Gonnella, Julia, et al, *Museum of Islamic Art: The Collection* London: Thames & Hudson, 2022.  \n  \nJodidio, Philip, *Museum of Islamic Art, Doha Qatar*, London: Prestel Verlag, 2008.  \n  \nSeipel, Joseph H., *God is Beautiful and Loves Beauty: The object in Islamic Art and Culture*, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013.  \n  \nWatson, Oliver, *Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar*, Munich: Prestel Verlag, 2008.","author":"Simone Struth","keywords":["Basra","ceramics","China","Dish"],"materials":["Abbasid","Basra","Cermics","China","Dish","Iraq"]},"a9ca5e93-6181-5581-a2a1-a5d53df76069":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"Grape motifs – symbolising wealth – can be found during the late Ming Period as decoration on porcelain bowls, which were also exported to the Ottoman court. Like  many other motifs, they were copied and varied in Iznik ceramics, most notably through the typical \"tomato red\".","type":"Ceramic, plate","holder":"MAK – Museum of Applied Arts","dates":"2nd half of the 16th century","location":"Vienna","dimensions":"Height: 6.1cm, Diameter: 35.5cm","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","obtention":"Purchase","bibliography":"*Ex lux, exh. cat.,*, Kunsthalle Tirol, 2000.","catalogue_holding_link":"https://sammlung.mak.at/sammlung_online?id=collect-46070","author":"Mio Wakita-Elis","keywords":["ceramic","floral decoration","Iznik style"],"materials":["decoration: underglaze painting and so-called tomato red","Quartz frit ceramic"]},"aa0b309d-187e-51f6-a380-037fc3e58964":{"name":"Dish.","description":"A small dish with decoration painted under the glaze. The central design features a finial-like motif in blue, white, and red, highlighted with black outlines. Its cresting outline is silhouetted against a background of tightly nested spirals. Four overlapping-rosette patterns with bold red centres are placed around the edge of the central circular area. Round the outside of this circle runs a series of emerald-green tri-lobed motifs. The rim of the dish is decorated with two rows of similar spirals interrupted by five large abstract wave-like forms tinged with green. Between these waves are set small red motifs which provide a subtle but effective contrast against the blue, black and white background. Although it is unknown for whom such a fine little dish would have been produced, since at this time the potters of Iznik were working for both imperial and popular (and even foreign) patrons, the quality of its decoration shows that the Ottoman ceramic industry was still at the height of its greatness.","short_description":"A small dish with a finial-like motif at the centre, on a background of tightly nested spirals. It is unknown for whom such a fine little dish would have been produced, since at this time the potters of Iznik were working for both imperial and popular (and even foreign) patrons.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, glazed painting","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum.","dates":"About hegira 997 / AD 1590.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 5.7 cm, diameter 17.6 cm.","method_for_datation":"The use of a distinctive turquoise, as well as a ground covered in closely packed spirals, was favoured by a certain Iznik workshop during the 1580s and 90s.","method_for_provenance":"Iznik was the centre of quality ceramic production in this period.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Bequest of George Salting in 1910.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, Istanbul/London, 1989, p.248, fig. 499.  \n  \nLane, A., *Later Islamic Pottery: Persia, Syria, Egypt, Turkey*, London, 1957, pp.56–7 and plate 47A.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Barry Wood","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","materials":["Painted and glazed ceramic."]},"aa2e3644-d6c0-5118-9a8c-3a9e9c44a8d0":{"name":"Dish","short_description":"This early sixteenth-century Manises dish is among the most individualistic examples preserved in the DDFIA collection. It features a single leaping deer (or goat), whose general outlines have been incised into the ceramic body. Other incised wares with similarly large lions, bulls, birds, and rabbits are known to exist, but it was more common for the undersides of Manises dishes to be painted with oversized birds and animals.","type":"Islamic, Indian & Southeast Asian works of art; earthenware; ceramic","holder":"Shangri La, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira early 10th century / AD early 16th century","location":"Honolulu, Hawai'i","dimensions":"Diameter: 45.7 cm","provenance":"Spain, Valencia","keywords":["animal decoration","Deer","Dish","earthenware","lustre","Manises","overglaze-painted","Spain","tin-glazed","William Randolph Hearst"],"materials":["Earthenware","overglaze-painted in luster","tin-glazed"]},"aa871988-924d-5384-8ea9-bf439584db36":{"name":"Dish","alternate_name":"Plato","description":"The different exhibitions on Islamic Art gave new light to Islamic artworks and increased the interest from collectors about these pieces.  \nThis ceramic dish from Safi (Morocco) shows the interest for the traditional arts from North Africa.  \nCollectors were interested not only in antiquities but also contemporary pieces from North Africa.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"National Museum of Decorative Arts","dates":"1875-1933","location":"Madrid","provenance":"Morocco, Safi","author":"Ana Cabrera","copy_editor":"Anne Dowell"},"aab132c1-e5b3-5bd5-b73f-973fd09a0e8e":{"name":"*St. Francis of Assisi* Azulejos","alternate_name":"*St. Francis of Assisi* Blue-and-white tile panel","description":"Our Lady of the Visitation Convent in Vila Verde dos Francos is a Franciscan Convent of the third order and, therefore, part of a noble residence where a few Franciscan friars lived a monastic life. D. António de Noronha, the owner of the residence, along with other nobles – both men and women – often went there to retreat.  \nSociety life necessarily followed strict social rules, which were taken very seriously. As part of the social mores was the struggle of the Christian soul against the Devil – Psychomachy – fundamental to salvation. Updated continuously up until the end of the Baroque period, the Hagiography (example of life) of St. Francis of Assisi was used as a didactic tale to explain to men, and especially to women, how to behave in society. As shown here, St. Francis was a sinner during his youth and, like him, people have the opportunity to resist temptation.  \nThe remarkable blue-and-white tile composition, by an artist from the Oliveira Bernardes' workshop circle, reveals a sophisticated technique and an artistic capacity to transform these moralising figurative *azulejos* into impressive iconographic themes.  \nHandling the use of engravings in a most creative way, the artist adapted those compositions: pilasters with angels and *albarradas* (vases with flowers), to the wall covering as if it were a scenic architectural stage.  \nThis particular chancel panel recounts the episode of St. Francis converting Muslims in Syria during the Fifth Crusade. On this journey a woman with a lovely body but a \"filthy soul\" tried to tempt him. Feigning acceptance of her sinful offer, he took off his clothes and leaped into a fire, inviting her to follow him. He miraculously survived, having overcome the temptation and led the woman to salvation.","short_description":"In this *azulejos* panel, St. Francis of Assisi is tempted by Evil, symbol of vanity and lust, one of the most regrettable sins of women. Evil Is conveyed here by a half-naked, half-devil woman.","type":"Tile panel (*azulejos*)","owner":"Sociedade Agrícola da Quinta do Convento da Visitação – SAG","initial_owner":"Pedro Noronha (Angeja Family)","dates":"c. 1740","location":"Our Lady of the Visitation Convent, Vila Verde dos Francos, Lisbon","dimensions":"H: 161 cm w: 364 cm; each tile 14 cm x 14 cm","place_of_production":"Lisbon","provenance":"Lisbon","bibliography":"Albuquerque, M. J., *Proposta de Leitura do Convento de Nossa Senhora da Visitação de Vila Verde dos Francos*, Tese de Mestrado–UNL, Lisbon, 1997.  \nAlbuquerque, M. J., *Proposta de Leitura Integrada do Convento de Nossa Senhora da visitação de Vila Verde dos Francos,* Tese de Mestrado, FLLUL, Lisbon, 2001.  \nSerrão, V., *História da Arte – O Barroco*, Presença, Lisbon, 2003, p. 224.","copyright":"Copyright images: Sociedade Agrícola da Quinta da Visitação.","author":"Maria João Albuquerque","translator":"Lili Cavalheiro","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Counter-Reformation","education","Female education","Franciscan convent of the third order","still-life","women"],"materials":["Blue-and-white painted tiles (azulejos)"]},"aae1befb-bde5-5b51-b06a-8f5f49582dd4":{"name":"Azulejo (glazed tile)","description":"Apart from its utility function and use for cladding façades, the azulejo is, at the beginning of the 20th century, an iconic expression of Portuguese art. This panel, produced by the Faience Factory of Caldas da Rainha, depicts tiles made in Seville in the 16th century for the Palace of Sintra.","type":"Ceramic; tile","holder":"National Tile Museum","dates":"1901-05","location":"Lisbon","author":"DGPC"},"ab21cc92-59d1-559f-ab5b-149da55c95bd":{"name":"Vase","description":"In 1891 Sultan Abdülhamid II founded the Yıldız Çini Fabrika-i Hümâyûnu (Yıldız Royal Tile Factory) in the garden of Yıldız Palace for the purpose of reviving Turkish tile art and giving it a new direction and momentum. Vases, hanging wall plates and many sorts of daily-use wares were produced in the factory, including writing and dinner table utensils, card plates, lidded bowls, pans, *aşure* (a kind of dessert) trays, sugar bowls, tea and coffee cups. A vase with conical body with wide mouth and round foot. There is a landscape painted on its body. The rest of its body has an intricate floral design painted on a green base. On the base a stamp of the star and crescent and dates of 1312-13 written in Arabic can be seen.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Ethnography Museum","dates":"19th century","location":"Ankara","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega"},"ab2ad44c-568d-5824-b3c4-9961e9edec7a":{"name":"Ceramic Floor","description":"One of the oldest and rarest ceramic floors in Portugal, possibly dating from the building campaign promoted by King Afonso V (r.1438‒81), in the mid-15th century.  \nTradition has it that King Afonso VI (r.1656‒83) wore down the floor as he walked back and forth from his bed to the window overlooking the Sintra mountains. The truth, however, is that this floor was already more than two centuries old when he was imprisoned here, between 1674 and 1683, by order of his brother, King Pedro II (r.1683‒1706).  \nThe rare and valuable floor in this room presents a composition that combines various types of ceramic techniques and decorative styles, imbuing the tile set with dynamism, colour and originality.  \nThis is one of the oldest rooms in the palace and the only compartment of the palace that has an iron-barred window. The Palatine Chapel’s ceramic floor may date from the same period as this one.","type":"Ceramic floor-surface covering","holder":"National Palace of Sintra","owner":"Portuguese State","dates":"15th century","location":"Sintra","dimensions":"Approx. H: 5.50m, W: 5.30m (approx 30m2)","method_for_datation":"Other art historians have dated the Palatine Chapel ceramic floor to the 15th century, probably contemporary with King Afonso V (1432‒81; r. 1438‒81). This monarch was born and died at the Royal Palace of Sintra and resided there frequently, as demonstrated by the countless documents signed by him here. Like King Duarte (1391‒38; r. 1433‒38), his father, King Afonso V seems to have held a special affection for the Palace at Sintra and carried out various improvements. He undertook the expansion and embellishment of the Palatine Chapel, probably from the mid-15th century (possibly between 1448 and 1476).  \nThe absence of cobalt blue in the ceramic floor reinforces the theory about its age.","method_for_provenance":"Stylistic analysis and documents","provenance":"Iberian Peninsula","obtention":"In situ, commissioned by the king","bibliography":"Meco, José, *O Azulejo em Portugal*, Lisbon: Publicações Alfa, 1989.  \nSabugosa, Conde de, *O Paço de Cintra*, Lisbon: Imprensa Nacional, 1903.  \nSantos, Reinaldo dos, *O azulejo em Portugal*, Lisbon: Editorial Sul Limitada, 1957.  \nSimões, J. M. dos Santos, *Azulejaria em Portugal nos Séculos XV e XVI: Introdução Geral*, Lisbon: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 1990.  \nTrindade, Rui André Alves, *Revestimentos Cerâmicos Portugueses: Meados do século XIV à primeira metade do século XVI*, Lisbon: Edições Colibri, 2007.","workshop":"Mudéjar","author":"National Palace of Sintra","translator":"Lily Chadwick","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["15th century","Afonso V","alicatado","ceramic","Hispano-Muslim","mosaic","Mudéjar","Portugal","Royal Palace","tiles"],"materials":["alicatado and cuerda-seca tile composition","Glazed clay tiles"]},"ab2b67d7-838e-59c7-9a3d-24e8458ff5d8":{"name":"Tankard","description":"Iznik pottery, originating from the town of Iznik in western Anatolia, emerged during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II (AD 1451–1481). Initially influenced by blue and white Chinese Ming porcelains, Iznik ceramics evolved to incorporate vibrant hues. This cylindrical tankard, adorned with intricate carnations and tulips in blue, green and red, likely hails from the mid- to late 16th century, a pinnacle era for Iznik pottery. The distinctive red pigment, introduced circa 1570, possibly originated from iron-rich Armenian clay. Notably, cross-hatched black lines on the tankard suggest it was crafted based on a leather prototype.","type":"Pottery","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art","owner":"Qatar Museums","dates":"c. Hegira 970 / AD 1570","location":"Doha, Qatar","dimensions":"Height: 18.5cm","place_of_production":"Türkiye, Iznik","provenance":"Türkiye, Iznik","bibliography":"Carswell, J., *Iznik, Pottery for the Ottoman Empire*, 2003.  \n  \n*Art from the World of Islam 8th–18th Century*”, Humlebaek : Louisiana Revy, 1987.","author":"Teslim Sanni","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","materials":["green and red under a transparent glaze","Stonepaste painted in blue"]},"ab6e3c86-7858-5c43-a23c-f3a2d298a83f":{"name":"Tile","short_description":"Toward the mid-10th / mid-16th century the colour scheme of Iznik wares expanded to include a brilliant red and a bright grass green, along with a blue deep. The magnificent tile with sumptuous flowers and lower border painted to imitate breccia marble probably comes from the royal living quarters at the Topkapı Sarayı Palace, Istanbul, from the time of Murad III (Hegira 982-1003 / AD 1574-95). This sultan’s expansion of his living quarters, from Hegira 986-996 / AD 1578-1588, included a bedroom pavilion decorated with Iznik tiles embellished with blossoming trees, flowers, and illusionistically painted imitation breccia marble, very similar to the LACMA tile. Objects of this type, both tile revetment and vessels, demonstrate the great variety of ornament used by Iznik potters; they also help to illustrate the different stylistic phases of Iznik wares, which in turn reflect the evolution of Ottoman taste in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in a variety of media.","type":"Architectural Elements","holder":"Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)","dates":"Hegira c. 987–999 / AD c. 1580–90","location":"Los Angeles","dimensions":"28.6 x 30.5 x 1.6cm","method_for_datation":"The tile is similar to others in Murad III’s bedroom pavilion at Topkapi Saryi, Istanbul, completed in Hegira 996 / AD 1588.","method_for_provenance":"The tile represents the classical type of Iznik ceramics, in which the palette is comprised of red, blue green and white.","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","obtention":"Possibly Topkapi Saryi Palace (commissioned under the reign of Murad III), Istanbul, until 17th century. Possibly removed, seventeenth century. Private collection, France, until 1995. Irene Momtaz Islamic Art, London, until 2000 (sold to); LACMA, purchased with funds provided by Phil Berg.","bibliography":"Hess, Catherine, *The Arts of Fire: Islamic Influences on Glass and Ceramics of the Italian Renaissance*, Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Trust, 2004: 156.  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Islamic Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art*, Rev. ed., Los Angeles: Museum Associates, 2005: 47, fig. 43.  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Lo Terrenal y lo divino: Arte islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Angeles*, Santiago, Chile: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015: 131, 169, 212.  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Beauty and Identity: Islamic Art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art*, Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2016: 192-193.","author":"LACMA Staff","keywords":["ceramic","court life","ephigraphic decoration","floral decoration","Iznik tiles","Ottoman ceramic"],"materials":["Fritware","underglaze-painted"]},"ab764cb9-de88-533a-9da2-2f302eeac364":{"name":"Bowl with Design of Two Equestrian Figures, Two Seatd Figures, Tree, Birds, and Inscriptions","short_description":"A bowl, the interior with turquoise blue matte ground with polychrome decoration of two mounted horsemen flanking a tree. There is also a seated figure above each of the equestrian figures. There are three birds in the tree and another three birds below the horsemen. The blue border near the mouth rim forms a background for a repeated inscription in stylized *kufic* script, with tiny blue scallops along the edge. The exterior is turquoise blue with a *naskhi* inscription in black. Blue glaze covers part of foot. The bowl has been broken and repaired. Glaze has been lost from triangular area adjacent to the bird at lower right of the horsemen. Restored area includes part of seated figure at left.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Saint Louis Art Museum","dates":"Hegira Late 6th to late 7th / AD late 12th to 13th century","location":"Saint Louis","dimensions":"Height: 8.9cm; Diameter of mouth: 20cm; Diameter of foot: 7.6cm","method_for_datation":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","method_for_provenance":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","provenance":"Iran, Asia","obtention":"Museum Purchase, William K. Bixby Trust for Asian Art, 1954","keywords":["Asia","bowl","ceramics","Enamel","Fritware","gilding","Glazed","Iran","Overglaze","Persian"],"materials":["glazed fritware with overglaze enamel and gilding","Mina'i ware"]},"ab91307f-d3d5-5f2a-88d0-9f2eb6934a29":{"name":"Qibla directional plate.","description":"Muslims must face the *qibla*, the direction of the Ka'ba in the city of Mecca, while praying. They therefore often need instruments to help pinpoint the direction of the Ka'ba. This plate is one such instrument. Its base is a round and flat area that has a circle of semi-vertical columns on it. Recorded around the centre of the circle is the name of the craftsperson and the place in which it was made (“made by Sayyid Thabit in Damascus”). Emanating from the centre towards the rim are tables in the form of a sequence of rings. These rings contain the names of a number of cities in three bands (Damascus, Baghdad, Constantinople, Jerusalem, Tehran, Kabul …), in addition to alphabets corresponding to numbers that indicate degrees of angles. The inner circumference of the plate's rim is marked by units, each of which is equivalent to five degrees and also the four cardinal directions (east, west, north, south), which are set in half circles.  \nThe exterior surface of the rim contains a two-line explanation in Arabic on how to use the instrument. In between these two lines are four medallions in which it is indicated that the plate was made by order of Sultan Salim I \"the triumphant champion of justice and supreme ruler \\[khaqan\\] who is the son of the supreme ruler, king of the two lands and the two seas, and servant of the two sanctuaries, may God immortalise his rule\". All this information is registered in black *kufic* script on a white background, and is covered with a transparent glaze.","short_description":"The scientific diagram inscribed on this ceramic dish served an important function. A schematic arrangement of city names and trigonometric data help the user to establish the orientation of the Ka'ba in Mecca and thus the direction of prayer. It was especially useful when travelling.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, glazed","holder":"National Museum of Damascus","initial_owner":"Sultan Salim I (also Selim, r. AH 918–26 / AD 1512–20).","dates":"Hegira 918–26 / AD 1512–20.","location":"Damascus","dimensions":"Width 3.5 cm, diameter 18.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"The inscription on the plate indicates that it was made by order of Sultan Salim I, (r. 918–26 / 1512–20).","method_for_provenance":"The inscription on the plate indicates that it was made in Damascus.","provenance":"Damascus, Syria.","obtention":"Purchased in 1935.","bibliography":"Cluzan, S. et al (eds), *Syrie: Mémoire et Civilisation*, Paris, 1994.  \nPorter, V., *Medieval Syrian Pottery*, Oxford, 1981.  \nSoustiel, J., and Kiefer, C., *La céramique islamique*, Fribourg, 1985, p.441.  \nWatson, O., *Ceramics from Islamic Lands*, London, 2004.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Mona al-Moadin","translator":"Hilary Kalmbach (from the Arabic)","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Baghdad","ceramics","Constantinople","Damascus","determining qibla direction","earthenware","Jerusalem","Ka'ba","Kabul","Mecca","prayer","Prayers","qibla","Sayyid Thabit","Sultan Salim (Selim)","Tehran","transparent glaze"],"materials":["and a transparent glaze.","Earthenware with black and blue paint on a white base"]},"ab971419-834f-5843-8c6d-6b6cb9c2104a":{"name":"Bowl.","description":"A large bowl on a high foot. The decoration, painted in cobalt and turquoise under the glaze, consists of long, continuous stems which coil into tight spiral roundels. This is a decorative style which flourished in Ottoman ceramics between about the 1520s and the 1550s. It is often called the 'Golden Horn' style in reference to the area in Istanbul where such wares were once thought – probably erroneously – to have been made. Another name, less frequently used, is the 'tuğrakeş spiral' style. This term was devised to emphasize the apparent connection between this style of decoration and that found in products of the Ottoman imperial chancery, whose expert illuminator, the tuğrakeş, was entrusted with decorating the sultan's imperial monogram or *tughra*. The extraordinary size of this bowl, as well as the skill with which it is decorated, suggests production for the highest levels of the Ottoman hierarchy, although direct evidence for this is lacking.","short_description":"A very large footed bowl on a high foot, decorated with the tightly coiled spirals sometimes called the ‘Golden Horn’ style. The size and quality of this bowl suggests that it was made for a high-ranking Ottoman official, possibly for washing the feet during ablutions.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, Glazed painting","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum.","dates":"Around hegira 949–54 / AD 1545–50.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 28 cm, diameter 42.2 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stylistic comparison with other, similarly decorated wares and with the illumination of imperial monograms in the period mentioned in the description.","method_for_provenance":"Iznik was the centre of quality ceramic production in this period.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Purchased by the Museum in 1876.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, Istanbul/London, 1989, p.110, fig. 235 and pl. 324.  \n  \nDenny, W., \"Ceramics,\" Turkish Art (ed. E. Atil), Washington, DC, 1980, p.279.  \n  \nStanley, T., with Rosser-Owen, M. and Vernoit, S., Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Middle East, London, 2004, p.56, p.102.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Barry Wood","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["floral decoration","water"],"materials":["Painted and glazed ceramic."]},"ac7d2e08-3036-5085-bcc1-db471ce20950":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"Shallow earthenware bowl, with slightly everted rim, is glazed and overpainted with luster. The bowl has central rosette surrounded by a *kufic* inscription bearing the artist's name: \"Blessing to the owner/the work of Sulayman, pupil of Abu Khalidan or Khaiikan/forbearance is a virtue\". It is attributed to Nishapur.","type":"Vessels & receptacles, earthenware","holder":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah","dates":"Hegira 3rd century / AD 9th century","location":"Kuwait City","provenance":"Iraq","keywords":["calligraphy","earthenware","Glaze","inscription","kufic","Luster","Rosette"]},"acffa1ff-e78f-59cd-a3d3-aa606fa1ebc7":{"name":"*Burma* (Camel milking bowl)","description":"The camel is the symbol of Bedu life. Offering both essential transport and milk, without camels, the Bedu would not have been able to survive in the desert. Camel milk is said to test saltier and more acidic than cow’s milk. Camels need milking two to four times per day. Milking bowls were traditionally made from clay.","type":"Bowl","holder":"Sharjah Heritage Museum","owner":"Sharjah Museums Authority","dates":"Hegira mid 14th century / AD mid 20th century","location":"Sharjah, United Arab Emirates","dimensions":"Diameter: 183mm, height: 160mm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis","method_for_provenance":"Stylistic analysis","provenance":"Arabian Peninsula","obtention":"Purchased","author":"Amanda Snyder","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","keywords":["bowl","camel milk","milking bowl"],"materials":["Ceramic"]},"ad093485-bbc5-5ffd-9337-e1db1372739f":{"name":"Tile panel","short_description":"The primary decoration of this tile panel is the elegant inscription reserved in white against the blue ground. Although incomplete (the blue vertical bands represent areas of loss) the text is nonetheless readily recognisable. It is from the opening section of a particularly powerful chapter of the Qur’an (al-Fath: 4): “He it is who sent down tranquility upon the hearts of the believers that they might add faith to their faith – to God belong the hosts of the heavens and the earth, and God is All-Knowing, Wise…” The panel is very similar in dimensions, color scheme and calligraphic style to one in the Metropolitan Museum, which provides the information that it was made for an unidentified mosque.","type":"Architectural Elements","holder":"Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)","dates":"Hegira early 11th century / AD late 16th-early 17th century","location":"Los Angeles","dimensions":"25.4 x 170.2cm","method_for_datation":"The cartouche-like frame and white on blue ground color scheme relate the panel to large Ottoman-era Syrian calligraphic friezes such as those in the Umayyad Mosque, Damascus, probably dating to the mid-16th century (e.g., south wall of the prayer hall). The LACMA panel probably also was created for a mosque.  The LACMA tile panel is very similar in style, color scheme and dimensions to one in the Metropolitan Museum (58.90.1a–g) dated Hegira 1000 / AD 1591–92, which was made for a mosque.","method_for_provenance":"Syrian tiles of the Ottoman period though related to Iznik wares do not contain red in their palette. The cartouche-like frame and white on blue ground color scheme relate the panel to large Ottoman-era calligraphic friezes in the Umayyad Mosque, Damascus, among other buildings.","provenance":"Syria","obtention":"Collection of Maan Z. Madina (1926-2013), New York, until 2002 (sold to); LACMA, The Madina Collection of Islamic Art, gift of Camilla Chandler Frost.","bibliography":"Komaroff, Linda, *Lo Terrenal y lo divino: Arte islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Angeles*, Santiago, Chile: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015: 24-25.","author":"LACMA Staff","keywords":["blue","calligraphy","ceramic","inscription","Ottoman ceramic","Qur’an","Syrian tiles","tilework"],"materials":["Fritware","underglaze-painted"]},"ad2cb375-808c-5067-aa87-d73fb88bbe79":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"The bowl painted in lustre on an opaque white glaze is a typical example of the miniature style of Kashan. The decoration is riders on horseback and cypresses.","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 6th–7th century / AD 12th–13th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Height 11.6 cm, diameter max 18.8 cm","provenance":"Iran (Kashan)","keywords":["ceramic","Kashan","lustre"],"materials":["Frit body","lustre decoration"]},"ae298707-a316-526f-bd3e-9e589dc8eee0":{"name":"Wall tile","short_description":"Inscription: Qur´an, *sura* 23, Vers 81 \"... distinction of the night ...\"","type":"Ceramic","holder":"MAK – Museum of Applied Arts","dates":"13th – 14th century","location":"Vienna","dimensions":"Height: 34.5cm, Width: 32.2cm","provenance":"Iran, Kashan","obtention":"Asssumption","bibliography":"*Ex lux, exh. cat.,*, Kunsthalle Tirol, 2000.","catalogue_holding_link":"https://sammlung.mak.at/sammlung_online?id=collect-46058","author":"Mio Wakita-Elis","keywords":["ceramic","Iran","Thuluth","tile"],"materials":["Ceramic with cobalt blue glazed"]},"aed162cf-cef3-52e5-aa78-567138f64d2a":{"name":"Bowl with stand","description":"This bowl with a bulging rim sits on a stand. The decoration is made of two layers of concentric patterns around a central circle, filled with winged motifs. These green and brown patterns are painted on a yellow background. Although this kind of bowl is usually used to serve couscous, in the town Nabeul, and particularly for the occasion of Islamic New Year, each child is presented with a *methred* bowl, filled with golden couscous, dried fruit, dates, a hard-boiled egg and sweets. This all surrounds a statuette made of sugar, moulded and coloured to resemble an animal (such as a rooster or a gazelle) or a figure, like a doll or cavalier.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Musée de la Céramique Sidi Kacem Jelizi","dates":"19th century","location":"Tunis","provenance":"Unknown","author":"Saloua Zangar","translator":"Flaminia Baldwin"},"aee0d03f-b711-5643-8552-3ef51656eff4":{"name":"*Jarrita* vase with two handles","description":"This drinking vase has a pear-shaped body and two rounded handles that join a short neck that widens toward the top; it rests on a low base. The decoration, painted in dark blue and a beautiful shade of bronze-gold on the ivory opaque glaze, is placed symmetrically on both sides of the handles. A frieze of pseudo-epigraphy whose drawing seems to recall the word *al-'afiya* (good health)... is drawn in blue on the neck over a glossy background of a wormlike pattern. On the body, eight-lobed medallions in bronze-gold have a blue pseudo-epigraphic pattern in the centre. On each side of the handles is a scalloped almond composition. Directly below each handle is another pseudo-epigraphic motif against a glossy background. A series of horizontal lines rings the lower part of the body. The lustre decoration with metallic reflections is a process peculiar to the arts of Islam. The technique is seen as early as the eighth century on fragments of Egyptian glasses; it was later applied to ceramics, beginning in the ninth century in Mesopotamia under the reign of the Abbasids. It is a decoration painted on a glazed piece that has undergone a first firing. The lustre consists of a mixture of copper and silver oxides to which are added sulphur and red ochre, and a binder to permit a brushed application. A second firing in an oxygen-poor atmosphere results in the incorporation of the oxide particles, now reduced to a metallic state in the softened glaze. Quite characteristic effects are produced when the pieces are observed in light. The secrets of this complex and sometimes unpredictable technique were jealously guarded in pottery workshops. Nevertheless, the process spread to both the East and the Muslim West, and in Spain its development was encouraged by the Nasrid rulers, especially in Malaga. Since the Reconquest, the craze for Hispano-Moorish ceramics (*loza dorada*), continues, since production is exported to Muslim countries and Christian Europe. Cobalt blue and brown lustre, combined in bold compositions, as here, give a characteristic identity to a process that is still used, for example in Manises (in Valencia).","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museum of the Arab World Institute","dates":"Hegira last quarter of 8th century or beginning 9th century / AD end of 14th or beginning of 15th century","location":"Paris","dimensions":"Height: 16.2cm, Diameter: 13.4cm, Length: 18cm, Base diameter: 9.8cm, Opening diameter: 9.5cm","provenance":"Malaga (Spain)","obtention":"Purchased at 'Art Musulman' gallery in 1987.","bibliography":"Delpont, E., et al., *Album du musée*, Paris: Somogy éditions d'art, 2012: 386.  \n  \nMoulierac, J., et al., *Céramiques du monde musulman: collections de l'Institut du monde arabe et de J.P. et F. Croisier* , Paris: Institut du monde arabe, 1999: 146.","translator":"Judy Harter","materials":["Ceramic with lustre paint decoration"]},"af2360cf-273b-5cf6-9a61-60adaa53198d":{"name":"Dish","short_description":"A few types of the AD 17th century Persian ceramic ware, painted in a free expressive style and covered with cracks, were traditionally known as “*Kubachi*” ceramics. This conventional name came from a village in Daghestan, where in the 19th century huge amounts of Iranian Safavid pottery were concentrated. However, the production centres of various \"*Kubachi*\" wares are still to be specified.  \nThe innovations in the 17th -century Iranian miniature painting, and particularly in the portrait genre, were reflected in décor of ceramic ware. A large plate, decorated in multicoloured painting, represents the favourite motifs of the Safavid era. Images of the lush garden with birds symbolized the joy of earthly paradise and the promised enjoyment of heavenly paradise. A handsome young dervish meditating in the blooming garden stood for the Divine Beloved in the symbolic language of Islamic mystics.  \nMulticolour painting of various plants, rendered in natural bends of their sprouts and branches, was inspired by the style of Turkish Iznik ceramics of the late 16th century. Such kind of ware was probably produced in the workshops of Qumisheh (now Shahreza), a small town near Isfahan.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"The Khanenko Museum","dates":"AD 17th century","location":"Kyiv","dimensions":"Diameter: 33cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis by I. Rapoport (examination, 1963, date, origin), H. Rudyk (publication, 2017, date specified).","method_for_provenance":"According to the entry in the old Museum Inventory Register (1925-1946).","provenance":"Isfahan region, Qumisheh (Shahreza), Iran","obtention":"Purchased by Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko. Donated by Varvara Khanenko in 1918, nationalized by Bolshevik regime in 1919.","bibliography":"Golombek, L. and Mason, R. B., et al., *Persian Pottery in the First Global Age: The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries*, Leiden: Brill, 2013.  \nLane, A., *Later Islamic pottery: Persia, Syria, Egypt, Turkey*, London: Faber and Faber, 1957.  \nRudyk, H. (ed), *Charisma of Iran. Persian art of 12th–19th centuries from museum collections of Ukraine*, Kyiv: The Khanenko Museum, 2017.  \nVyazmitina, M. (ed), *Mystetstvo krain islamu (Art from Islamic Countries)*, catalogue, VUAN Museum of Art, Kyiv: All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, 1930.","author":"Antonina Makarevych","copy_editor":"Janice Medina","keywords":["ceramics","Iran","Safavid","stonepaste"],"materials":["Stonepaste","underglaze painted with polychrome glazes"]},"b0765880-f23a-5f96-bc55-a402dfeabde4":{"name":"Vessel.","description":"A stone-paste (fritware) vessel with an arabesque decoration on the top half of its baluster form. Painted in black and blue under a transparent glaze; the glaze has deteriorated rather badly. The shape is similar to Iranian pottery vessels and is indicative of the close artistic relationship between Syria and Iran during this period, especially between Raqqa and Kashan as, with the exception of the *mina'i* wares produced in Kashan, Raqqa produced more or less the same type of ceramics. Raqqa was one of two major pottery-production centres in Ayyubid Syria, the other being Rusafah. In Raqqa there were a number of pottery workshops that produced a range of ceramics including lustre-painted, relief-moulded, and underglaze-painted vessels. Pottery production ceased when the Mongols razed the city to the ground in AH 657 / AD 1259.","short_description":"Raqqa potters had a close artistic relationship with those of Iran during the late Abbasid period, and especially during the Ayyubid period. The shape and the style of the blue and black arabesque decoration of this vessel are similar to vessels made in the city of Kashan in Iran.","type":"Fritware, stonework, ceramic","holder":"Burrell Collection, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira 7th century / AD 13th century.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 12 cm, diameter 10.4 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis, together with analysis of the material composition of the vessel's body which is distinctively that of Raqqa. Furthermore, the nature and extent of the deterioration of the glaze is also typical of Raqqa ceramics.","method_for_provenance":"The vessel is typical of Raqqa ceramics in both its material composition and in the nature of the deterioration of the glaze.","provenance":"Raqqa, Syria.","obtention":"Part of the collection given to the City of Glasgow by Sir William and Lady Burrell in 1944.","bibliography":"Fehervari, G., *Ceramics of the Islamic World in the Tareq Rajab Museum*, London, 2000.  \n  \nGrube, E. J., *Cobalt and Lustre: The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery*, the Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, Vol. 9, London, 1994.","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["arabesque decoration","domestic vessels"],"materials":["Stone-paste (fritware) painted and glazed."]},"b09ccbac-3e92-56ec-95ea-6a58eb8d70a9":{"name":"Dish (*tondino*).","description":"A dish in the Italianate form known as tondino, with a narrow, deep well and a wide rim, decorated in two shades of blue on a white ground. The centre of the bowl features a medallion with a 'bouquet' of five flowers growing from a small mound. This pattern is repeated around the rim, in round spaces created by triangle-like indentations in dark blue; these spaces are linked by six-pointed stars at their intersections. Although the bouquet pattern is repeated, a close look reveals that no stencil was used – the artist drew the pattern freehand each time. This dish is one of a group of wares thought to represent a point in the history of Iznik pottery when the potters themselves, rather than painters, took over the decoration of the ceramics. This may have been a reaction to falling demand from the Ottoman court; by applying the designs themselves, the potters could lower the prices of the objects, and thus sell them to a broader market. The result of this change of approach was a simpler, more spontaneous style than the studied and meticulous designs found on previous Iznik wares. While the 'Potters'' style did not last long, giving way during the decade AH 950 / AD 1540 to the nascent classical Iznik aesthetic of brilliant polychrome floral designs, it does represent an important moment in the history of Ottoman ceramics.","short_description":"A dish in the Italianate form known as *tondino*, with decoration based on a repeating pattern of a bouquet of five flowers. This dish is one of a group of wares thought to represent a time when the potters themselves, rather than painters, took over the decoration of Iznik ceramics.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, glazed painting","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum.","dates":"About hegira 941–951 / AD 1535–45.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 4.9 cm, diameter 26.6 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stylistic comparison (see description).","method_for_provenance":"Iznik was the centre of quality ceramic production in this period.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Bequest of George Salting in 1910.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, Istanbul/London, 1989, p.118, fig. 154.  \n  \nLane, A., Later Islamic Pottery: Persia, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, London, 1957, pp.51–2 and plate 30A.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Barry Wood","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["floral decoration"],"materials":["Painted and glazed ceramic."]},"b1b31d42-2423-51e8-9e8c-0117ff7b0186":{"name":"Cylindrical tankard.","description":"A cylindrical tankard with an angular handle, decorated with stems of tulips, hyacinths and other flowers in light blue, green and red on a white background. The vertical stems are gently curved. The edges of the rim and base are bordered with wave patterns. The model of this tankard, taking its inspiration from the art of metalwork of the Balkans, became widespread in Ottoman Turkey in the second half of the AH 10th / AD16th century. This piece may also have been used as a flower vase.","short_description":"Tankard inspired by the Balkan metalware popularised in Ottoman Turkey in the second half of the AH 10th / AD 16th century. This piece is decorated with bunches of tulips, hyacinths and other flowers in light blue, green and red on a white background.","type":"Ottoman ceramics","holder":"Calouste Gulbenkian Museum.","dates":"About Hegira 982 / AD 1575.","location":"Lisbon.","dimensions":"Height 2.5 cm, diameter 11.3 cm.","method_for_datation":"By stylistic analysis. The broadening of the range of colours with the introduction of red, Armenian bole, indicates production in the second half of the 10th / 16th century.","method_for_provenance":"By expert examination, stylistic and comparative analysis and exhibition catalogues written by international specialists, mentioned in the bibliography.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"From the Jeuniette collection, it was purchased through M. Stora & Co. on 10 April 1919.","bibliography":"*Un Jardín Encantado: Arte Islámico en la Colección Calouste Gulbenkian*, exhibition catalogue, Madrid, 2001.  \n*Only the Best: Masterpieces of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon*, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1999.  \nRibeiro, M. Q., *Louças Iznik / Iznik Pottery*, Lisbon, 1996.  \nRoxburgh, D. (ed.), *Turks: A Journey of a Thousand Years, 600–1600*, London, 2005.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Maria Queiroz Ribeiro","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","Engobe","Glaze","Iznik","Ottomans","Tankard"],"materials":["Ceramic made from siliceous clay","painted onto engobe (slip) beneath a transparent glaze."]},"b1c9d73d-7178-5324-9b0c-d946356b48ab":{"name":"Plate","description":"Red clay, cream slip, decorated in purple-brown and mustard tones under a transparent colourless glaze.  It is one of the few surviving examples of a plate used on a daily basis. In a naive manner the giraffe is depicted tied to two trees. The rim is decorated with an intermittent lattice pattern. The model for the giraffe was sent as a gift to Sultan Mahmut II in 1823 by the governor of Egypt, Kavalalı Mehmet Ali Pasha. It was kept on a ship anchored in Çanakkale harbour that was being resupplied on its way to Istanbul. Upon seeing the giraffe in the harbour, ceramic masters were inspired to produce a new motif in their workshops by reproducing the giraffe on plates.","type":"Utensil","holder":"Istanbul Archaeological Museums (The Tiled Kiosk)","dates":"Hegira 1st half of 13th century / AD early 19th century","location":"Istanbul","dimensions":"Diameter: 31cm, height: 5.5cm","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","materials":["Glazed terracotta"]},"b1ea078d-e766-5285-80c6-1d829833078f":{"name":"26 clay screens for water jars","short_description":"These clay screens served as enclosures for water jugs and are decorated with various patterns. The decoration is either drawn into the damp clay with a thin wire or cut out of the clay. Some of the screen closures hold fragments of the neck of the vessel.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"MKG Museum for Applied Arts","dates":"Hegira 6th-8th century / AD 12th-14th century","location":"Hamburg","dimensions":"Diameter: 8-10cm","method_for_datation":"By comparison with similar objects, e. g. Ashmolean Museum (EA1959.33.1).","method_for_provenance":"Purchased from Johanna Buschmann, Hamburg.","provenance":"Egypt or Sicily","obtention":"Purchased 14.03.1949.","bibliography":"Grube, E. J., *Islamic Pottery*, London: The Keir Collection, 1976.  \nKraft, E. (ed), *Die Campe’sche Historische Kunststiftung Hamburg: Erwerbungen seit 1949*, Hamburg: Hamburger Kunsthalle, 1964.","copy_editor":"Caitlin Link","keywords":["Clay screen"],"materials":["Pottery"]},"b1fe1635-a0ea-5d86-871f-4148f5ba34cc":{"name":"Plate","short_description":"The genuine enthusiasm that Chinese blue-and-white porcelain aroused in Iran since AD 14th century led to various attempts of Persian potters to unravel the main Chinese secret and to devise ways to simulate the unparalleled effects of porcelain.  \nAlong with plates and bottles that more or less closely imitated Chinese porcelain in the motifs and style, an authentic Iranian style of cobalt-blue décor developed in the 17th–18th century. This plate depicting tigers and birds in dense thickets of forest or garden, freely arranged in a decentralized composition, was possibly made in Kerman of the early 18th century.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"The Khanenko Museum","dates":"AD early 18th century","location":"Kyiv","dimensions":"Diameter: 21.7cm, Height: 4.7cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis by I. Rapoport (examination, 1963, date, origin).","method_for_provenance":"According to the entry in the old Museum Inventory Register (1925-1946).","provenance":"Iran, probably Kerman","obtention":"Purchased by Bohdan and Varvara Khanenkos. Donated by Varvara Khanenko in 1918, nationalized by Bolshevik regime in 1919.","bibliography":"Bilenko, H. and Rudyck (Rudyk), H., *Oriental Collection*, guidebook, Kyiv: The Khanenko Museum, 2005.  \nBilenko, Halyna and Vyshnevetska, Mariya, et al., *State Collections of Ukraine*, album, The Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts, 2009.  \nCrowe, Y., *Persia and China: Safavid Blue and White Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum 1501-1738*, London: La Borie, 2002.  \nLane, A., *Later Islamic pottery: Persia, Syria, Egypt, Turkey*, London: Faber and Faber, 1957.  \nRudyk, H. (ed), *Charisma of Iran. Persian art of 12th–19th centuries from museum collections of Ukraine*, Kyiv: The Khanenko Museum, 2017.","author":"Antonina Makarevych","copy_editor":"Janice Medina","keywords":["ceramics","cobalt","Iran","Safavid","stonepaste"],"materials":["Stonepaste","underglaze painted with cobalt"]},"b2223947-ef0b-51d1-93ae-384d3496e7ab":{"name":"Hornos vase","alternate_name":"'Alhambra vase'","description":"Pear-shaped vase with a narrow base decorated with six rings. It has a tall, faceted, flared neck, a wide, protruding rim, and wing handles. The decoration combines gold and cobalt on a cream ground, forming segments of blue listels on the main body which are filled with vegetal compositions based on palms, palmettes, and pines. This vertical partition is repeated on the neck where, over two friezes framed in blue and decorated in reserve over a gold ground, salient edges are added. The first of the friezes features a cursive calligraphic inscription; the second, interlaces. The wing handles also feature small-scale vegetal decoration, overlaid with palmette scrolls. Reflecting the splendour of the Nasrid courts, the so-called Alhambra vases were considered luxury items. They were frequently mentioned as gifts and praised in the chronicles of Medieval travellers. These vases were manufactured in specialised workshops using complex lusterware techniques in gold and cobalt blue; they often included short poems of the fajr genre, or boastful style, reflecting on the object's beauty, contents, and use. Specifically, as translated by Eduardo Saavedra in 1875, the inscription around the neck of the Vase of Hornos praises the value of water: \"Every fountain springs forth, resembling the most perfect stream, and increases abundant kindness and excellent joys. And it affirms the memory of happiness and poverty that faded away morning and evening with the fortune of time.\"","type":"Vase","holder":"National Archaeological Museum","owner":"Spanish state","initial_owner":"Private collection","dates":"AH 8th - 9th / AD 14th-15th century","location":"Madrid","dimensions":"height: 134cm, diameter: 60cm","place_of_production":"Málaga","method_for_datation":"Formal parallels, historical-artistic study.","method_for_provenance":"Formal parallels, historical-artistic study.","provenance":"Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, Hornos (province of Jaén, Spain)","obtention":"Unearthed during plowing, the vase was moved to the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, where it served as holy water stoup. First acquired by V. Juan y Amat, then deposited at the Valencia Institute of Don Juan. Later purchased by the Spanish State for the National Archaeological Museum.","bibliography":"Coll Conesa, J., 'Técnica, áulica y distinción social en la cerámica medieval', *Anales de la Historia del Arte*, 24 (2015): 69-97.  \n  \nFernández Puertas, A., 'Lustreware', *Cuadernos de la Alhambra*, 53 (2024): 255-279.  \n  \nFranco Mata, Á., 'Jarrón de Hornos', in *Los Jarrones de la Alhambra: simbología y poder*, Madrid: Ediciones El Viso, 2006: 146-149.  \n  \nMarinetto Sánchez, P., “Jarrón nazarí de Hornos”, in *Corona y arqueología en el siglo de las Luces*, Madrid: Patrimonio Nacional, 2010: 296-297.  \n  \nPuerta Vílchez, J. M., *La cerámica nazarí en clave epigráfica y poética*, Granada: Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife, 2024: 142, fig. 8.","workshop":"Málaga","author":"Helena Lahoz Kopiske","translator":"Dept. of Medieval Antiquities of the MAN","translation_copy_editor":"Judy Harter","keywords":["Fajr","Lustre ware","Luxury","poetry"],"materials":["Clay","Glaze","Glazing","Lustre","modelling","pigments"]},"b233b9f9-606a-5020-b525-f2dfcb494a75":{"name":"Pilgrim bottle.","description":"The heavy, pinkish-grey earthenware flask belongs to the group of the so-called pilgrim bottles. The body of this type of pilgrim bottle is commonly composed of two flat circular sides, each with a broad, flanged edge and an unornamented strip of earthenware in the middle connecting the two side parts. This connecting strip is slightly concave so that the flask stands in a safe upright position on the edges of the side parts. Above, the bottle has a flared neck consisting of two sections separated by a ring in relief. The rim of the neck is damaged. For carrying and suspension, there are two handles fixed to the neck and to the shoulders. The bottle shows identical moulded decoration on both sides. At the centre there is an eight-petalled rosette surrounded by an arabesque scroll. The four double-framed leaf forms of the outer zone are set against a dense background pattern of tiny rhombs.  \nOn similar bottles the centre of the sides often bears an emblem easily recognised as belonging to one of the Ayyubid or Mamluk sultans and amirs. These emblems were attributes of their dignity. A rosette might not appear to be a specific emblem but it does actually belong to them. It is actually one of the oldest devices used under the Ayyubids and early Mamluks. They usually chose six-petalled rosettes. Only one amir, Musa bin Yaghmur (AH 599–663 / AD 1203–65), seems to be known whose emblem was a white eight-petalled rosette as seen on this bottle. He was governor of Cairo under the Ayyubid al-Malik al-Salih and in AH 648 / AD 1250 under al-Malik al-Mu'azzam governor of Damascus.  \nJudging by the unglazed body, this bottle could have been used for storing liquids such as water. The porous material allowed evaporation to keep the liquid stored in it cool.","short_description":"Earthenware flask. Characteristic are two flat circular sides and handles for carrying and suspension. Both sides are decorated with an eight-petalled rosette at the centre. This is the place where Ayyubid and Mamluk sultans and amirs usually marked their bottles with their own emblem.","type":"Bottle, earthenware","holder":"Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities (Medelhavsmuseet).","owner":"National Museum of Fine Arts, Stockholm. In order to reorganise the expanding collections, the main part of the Islamic collection has been on permanent loan to the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities since 1982.","dates":"Hegira 7th century / AD 13th century.","location":"Stockholm","dimensions":"Height 26.5 cm, diameter of body 13.6 cm, diameter of rim 7.9 cm.","method_for_datation":"An Ayyubid amir, Musa bin Yaghmur (599–663 / 1203–65), is known to have as an emblem the eight-petalled rosette without shield.","method_for_provenance":"There are different clues. Musa bin Yaghmur to whom the bottle may be ascribed was governor of Damascus. Other pilgrim bottles of this type come from Syria and Jordan. This bottle is supposed to have been excavated, probably in Syria, since it was bought by the Swedish Crown Prince in Aleppo.","provenance":"Possibly Syria.","obtention":"Gift of the Swedish Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf in 1935.","bibliography":"Florence, E. D., “Some Islamic Pilgrim Bottles“, *Berytus, Archaeological Studies* 2, 1935, pp.5–10.  \nMayer, L. A., *Saracenic Heraldry*, Oxford, 1933.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_EG_EN_001","author":"Friederike Voigt","copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["earthenware","pilgrimage","pottery"],"materials":["moulded.","Unglazed earthenware"]},"b2822f76-09d8-5bb5-a52e-020655e21bd6":{"name":"Ewer","alternate_name":"Jug","short_description":"Ewer with a wide gadrooned body resting on a short, circular base, rising to gently sloping shoulders and a cylindrical neck with a tall spout and to the side, a single handle surmounted by a thumb-rest. The ceramic ewer is decorated with underglaze ground cobalt blue pigment and two-tone rosettes outlined in over glazed white enamel and gold leaf.","type":"Ewer","holder":"Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization","dates":"7th century AH / late 13th century AD","location":"Sharjah","dimensions":"Height: 27.3cm, Width: 13.4cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis","method_for_provenance":"Stylistic analysis","provenance":"Iran","obtention":"Purchased","author":"Hazelle Page","materials":["Ceramic","Gold","Lajvardina","over glaze enamel","under glaze paint"]},"b2a64729-0616-53e6-bc8d-4d7583ceac8c":{"name":"Plate","description":"Sultan Abdülhamid II founded in 1891 the *Yıldız Çini Fabrika-i Hümâyûnu* (Yıldız Royal Tile Factory) in the garden of Yıldız Palace in order to revive Turkish tile art and give it a new direction and momentum. Vases, hanging wall plates and many sorts of daily-use wares were produced in the factory, including writing and dinner table utensils, card plates, lidded bowls, pans, *aşure* (a kind of dessert) trays, sugar bowls, tea and coffee cups. This plate features a dark green background on which there is a *tuğra* (monogram) made of gilding and a border around the edge.","type":"Ceramic plate","holder":"Yıldız Palace Museum","location":"Istanbul","provenance":"Istanbul","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega"},"b35798dc-77ea-5958-913f-2fb174b5a6c6":{"name":"Raqqa lustre bowl.","description":"The thin wall of the bowl is decorated symmetrically on the inside with a quatrefoil motif that covers its entire surface. A stylised trefoil leaf is painted within each of the four petals. Corkscrew tendrils, each with a bifid leaf, occupy the spaces between the outer contours of the petals. The outer edge is emphasised with a lustre stripe.  \nA collection of about 100 pieces of pottery, to which this piece belongs, was found at Tell Minis in Syria. At first it was thought that such pieces were imported into Syria from Egypt, but the discovery at Tell Minis confirmed that they were made in Syria. Meanwhile, the findings gained from excavating in the urban area of Raqqa have confirmed that a large number of these ceramics were produced in Raqqa. Some of these feature inscriptions. The decoration is very reminiscent of Fatimid ceramics, modified by the introduction of lustre painting and the use of quartz fritware. It can be assumed that, following the end of the Fatimid dynasty (AH 564 / AD 1169), Egyptian manufacturers of ceramics moved to Syria, where they introduced the new techniques. The existence of identical ceramic pieces strongly suggests that pattern drawings were used in the workshops.","short_description":"Small thin-walled bowls with figurative or vegetal patterns in a reddish colour are typical of Syrian lustre-ware pottery of the Ayyubid period. The design of this bowl with four petals in ovals and arabesque leaves in the spandrels is very clear and perfectly fits the round shape of the bowl.","type":"Bowl, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art at the Pergamon Museum","initial_owner":"Henri Pharaon Collection, Beirut.","dates":"Hegira late 6th–early 7th century / AD late 12th–early 13th century.","location":"Berlin","dimensions":"Height 6.5 cm, diameter 21 cm.","method_for_datation":"The excavations in Raqqa confirm that lustre ceramics glazed with reddish-brown lustre were made in Syria during the Ayyubid period. The technique was brought over by potters from Egypt following the downfall of the Fatimids.","method_for_provenance":"Findings made in Tell Minis and in Raqqa have led to the conclusion that this type of ceramic originated in Syria.","provenance":"Raqqa, Syria.","obtention":"From a private gallery in London, 1992.","bibliography":"Allan, J. W., *Islamic Ceramics*,Oxford, 1991, pp.40–1.  \nCaiger-Smith, A. *Lustre Pottery*, London, 1985, pp.51–5.  \nPorter, V., *Medieval Syrian Pottery*, Oxford, 1981, pp.3–8.  \nPorter, V. and Watson, O., “Tell Minis Wares”, in *Syria and Iran: Three Studies in Medieval Ceramics* (eds. J. W. Allan and C. Roberts), Oxford Studies in Islamic Art, IV, Oxford, 1987, pp.175–248.  \nWatson, O., *Ceramics from Islamic Lands*, London, 2004, pp.14–5, 289–94.","author":"Annette Hagedorn.","translator":"Maria Vlotides.","translation_copy_editor":"DRAFT VERSION.","keywords":["Fatimid","lustre-ware","quartz fritware","Raqqa","Syria","Tell Minis"],"materials":["Quartz fritware ceramic. Lustre decoration painted over the greenish-white glaze."]},"b3d75056-35c3-5258-acbf-bbe88d25a45b":{"name":"Panel of *azulejos* with a carpet composition","description":"Although many people believe the word *azulejo* derives from the Portuguese word *azul* (blue), this is a misconception. The use of this colour in *azulejos* can be limited to a very narrow timeline of approximately 60 years (c. 1690‒1750) in a larger history of more than 500 years of uninterrupted use in Portugal.  \nNevertheless, there are some exceptions for the single use of blue in Portuguese *azulejos* outside this chronology, one of which can be seen in this panel. In this complex pattern of 6 x 6 *azulejos*, 36 pieces are required to obtain a single motif that can be reproduced to infinity, whereby its intertwined double four-lobe design has a lighter dimension on account of the monochromatic use of blue. Although complex, the blue gives a subtlety to the design of this motif, and in this way focuses the attention rather than tiring the senses.  \nBy contrast, the frame uses a different kind of composition. Instead of the motif in blue over the white background, it opens the decoration in white over a dense blue using a decoration that can be compared to woodcarving or some jewellery of this period. By this, the contrast between a very dense frame and the motif is lightened by a less compact pattern, creating equilibrium between elements, which provides the viewer a harmonious sense of beauty.","type":"Tile; *azulejo*","holder":"National Tile Museum","dates":"1650‒1680","location":"Lisbon","dimensions":"H: 200cm, L: 145cm, W: 1.5cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis: 17th-century production of *azulejos* in Portugal, of this intense blue, was accomplished only by the Lisbon workshops","method_for_provenance":"The National Tile Museum holds a large number of *azulejos* of unknown origin, many gathered during the period of the destruction of the convents and palaces in the late 19th century, in the aftermath of the abolition of the religious orders in 1834.","obtention":"Probably salvaged during demolition of an unknown building where they had once been applied","bibliography":"Matos, Maria Antónia Pinto (ed.), *Um gosto português, O uso do azulejo no século XVII*, exhib. cat., Lisbon: Museu Nacional do Azulejo/Athena, 2012.  \nMeco, José, *O Azulejo em Portugal*, Lisbon: Publicações Alfa, 1989.  \nSimões, João Miguel dos Santos, *Azulejaria em Portugal no século XVII*, 2 vols, Lisbon: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 1971.","workshop":"Lisbon, Portugal","author":"Alexandre Pais","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["17th century","azulejos","Faience","pattern"],"materials":["Ceramic: faience"]},"b4039c69-caaf-5330-a68e-4354845b82a9":{"name":"Dish.","description":"The polychrome underglaze painted dish with a sloping rim and a deep well shows a male human figure outlined in black on a white background. The man is dressed in uncoloured wide trousers, a pale blue jacket and a white blouse with green sleeves. His hat and shoes and the flower that he holds in his right hand are of thick pale red. Five flowers on thin curved stems – two red-dotted blue tulips and three smaller ones with red blossoms – fill the area around the man. The rim shows a zigzag pattern composed of almond-shaped leafs. The triangular areas are coloured alternately in light blue and a bright green and filled with half-rosettes, each with a red dot at the centre. On the back the dish is painted with three large blue dots under a transparent, light turquoise coloured glaze. The foot-ring is pierced once for suspension.  \nFigurative depictions on Iznik ceramics were inspired by the popular imagery of miniature costume albums, many of which were produced for sale to Europeans from the beginning of the AH 11th / AD 17th century. The standardised painting of the man and the formulaic character of the flower decoration are due to the mass production of the open market.","short_description":"Polychrome painted dish with a deep well showing a human figure on a white background. The area around the man is filled with flowers. The rim shows a zigzag pattern. Figurative depictions on Iznik ceramics were inspired by the popular imagery of miniature costume albums.","type":"Ottoman ceramics","holder":"Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities (Medelhavsmuseet).","dates":"Hegira first half of 11th century / AD first half of the 17th century.","location":"Stockholm","dimensions":"Height 5.5 cm, diameter 25.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"The object was dated from its decoration. Figurative depictions, frequently in combination with a zigzag pattern on the rim, occurred in great number on Iznik ceramics from the beginning of the 11th / 17th century. They were inspired by single-figure costume studies such as the Album of Sultan Ahmed I (r. 1011–25 / 1603–17) and its popular copies.","method_for_provenance":"The zigzag pattern on the rim in combination with the human figure occurred in great number on Iznik ceramics from the beginning of the 11th / 17th century.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Bequest of the Hungarian scientist, Nobel Prize winner and art collector, Georg von Békésy (1899–1972).","bibliography":"Atasoy, N. and Raby, J., *Iznik*: *The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989.  \nCarswell, J., *Iznik Pottery*, London, 1998.  \nMüller-Wiener, M., *Türkisch-Osmanische Keramik*, Traunstein, 2004.  \nWirgin, J. (ed.), *The Georg von Békésy Collection*, Malmö, 1974.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Friederike Voigt","copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","Dish","figurative decoration","Plate"],"materials":["Ceramic","underglaze painted."]},"b437a6ed-24fb-56b3-b57f-e110c5ab5d47":{"name":"Plate","description":"Plate produced in Valencia in Oriental style. This object was part of José Ros’ collection “Fabricación de objetos hispano-árabes en terra cocida”, which was displayed at the Exhibition of Valencia in 1890.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"MAK – Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art","dates":"Before 1875","location":"Vienna","provenance":"Spain, Valencia","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega"},"b44570b2-8918-5357-94ca-bfbb2096bf44":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"Small bowl decorated with an incised design of spiralling scrolls ending in palmettes and two green splashes. The shape of the vessel, resting on a foot-ring, and the slightly everted rim, recalls Chinese prototypes.","type":"Bowl, earthenware, ceramic","holder":"Benaki Museum","dates":"Hegira 6th century / AD 12th century","location":"Athens","dimensions":"Diameter 18 cm","provenance":"Egypt","keywords":["bowl","China","earthenware"],"materials":["Earthenware"]},"b458ec48-6ce3-5cb1-a3f6-348c8e7108e6":{"name":"Ceramic tile panel.","description":"A panel of ten ceramic tiles, a product of the Maghrebi School of ceramists who travelled to Egypt and settled in coastal cities such as Alexandria, Rashid (Rosetta) and Damietta. The piece is decorated with overglaze paintings in blue, yellow and green. In the lower portion of the panel there is the shape of a pair of feet coloured in blue, above which are architectural forms, made up of a group of small domes, and other decorative elements in the Ottoman style. Towering over them is a single large semi-circular dome. It is flanked on either side by the forms of pencil-shaped minarets in the Ottoman style. The dome is framed at the top by a lobed arch, whose pinnacle is crowned by a crescent-shaped motif. It is possible that the feet and the architectural forms symbolise the *Mi'raj* where the Prophet Muhammad ascended the heavens accompanied by the Angel Gabriel from the site of al-Haram al-Sharif in the sacred precinct of Jerusalem. It was there that he met the prophets and the number of mandatory prayers for all Muslims were ordained to be five daily.  \nIt is known that the ceramists of the Maghrebi School migrated to Egypt in the second half of the AH 12th / AD 18th century and settled in coastal cities, producing wares that were influenced by the styles and techniques used in the ceramic workshops of the Maghreb and al-Andalus. This might explain the widespread use of the term, *Zilizli*, which is used by the inhabitants of Rashid (Rosetta) for ceramic tiles, as it is derived from the word, *zillij* meaning ceramic tiles in colloquial Maghrebi Arabic. Among the most famous of the Tunisian ceramists who migrated to Egypt and settled in Alexandria was al-Hajj Mas'ud al-Sab'a whose signature is found, along with an inscription: 'The work of the master al-Sab'a', on the ceramic tiles that embellish the Dar Jalluli in Tunisia. This ceramist also established a distinguished school in Egypt in the AH 12th / AD 18th century. A number of his ceramics were utilised in the decoration of some contemporary buildings in Alexandria and Cairo.","short_description":"Artisans moved freely from one country to another in the Islamic world. Artisans from Mosul came to Egypt after the Mogul invasion of Baghdad. Maghrebi ceramic artisans, likewise, brought their style influenced by the Andalusian style. This ceramic tile panel follows the Tunisian school.","type":"Ottoman ceramics","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira 12th century / AD 18th century.","location":"Cairo","dimensions":"Height 80 cm, width 32 cm.","method_for_datation":"Some of the most prominent ceramics produced by al-Hajj Mas'ud al-Sab'a is the tile-panelling that embellishes the Mosque of Abd al-Baqi Georgi (Chorbagi) in Alexandria, (built 1171 / 1757). His name, which is incorporated into the tilework, includes the words, 'work of the master al-Sab'a'. This extensive tile panelling, which covers both the walls of the mosque and the *mihrab,* consists of ceramic tiles in the Maghrebi style. In the decorative scheme, the base of the composition comprises vases from which flowers, stems or depictions of buildings and architectural components emerge; domed buildings and minarets in the Ottoman style, as well as crescent shapes, which complete the decoration at the top of the composition. The architectural and vegetal decoration in the tiling of the Mosque of Abd al-Baqi Georgi resembles to a large extent the decorative scheme of the tiles we are discussing here. In view of the great similarity in style, the similarity of decorative components, and the fact that the signature of the craftsman is on the tiles of the Mosque of Abd al-Baqi Georgi, we may deduce that these tiles are his work, or at the very least, of his school.","method_for_provenance":"It is highly probable that this tile panel is the work of al-Hajj Mas'ud al-Sab'a. That he was prolific in Alexandria, Egypt, is verified by the presence of his work in the Mosque of Abd al-Baqi Georgi (Chorbagi).","provenance":"Probably Alexandria.","obtention":"It was housed in the museum as part of the *waqf* of Prince Yusuf Kamal in the year 1923. Prince Yusuf was a prince of the Muhammad 'Ali family and he donated a large collection of his acquisitions especially jewellery, textiles, ceramic and wooden pieces to the museum.","bibliography":"Al-A'raj, Abd al-Aziz M., *Al-Zalij fi al-'Emara al-Islamiya bi al–Jaza'ir fi al-'asr al-Turki \\[Ceramics in Islamic Architecture in Algeria during the Turkish Period\\],* m/s, University of Cairo, 1982.  \nAtil, E., *Ceramics from the World of Islam,* Washington D.C., 1973.  \nKhalifa, R. H., *Funun al-Qahira fi al-'Ahd al-Othmani \\[Arts of Cairo in the Ottoman Era\\],* Cairo, 1984.  \nPorter, V., *Islamic Tiles*, New York, 1995.","workshop":"Probably of the Tunisian, al-Hajj Mas’ud al-Sab’a School.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TN_EN_001","author":"Salah Sayour","copy_editor":"Majd Musa","translator":"Amal Sachedina (from the Arabic).","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["architectural element","architectural form","ceramics","Ceramist","tilework","vegetal decoration"],"materials":["Ceramic with overglaze decoration."]},"b5902a63-cea0-5cad-8814-d54861e5f719":{"name":"Dish","short_description":"Ceramics with a molded or stamped decoration in relief inspired by Roman or Sasanian metalwork is known from as early as the Umayyad period. This flat dish, with its distinctive Arabic inscription in *Kufi* calligraphy, is a further development of this type and is also an example of a pure and harmonious Islamic style that was found in Abbasid Iraq.","type":"Dish,  earthenware","holder":"The David Collection","dates":"Hegira 3rd century / AD 9th century","location":"Copenhagen","provenance":"Iraq","keywords":["Dish","earthenware"],"materials":["Earthenware with molded decoration covered by a yellow and green glaze"]},"b5db61c2-f435-5ed6-87a3-c6bbd6e5f917":{"name":"Tile (*azulejo*).","description":"Square tile cast from whitish clay with decoration in relief covered with a tin glaze showing two long-legged birds facing each other before a tree with intertwined branches. The coat of arms of the Nasrid dynasty sits on top of the tree and another two birds are to be found in the top corners, one almost completely missing due to a break suffered by the tile. Some of the decorative motifs were realised in blue and gold, although the gold has almost completely disappeared.  \nNasrid ceramics are considered to be a continuation of Almohad ceramics. Glazed clay had already been used in this period in exterior decoration, but it was during the Nasrid age that its use inside palaces reached its peak, mainly to decorate plinths and floors. The more sumptuous finishes were made using tiles with metallic highlights in gold or gold and blue on a white background.  \nIn terms of decoration, panels with figurative motifs are also to be found in the Palace of the Alhambra, from where this piece originates, although they are a minority. This tile belongs to a type in which influences from the Christian world are beginning to become apparent. The use of vegetal as well as zoomorphic and heraldic motifs are closely related to Gothic models.  \nWith regard to the origin of the Nasrid coat of arms, there is no doubt that heraldry as ornamentation comes from the Christian and not the Muslim world. Most researchers concur that it originated with the coat of arms of the Order of the Band founded by Alfonso XI in 1330. The Nasrid kingdom, as a vassal of Castile, used this coat of arms, incorporating the motto of their dynasty 'There is no conqueror but God'.","short_description":"The inclusion of the coat of arms of the Nasrid sultans on the ‘tree of life’ suggests that this tile was intended to decorate the Alhambra. It is an example, albeit a faulty one, of an exquisite lustrework technique using blue cobalt, enhanced in this case with figures in relief.","type":"Tile, ceramics","holder":"National Archaeological Museum.","dates":"Around the turn of the Hegira 9th century / AD 15th century.","location":"Madrid","dimensions":"Height 22.5 cm, width 22.5 cm, depth 2.8 cm.","method_for_datation":"This piece belongs to a series of Nasrid tiles with the same decoration that are kept in the National Museum of Hispano-Muslim Art in Granada, the Institute of Valencia de Don Juan, Madrid and the National Archaeological Museum. They all originate from the Palace of the Alhambra and were dated by Martínez Caviro to around the turn of the 15th century.","method_for_provenance":"The Nasrid coat of arms indicates that it came from the Kingdom of Granada, but there is some doubt about the exact place where the tiles were produced. The first examples may have been made in Malaga, with later pieces being made in Granada. Ceramicists would commonly move to work on large projects such as the Palace of the Alhambra.","provenance":"Palace of the Alhambra, Kingdom of Granada, Spain.","obtention":"The piece was deposited with the National Archaeological Museum by the State on 1 July 1941.","bibliography":"Flores Escobosa, I., *Estudio Preliminar Sobre Loza Azul y Dorada Nazarí de la Alhambra*, Madrid, 1988.  \nFrothingham, A. W., *Lustreware of Spain*, New York, 1951, pp.21–60.  \nMartínez Caviró, B., *Cerámica Hispanomusulmana Andalusí y Mudéjar*, Madrid, 1991, p.115.","author":"Margarita Sánchez Llorente","copy_editor":"Rosalía Aller","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["Alhambra","figurative decoration","gold highlight","Granada","Nasrid","palatial architecture"],"materials":["Casting","Ceramic","Glazing","gold highlighting."]},"b6227f02-1142-5b04-b3af-734ad8573ce6":{"name":"Drums","alternate_name":"Tamburi","description":"The two drums are part of the flourishing tradition of enamelled ceramic in Fez, in production since the Middle Ages. Cobalt blue and white decorations identify Fez products dating to the second half of the 19th century. The drums belong to the ethnographic collections of the Pigorini Museum founded between the 19th and the 20th century. The origins of scientific activity and conservation of Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico \"Luigi Pigorini\" in Rome, can be traced back to the foundation in 1875 of the \"Royal National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography in Rome\" within the buildings of the Roman College.","type":"Musical instrument","holder":"National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography “Luigi Pigorini”","dates":"19th century","location":"Rome","provenance":"Morocco","author":"Vito Lattanzi","copy_editor":"Anne Dowell"},"b66de1ea-876e-5dc1-93b3-a69ada001076":{"name":"Stove","description":"A stove on an iron pedestal and composed of two main parts, the lower has a scalloped design; the walls of the corpus are green and decorated with white sculptural and relief decoration (bunches of flowers, volutes and *Rocaille*). In the centre of the lower part are elongated cartouches with scenes in relief. In two of these cartouches ladies and gentlemen are ambling in the countryside with shepherds' crooks in their hands, while in the third there is an idyllic picture of music-making under a tree. The top of the stove ends with a three-dimensional figure of a female shepherd with a lamb in her arms. The firebox is at the rear.","short_description":"A white and green stove richly decorated in the lower part, with a three-dimensional figure of a female shepherd at the top.","type":"Ceramical stove","holder":"Museum of Arts and Crafts","initial_owner":"The Counts of Sermage","dates":"Mid-18th century","location":"Zagreb, North-West Croatia","dimensions":"H: 260 cm; with base 300 cm","place_of_production":"Upper Austria","method_for_datation":"By analysis of style","provenance":"Mirkovec Manor, Hrvatsko zagorje","obtention":"Acquired from the Vraniczany-Dobrinović family in 1936.","bibliography":"*Muzej za umjetnost i obrt 1880–1970. Katalog izabranih djela* (Museum of Arts and Crafts 1880–1970: catalogue of selected works), Zagreb, 1970, cat. 100, p. 313.","author":"Marina Bagarić","translator":"Graham McMaster","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["clay","figural decoration","floral decoration","furnishing","painting","relief decoration","vegetal decoration"],"materials":["Clay","painted","relief work","wrought iron base"]},"b6b54e1a-238d-59fb-8fc0-bf1b0cd6d93c":{"name":"Pitcher.","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.  \nThis 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.","short_description":"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.","type":"Pitcher, earthenware","holder":"National Museum of Damascus","dates":"Around hegira late 6th century / AD 12th century.","location":"Damascus","dimensions":"Height 11.9 cm, width (of opening) 8.7 cm.","method_for_datation":"Through stylistic comparisons with similar objects made in Syria most of which date to the late 6th / 12th and early 7th / 13th centuries.","method_for_provenance":"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.","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.","obtention":"Purchased in 1950.","bibliography":"Abu al-Faraj al-Ush, M., *A Concise Guide to the National Museum of Damascus,* Damascus, 1969, p.231.  \nGrube, E., *Islamic Pottery of the Eighth to Fifteenth Century in the Keir Collection*, London, 1976.  \nPorter, V., *Medieval Syrian Pottery*, Oxford, 1981.  \nSoustiel, J., and Kiefer, C., *La céramique islamique*, Fribourg, 1985.  \nWatson, O., *Ceramics from Islamic Lands*, London, 2004.","author":"Mona al-Moadin","translator":"Hilary Kalmbach (from the Arabic)","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["beauty","ceramics","earthenware","Fabrics","hairstyle","Iran","Jazira","Minai","musical instruments","narratives","pitcher","polychrome","singers","women"],"materials":["Earthenware with polychrome underglaze technique."]},"b6ddda27-c0ff-5f0f-b4b1-bb06af0f4dc4":{"name":"Vase with lid.","description":"Lidded vase, with medallions painted in blue under the transparent glaze and metallic lustre decoration. On the white background motifs are arranged in compartmented horizontal rows, composed of pseudo-inscriptions in a flowery *kufic* script interrupted by circular medallions containing floral motifs and scrolls. The lid follows the same decorative design as the vase itself. It cannot be stated with certainty what function the object served; it might have been a utilitarian or a decorative object, or possibly both.","short_description":"Ayyubid lidded pot from Raqqa in Syria. Motifs consisting of pseudo-inscriptions in flowery *kufic* script are arranged in compartmented horizontal strips on a white background, interrupted by circular medallions with floral motifs and scrolls.","type":"Vase, ceramic","holder":"Calouste Gulbenkian Museum.","dates":"Hegira end 6th century / AD end 12th century.","location":"Lisbon.","dimensions":"Height 26 cm, diameter 27.7 cm.","method_for_datation":"By stylistic analysis and by comparison with objects from the same period.","method_for_provenance":"By expert examination. In correspondence relating to the object, Antoine G. Brimo refers to having received from Calouste Gulbenkian a specific sum for his expert's report on the object in question, in which he confirms its authenticity.","provenance":"Raqqa, Syria.","obtention":"Purchased through Dikran Kelekian, in Paris, on 27 December 1907.","bibliography":"Makariou, S. (ed.), *L'Orient de Saladin. L'Art des Ayyoubides*, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 2002.  \n*Memorias del Imperio Árabe*, exhibition catalogue, Santiago de Compostela, 2000.  \nMota, M. M., *Catálogo das Louças Islâmicas*, Vol. I: *Louças Seljúcidas*, Lisbon, 1988.  \n*Museu Calouste Gulbenkian*, Lisbon, 1st edition 2001, 2nd edition revised and updated 2002.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_SY_EN_001","author":"Maria Queiroz Ribeiro","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","Kufi","Raqqa","vase"],"materials":["Ceramic made from siliceous clay with lustre-painted decoration."]},"b7aafb59-ff4c-5242-9b12-fb975a73f3bf":{"name":"*Zellij* panel.","description":"This *zellij* panel, which covered the entrance wall of the Bouinaniya Madrasa, is decorated with *testirs*, geometric motifs often used in earthenware tile facings.  \nEach element is known by a particular name, and the stucco craftsmen memorised the particular proportions, motifs and dimensions corresponding to each figure. The motifs were first drawn on the tile then carved using a mallet. They were carved in the fired clay beneath the glaze so as to give each piece a corner-shaped profile. Once assembled, they created a polychrome mosaic with large and simple motifs dominated by white, yellow ochre and black. The panel includes a thick white line tracing rectilinear knotwork, a method introduced in the AH 7th / AD 13th century by the Almohads in their architectural decoration, and polychrome filling made up of small elements whose specific shapes are matched exactly to the voids left in the design. This knotwork rises from small white columns encircled with a green band and finishes in half knots. It encloses a network of concentric diamonds made up of elements in yellow ochre, violet black and emerald green or yellow ochre, black and lavender blue, all with a black piece in the centre.  \nThis fragment illustrates the mastery of the *zellij* craftsmen in the Marinid era who, like their Nasrid counterparts, produced op art masterpieces before their time.","short_description":"This *zellij* panel covered the entrance wall to the *madrasa*. It is decorated with *testirs*, or geometric patterns that are the pre-eminent decorative motif for earthenware-tile facings. It consists of a network of lozenges surrounded by an interlacing design.","type":"Panel, tile, earthenware","holder":"Batha Museum.","initial_owner":"*Habus* (endowment).","dates":"Hegira 751–7 / AD 1351–6.","location":"Fez.","dimensions":"Height 160 cm, length 77 cm.","method_for_datation":"The panel comes from the Buinaniya Madrasa (AH 751–7 / AD 1351–6).","method_for_provenance":"The panel was salvaged during the restoration of the monument in the 20th century.","provenance":"Buinaniya Madrasa, Fez.","obtention":"Salvaged following the restoration of the monument.","bibliography":"Marçais, G., *L'architecture musulmane d'Occident*, Paris, 1954.  \nPaccard, A., *Le Maroc et l'artisanat traditionnel islamique dans l'architecture*, Vol. 1, Paris, 1979.  \nTerrasse, Ch., *Médersas du Maroc*, Paris, 1927.  \nTerrasse, H. and Hainaut, J., *Les arts décoratifs au Maroc*, Paris, 1925.  \n*Andalusian Morocco: A Discovery in Living Art*, pp.124–6, p.232.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_MA_EN_001","author":"Naima El Khatib-Boujibar","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["geometric decoration","religious monument","Tile panel","tilework"],"materials":["Glazed earthenware tiles."]},"b7cc9c16-b067-5542-91fe-67d7377310ad":{"name":"Jar","short_description":"This Iznik jar belongs to an early stage in the development of Ottoman pottery, possibly the early 10th century / second decade of the 16th century as suggested by its decoration and colour scheme, which employs a lighter shade of blue, along with the deep cobalt. The dynamic floral decoration inspired by Chinese designs is boldly painted on the white ground, or else, as on the foot and shoulder, it is reserved in white against blue. Jars of this type, which were made for courtly or urban patrons and were most likely used as storage containers, testify to the high aesthetic standards of the day.","type":"Furnishings","holder":"Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)","dates":"Hegira early 10th century / AD early 16th century","location":"Los Angeles","dimensions":"Height: 24.2cm, Diameter: 11.2cm","method_for_datation":"The jar belongs to the end phase of a subgroup of Iznik ware sometimes referred to as “Baba Nakkaṣ” around the 1520s, based on its colour scheme, alternating blue and white ground, and curvaceous juxtaposition of the floral designs, which have a compositional relationship to Chinese blue-and-white porcelain.","method_for_provenance":"Shape, colour scheme and decoration are typical of Iznik ware.","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","obtention":"Joseph Soustiel (1939 - 1999), until 1979 (sale, private sale, Paris, May, 1979, sold to); Edwin Binney, 3rd (1866-1934), Collection of Edwin Binney, 3rd, Portland, ME, until 1985 (gifted to); LACMA, The Edwin Binney, 3rd, Collection of Turkish Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.","bibliography":"Atasoy, Nurhan, and Raby, Julian, *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London: Alexandria Press, 1989: 106, fig. 127.  \nBinney, Edwin 3rd, *Turkish Treasures from the Collection of Edwin Binney, 3rd: 1981 Supplement to the 1979 Catalogue*, San Diego: San Diego Museum of Art, 1981: cover plate and ceramic 2a.  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Islamic Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art*, Rev. ed., Los Angeles: Museum Associates, 2005: 45, fig. 41.  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Lo Terrenal y lo divino: Arte islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Angeles*, Santiago, Chile: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015: 12, 167, 212.  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Beauty and Identity: Islamic Art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art*, Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2016: 194, 204-205.","author":"LACMA Staff","keywords":["blue","ceramic","Chinese influence","Chinese motifs","cobalt blue","court life","floral decoration","Iznik pottery","Ottoman ceramic","urban life","vessels"],"materials":["Fritware","underglaze-painted"]},"b7ce4f8c-eeaa-5739-a40e-36309170d6fc":{"name":"Bottle and stopper","description":"Fez is an important centre for Moroccan pottery and is particularly associated with a distinctive form of blue and white ceramic ware which became popular in the late 19th century. This bottle was donated to the V&A by George Maw, founder of Maw & Co., a British manufacturer of ceramic tiles. The company won many medals and awards at the international exhibitions which were a feature of the late 19th century. This bottle was displayed at the 1871 Annual International Exhibition held in London.","type":"Earthenware; ceramic","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum","dates":"c. 1870","location":"London","provenance":"Morocco, Fez","author":"Victoria and Albert Museum"},"b822c95a-a322-5a1f-a599-8e7881c43da8":{"name":"Bowl with spout","short_description":"This small bowl with a spout presents a bird surrounded by pseudo-geometric patterns painted in black with white and red dots. The decoration is made with coloured liquid clay.","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 4th–5th century / AD 10th–11th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Diameter 19.7 cm","provenance":"Eastern Iran","keywords":["ceramic","imaginary animal","Samanid","Simurgh","zoomorphic imagery"],"materials":["Earthenware","polichrome slip decoration under transparent glaze","white slip"]},"b86322b9-31bb-52dc-86d7-821809e043fd":{"name":"Pottery bowl","description":"A glazed small pottery bowl decorated under a blue, light green, and brown radial design under a greyish glaze. The rhythm of the five colours evokes the five pillars of Islam, elevating the object from an ordinary houseware to a spiritual level. The radials point to a blueish spot in the middle of the bowl. The rim is lined with the same blue as one of the radials inside the bowl. We see the radial underglaze or lustre design in some beautiful AH 6th / AD 12th-century Kashan Iranian pottery bowls.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum","owner":"His Excellency Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani","location":"Doha, Qatar","dimensions":"Height: 6cm, Diameter: 18cm, Base Diameter: 7cm","place_of_production":"Morocco","method_for_datation":"Analysis of techniques, style and motifs","method_for_provenance":"The origin of acqusitions","provenance":"Morocco","obtention":"Purchased","author":"Terézia Bardi","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","materials":["Ceramic","Glazed","underglaze painting"]},"b8adbf3d-fcfa-509c-ac13-b2d0c7288418":{"name":"Tankard.","description":"A tall, stone-paste (fritware) tankard of cylindrical shape with a flat angular handle with curved projections at the top and bottom. The tankard is decorated with an undulating succession of tall red tulips and blue-green so-called *saz* leaves that alternate with smaller red and blue flowers. All the flora springs from a decorative band around the lower body, enhanced by blue and red detailing. This decorative band is repeated around the lip. The handle shows crude abstract detailing. This type of tankard first appears in Ottoman ceramics in the AH late 10th / AD mid–late 16th century and was widely exported. Metal prototypes of this type are known from the Balkans. Leather or wood models may also have contributed to the development of this ceramic type.","short_description":"This type of tankard first appears in Ottoman ceramics in the AH 10th / AD 16th century and was widely exported subsequently. Metal prototypes of this type are known from the Balkans. Leather or wood models may also have contributed to the development of this type in ceramics.","type":"Ottoman ceramic, stone paste","holder":"National Museums of Scotland (NMS).","dates":"Hegira, late 10th century / AD mid–late 16th century.","location":"Edinburgh, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 20.3 cm.","method_for_datation":"Iznik tankards with this particular type of decoration have been attributed to the late 10th / mid–late 16th century.","method_for_provenance":"It is known that tankards of this type and decorative style were produced in the workshops of Iznik during the late 10th / mid–late 16th century.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Gift from Miss Beatrice Danford, Newton St. Boswells in 1953.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989, p.47, figs. 700, 705 (for discussion of this type and related pieces).","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Ulrike Al-Khamis","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Iznik","saz leaf.","stone-paste (fritware)"],"materials":["black and bole-red underglaze","Blue","green","over which a clear glaze.","Stone-paste (fritware)"]},"b8c52c07-1db7-5b7e-a968-695ff14489a0":{"name":"Ceramic bowl.","description":"Glazed bowl with vertical rounded rim, circular mouth, body shaped as inverted truncated cone with low carination and base with diagonal foot-ring. Covered with honey-coloured monochrome glaze and decorated in *cuerda seca* with white, green and honey colours separated by lines of manganese. The central theme is the word '*baraka'* written in *kufic* characters, surrounded by a frieze of palmette leaves which runs around the rim of the bowl. The object has been restored.","short_description":"Bowl decorated entirely using *cuerda seca* from the Almoravid or Almohad periods. The central motif is the word ‘*baraka*’ written in *kufic* characters and surrounded by a frieze of palmettes that runs around the brim of the bowl. Similar pieces have been found around the western Mediterranean.","type":"Bowl, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Mértola.","dates":"Hegira 6th century / AD 12th century.","location":"Mértola., Beja.","dimensions":"Height 8 cm, diameter (of mouth) 25 cm, diameter (of base) 10.3 cm.","method_for_datation":"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 similar form, decorative technique and theme, in particular from Almería and Málaga.","method_for_provenance":"The abundance of this type of ceramic in Málaga, in which very similar calligraphy is found, and Almería (Spain) where kilns have been found in which objects with this type of decoration were made, has led researchers to attribute its production to these localities.","provenance":"Almería or Málaga, Spain.","obtention":"Found in the archaeological excavations carried out by the Campo Arqueológico de Mértola in the citadel of the Castle of Mértola.","bibliography":"Gómez Martínez, S., *A Cerâmica em Corda Seca de Mértola*, Mértola, 2002.  \nTorres, C. and Gómez, S., “Le Vert et Brun au Portugal”, in *Le Vert et le Brun de Kairouan à Avignon: Céramiques du Xe au XVe Siècle*,exhibition catalogue, Marseilles, 1995, pp.98–102.  \nTorres, C., “Um Lote Cerâmico da Mértola Islâmica”, in *I Congreso de Arqueología Medieval Española. Huesca, 1985*, vol. IV, Saragossa, 1986, pp.193–228.  \nTorres, C. and Macias, S. (eds.), *O Portugal Islâmico*, Lisbon, 1998, p.93.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_PT_EN_001","author":"Susana Gómez Martínez","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","cuerda seca","trade"],"materials":["fired in an oxidising atmosphere and decorated using the cuerda seca technique throughout.","Glazed ceramic made from coarse-grained paste","modelled on a wheel"]},"b8ecf061-5f47-5eb8-bd73-a5714784eff0":{"name":"Plate.","description":"A ceramic plate decorated with geometric designs in yellow pigment on a brown background and under a transparent glaze.  \n  \nThe inner surface is divided into four zones, each pair corresponding with each other. One pair consists of curved triangles filled with crossed lines forming, net-like, small indented squares; the other two zones show crisscrossed curved lines which form an arrow–head design.","short_description":"Ceramic plate from Tall Hisban, decorated with geometric designs in yellow pigment on a brown background and under a transparent glaze. The inner surface is divided into four zones, forming two pairs of crisscrossed curved designs.","type":"Plate, ceramic","holder":"Jordan Archaeological Museum.","dates":"Hegira 7th century / AD 13th century.","location":"Amman","dimensions":"Height 8.8 cm, diameter 30.3 cm, diameter (of base) 10.7cm.","method_for_datation":"The plate was dated by its stratigraphic context in the archaeological excavation.","method_for_provenance":"The plate was recovered from Tall Hisban during an archaeological excavation.","provenance":"Tall Hisban, Jordan.","obtention":"The plate was recovered during the course of an archaeological excavation carried out at Tall Hisban in 1993.","bibliography":"ساري. صالح، الفخار الأيوبي المملوكي في بلاد الشام 567-923 ه / 1171-1517 م، رسالة ماجستير، الجامعة الأردنية، 1979، ص 178-179، شكل 73، 74.  \n  \nBienkowski, P., The Art of Jordan, Glasgow, 1991, p.85, cat. no. 101.  \n  \nBoras, R., and Geraty, L., Heshbon 1976, Andrews University Seminary Studies, Miami, 16.1, 1978, pp.1–17.  \n  \n*La voie royale: 9000 ans d'art au royaume de Jordanie*, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1986, p.283, cat. no. 385.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_EG_EN_001","author":"Aida Naghawy","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["geometric decoration"],"materials":["Glazed ceramic."]},"b9280ed6-19f0-55b4-a602-5d1098d3ab59":{"name":"Dish","short_description":"Composite-bodied ceramic dish, the centre with a configuration of six circular dense foliated and floriated scrolls and five stylized palmettes, bordered by eight paired Chinese-style cloud devices, the rim with a border of small flowers on thin scrolling stems; exterior with alternations of two types of Chinese-inspired cloud motifs. It was wheel-thrown, covered with white engobe, painted with cobalt blue stain, and transparent colourless glaze.","type":"Vessels & receptacles, Ottoman ceramic","holder":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah","dates":"Hegira first half of the 9th century / AD 1520–1540","location":"Kuwait City","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","keywords":["?znik ceramics","blue-and-white","Chinese motifs","floral motifs"]},"ba61949f-4fe6-55e5-a72f-065204514600":{"name":"Long-necked bottle","description":"This monochrome bottle with a long neck has a facetted design, imitating metal bottles. This type of object appears in painted miniatures in which the cupbearer pours wine from an identical bottle. Prohibited by the Qur’an, wine nevertheless could have medicinal and digestive virtues, according to Al-Râzî: “the usefulness of wine for the preservation of health, and the improvement of digestion, is certain if it is given its rightful place, and if its quantity, quality, and timing are in accordance with the rules of the art\".","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museum of the Arab World Institute","initial_owner":"Jean Soustiel","dates":"Hegira 5th - 7th century / AD 12th or 13th century","location":"Paris","dimensions":"Height: 24cm, Diameter: 14cm, Diameter base: 7cm","provenance":"Iran","obtention":"Purchased from the Art Musulman gallery in 1992.","bibliography":"Delpont, Eric, et al., *Album du musée*, Paris: Somogy éditions d'art, 2012: p. 293.  \n  \nMocelin, G. and Brohard, Y., *Sur les chemins d'Ispahan, savoir et médecine entre Orient et Occident*, Grenoble: Edition Cent Pages, Grenoble, 2006, p. 62.  \n  \nMoulierac, J. and Vaudour, C., *La médecine au temps des califes: à l'ombre d'Avicenne*, Paris: Institut du monde arabe, 1996: Fig. 130, p. 205.  \n  \nMoulierac, Jeanne, et al., Céramiques du monde musulman: collections de l'Institut du monde arabe et de J.P. et F. Croisier, Paris: Institut du monde arabe, Paris, 1999: p. 114.","translator":"Judy Harter","materials":["moulded design under transparent turquoise glaze","Siliceous clay"]},"ba9c5104-c11e-5d1f-8a1e-ba20fb2ab406":{"name":"Stand.","description":"A rectangular stand with four legs and two holes in the top, made with slabs of moulded clay, decorated in relief and 'lustre-painted'. The relief design on each of the wider sides of the stand comprises pairs of griffons surrounded by swirling arabesques. 'Lustre-painted' pottery was produced in Abbasid Iraq before the technique appeared in Fatimid Egypt and was possibly introduced by migrating craftsmen. After the end of the Fatimid dynasty, the lustre technique sprang up in Ayyubid Syria, again probably brought by craftsmen who moved to areas where they would find the greatest patronage. Lustre painting was one of the most popular decorative techniques of 'Raqqa ware'; a type of pottery produced in AH 6th–7th- / AD 12th–13th-century northern Syria. The original use of objects similar to this stand is not certain although the turned legs on some objects of this type imply that they were adapted from wooden models, making it possible, therefore, that the stand was used as a table and that the holes in the top were used to hold bowls, drinking vessels, oil lamps or ink pots.","short_description":"The exact use of this lustre-painted ceramic stand is unknown. It may have been adapted from a wooden table; the holes at the top could have been used to hold bowls, drinking vessels, oil lamps or ink pots.","type":"Earthenware, clay, relief","holder":"The British Museum.","dates":"Hegira 6th–7th century / AD 12th–13th century.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 19 cm, length 28 cm, width 13.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"A large number of stands like this one survive from the Ayyubid period.","method_for_provenance":"The style and technique correlate with similar ceramic objects produced in Raqqa. Furthermore, this stand was found in Raqqa, Syria.","provenance":"Raqqa, Syria.","obtention":"Donated by Georges Tabbagh in 1924.","bibliography":"Grube E. J., and others, Cobalt and Lustre: the First Centuries of Islamic Pottery, London, 1994, pp.284–7 (for similar stands).  \nLane, A., Early Islamic Pottery, London, 1947, p.39.  \n  \nPorter, V., Medieval Syrian Pottery, Oxford, 1981, p.36.","author":"Emily Shovelton","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["animal decoration","figurative decoration","patronage","pottery"],"materials":["Relief-decorated and lustre-painted earthenware."]},"bbeb7fe5-88d9-5182-83a9-e637b3a17a0b":{"name":"Tile panel","description":"The architect of Membland Hall in Devon commissioned this sumptuous design for bathroom tiles from William Morris. Morris had the tiles painted in the studios of William de Morgan (1839-1917). They represent a rare collaboration between these two creative geniuses.  \nEdward Charles Baring, 1st Baron Revelstoke, was the builder of Membland Hall. He was a merchant banker. The hall was later demolished.","type":"Ceramic; tilework","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum","dates":"1876","location":"London","author":"Victoria and Albert Museum"},"bc05121b-1942-54f8-ba62-84b29282f089":{"name":"Tile Panel","description":"Kütahya was the second most important ceramic production centre after İznik due to the rich clay deposits in the area. Although there was a decline in ceramic production at the beginning of the 19th century, in the last quarter of that same century production was revived and new designs inspired by İznik ceramics were produced.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Pera Museum","dates":"Early 20th century","location":"Istanbul","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega"},"bc0e1083-d95d-5698-ab89-71d2e2154a4d":{"name":"Bowl from Nishapur","short_description":"The bowl has a heavy body and a slightly concave base, its centre filled with a grid pattern on which a curved interlacing band forms six circles. They are attached to a central circle that is decorated with a pseudo-*kufic* inscription. The vegetal circles are alternately filled with the same pseudo-*kufic* inscription and a grid pattern with green and yellow dots. The outside walls of the bowl are decorated with black lines.  \nThe decoration depicted on this bowl relates to a corpus of pottery found in Nishapur where arrangements of the circle-shaped vegetal ornament in black, yellow and green colour are a common motive. Based on the extensive excavations conducted by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in Eastern Persia, Nishapur has been a centre of well-designed polychrome pottery made during the Islamic period. However, vessels with this kind of pseudo-*kufic* inscription seem to be rare.","type":"Dish","holder":"MKG Museum for Applied Arts","dates":"Hegira 3rd century / AD 9th century","location":"Hamburg","dimensions":"Height: 7.3cm, Diameter: 19.7cm","method_for_datation":"By comparison with other objects excavated in Nishapur.","method_for_provenance":"Purchased from Wilhelm Henrich, Franktfurt.","provenance":"Iran, Nishapur","obtention":"Purchased in 1956.","bibliography":"Dimand, M. S., Hauser, W., Upton, W. J. M. and. Wilkinson, C. K., \"The Iranian Expedition 1937. The Museum's Excavations at Nishapur,\" *The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin* 33: 11 (1938): 3-23.  \nHaase, C.-P., Kröger, J., and Lienert, U., *Oriental Splendour: Islamic Art from German Collections*, Hamburg: Museums für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, 1993.  \nJakobsen, K., *Islamische Keramik*, Hamburg: Bilderhefte des Museums für Kunst und Gewerbe, 1959.  \nPope, A. U., *Masterpieces of Persian Art*, New York: Dryden Press, 1954.  \n*Stiftung zur Förderung der Hamburgischen Sammlung, Erwerbungen 1957*, Hamburg: Stiftung zur Förderung der Hamburgischen Sammlung, 1957.  \nWilkinson, C. K., *Nishapur: Pottery of the Early Islamic Period*, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1973.  \nWilkinson, C. K., *Iranian Ceramics*, New York: Asia House, 1963.","copy_editor":"Caitlin Link","keywords":["ceramics","Nishapur"],"materials":["buff ware","Earthenware","underglaze painted in slip and pigment"]},"bc1be694-23e7-57dc-8d0e-5dd013cff796":{"name":"Bath scraper or pumice stone","description":"This object has been associated with a series of bath scrapers and pumice stones attributed to AH 5th-6th / 11th-12th century Middle East. They are characterised by an animal shape or motif made from a coarse material.  \n  \nThis model represents a rodent or a hedgehog recognisable by its long ears and the spines on its back. The bottom of the piece is incised with a grid that would have accentuated its abrasive quality. Deliberately left unglazed and unrefined, such scrapers were used during hamam rituals to exfoliate and purify the skin.  \n  \nThis bath scraper could be considered an early version of the traditional exfoliating washcloth (ar. *kessa* , tr. *kese*), an emblematic item from the hamam. It is also plausible that they coexisted, given that the *kessa* was made from natural perishable material that would have disappeared in places where ceramic has survived.","type":"Bath scraper or pumice stone","holder":"Institute of the Arab World","dates":"AH 6th / AD 12th century","location":"Paris","dimensions":"Length: 11.4cm","method_for_datation":"Comparison with similar items.","method_for_provenance":"Comparison with similar items.","provenance":"Iran","obtention":"Gift, 2023","bibliography":"Peteet, J., *The Hamam through Time and Space* , New York: Syracuse University Press, 2024.  \n  \nRugiadi, M., ‘Bathing and the Hammam’, in *Court and Cosmos. The Great Age of the Seljuqs*, New Haven and London: Yale University, 2016: pp. 107-108.","author":"Dounia Handis","keywords":["Ablution","bath scraper","ceramic","Iran","pumice stone","water"],"materials":["Unglazed ceramic with molded and incised overlay decoration"]},"bc31e6e4-7f37-5725-b63d-89472dbadb64":{"name":"Fragment of a pottery bowl.","description":"The Raqqa region contains a group of Abbasid palaces that have been labelled with the letters A, B, C and D. This ceramic fragment was found during archaeological excavations carried out in Palace A. The fragment is part of a delicate bowl that was made in a mould and decorated around its girth with Arabic *kufic* script that reads: “from the work of Ibrahim al-Nasrani that has been made in Hira for the Amir Sulayman, son of the Commander of the Faithful.\" The Commander of the Faithful, or Caliph, in question is the Abbasid Abu Ja'far al-Mansur (r. AH 136–58 / AD 754–75). The text indicates that this piece was made in Hira by Ibrahim al-Nasrani and transported to Raqqa. The name of the craftsperson (al-Nasrani, i.e. the Christian) indicates that he was probably a master craftsman in the Christian ceramic-producing quarter of al-Hira.  \nThe base of the bowl was stamped with geometric and stylised vegetal motifs including palm trees.","short_description":"Although this bowl is delicate and fragmented, its moulded band of early *kufic* inscription has mostly survived. It includes the name of the craftsman, Ibrahim al-Nasrani, evidently a Christian, the place of production in Hira and the dedication to Sulayman, '\\[son\\] of the commander of the faithful'.","type":"Bowl, earthenware","holder":"National Museum of Damascus","initial_owner":"Prince Sulayman (son of the Abbasid Caliph Abu Ja'far al-Mansur (r. AH 136–58 / AD 754–75).","dates":"Hegira 136–58 / AD 754–75.","location":"Damascus","dimensions":"Height 7.5 cm, diameter 12.2 cm.","method_for_datation":"The inscription on the fragment associates it with the rule of the Abbasid Caliph Abu Ja'far al-Mansur (136–58 / 754–75).","method_for_provenance":"The text inscribed on the vessel fragment specifies Hira, in Mesopotamia (Iraq) as the place of production.","provenance":"Produced in Hira in southern Mesopotamia (Iraq).","obtention":"The fragment was found during an archaeological excavation carried out in 1948 in Palace A by the Syrian General Directorate of Antiquities under the direction of archaeologist Nasib Salibi.","bibliography":"Abu al-Faraj al-Ush, M., *A Concise Guide to the National Museum of Damascus,*  \nDamascus, 1969, p.160.  \nKohlmeyer, K. (ed), *Land des Baal,* Mainz, 1982.  \nSoustiel, J., and Kiefer C., *La céramique islamique*, Fribourg, 1985.  \nWeiss, H. (ed), *Ebla to Damascus*, Washington DC, 1985, p.518.","author":"Mona al-Moadin","translator":"Hilary Kalmbach (from the Arabic)","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Caliph Abu Ja'far al-Mansur","ceramic","Christian","earthenware","Hira","Ibrahim al-Nasrani","Iraq","kufic script","moulded","Nasib Salibi","pottery","Prince Sulayman","Raqqa","stamped"],"materials":["Earthenware","moulded and stamped."]},"bc4af44a-740c-54ce-806a-021695934601":{"name":"Yıldız Ceramic vase","description":"Sultan Abdülhamid II founded in 1891 the *Yıldız Çini Fabrika-i Hümâyûnu* (Yıldız Royal Tile Factory) in the garden of Yıldız Palace in order to revive Turkish tile art and give it a new direction and momentum. Vases, hanging wall plates and many sorts of daily-use wares were produced in the factory, including writing and dinner table utensils, card plates, lidded bowls, pans, *aşure* (a kind of dessert) trays, sugar bowls, tea and coffee cups. The vase has yellow covers and two handles. There is a landscape of a tree and a house near the water on the vase.","type":"Ceramic vase","holder":"Yıldız Palace Museum","location":"Istanbul","provenance":"Istanbul","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega"},"bd228d18-d160-5fd5-95ad-52e75e120f02":{"name":"Welcoming Person (*Azulejos*)","alternate_name":"Halberdier","description":"The Halberdier (here shown isolated) is the first of three welcoming halberdiers painted on tiles (*azulejos)*, which decorate the main staircase of the Mitra or Patriarch's Palace in St. Antão do Tojal (now Casa do Gaiato). The elaborately decorated *trompe l'oeil* *azulejos* were meant to transform an ordinary staircase into a magnificent one. Since the 16th century, tiles were used in Portugal to decorate churches, palaces and gardens; in the first half of the 18th century the most sophisticated colour used on tiles was cobalt blue. The artist used architectural drawing, ribbons of foliage and flowers, and little exotic pets such as monkeys and birds, to make visitors believe they were in a splendid garden guarded by halberdiers. To enhance the *trompe l'oeil* illusion, the halberdiers are drawn to natural scale, as if they were actors on the set of an opera.  \nDesigned to create the ambiance of a splendid welcoming ritual for those visiting the palace, all three characters exhibit magnificent Baroque outfits: the fabric of the jackets are embroidered with gold thread. These particular halberdiers display details that represent military dignity, such as the *écharpe* diagonally draped over the bust of one, or that used as if it were a belt, or a *cravat* attached to the button hole of a jacket (this one probably represents King João V's special German or *Tudesco* guard). Painted *azulejos* on staircases or patios, with welcoming personages such as personal guards, are characteristic of Palaces in Lisbon and are often seen in religious buildings such as, Setúbal, Corpo Santo Brotherhood or Évora University (Saint Spirit Convent).  \nThe artist who invented this iconography signed some of his works with the letters \"P.M.\" or \"P.M.P.\", which is thought to be linked with Father Manuel Pereira, an amateur painter and architect who lived in the kingdom of Pedro II and his son João V.  \nThe Ancient Patriarch's Palace in Lisbon dates back to the 17th century and was renovated in the 18th century. The work is likely to be by the Italian Architect Antonio Cannevari, who constructed the new Palace Church, a nearby Fountain, the Aqueduct, and also a new small Palace with an exterior fountain. The patron responsible for all these new urban structures and the decoration of the old Palace was the Lisbon Patriarch Tomás de Almeida. These artworks were designed to receive King João V and his entourage when they were on their way to visit the most important project of his reign – the Mafra Convent and Palace – which was under construction at that time.","short_description":"The first of the three welcoming halberdiers painted on a life-size scale on tiles, decorating the main staircase of Mitra or Patriarch's Palace in St. Antão do Tojal. The *azulejos*, painted in cobalt-blue with gold detail on the halberdier's outfits, were designed to transform a simple staircase into a magnificent one in order to receive guests such asliliguest King João V and his courtiers.","type":"Tile Panel (*azulejos*)","holder":"Ancient Patriarch’s Palace, now Casa do Gaiato","owner":"Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa","initial_owner":"Tomás de Almeida, First Patriarch of Lisbon","dates":"c.1730","location":"St Antão Tojal, Lisbon","dimensions":"Approximately h: 2 m; w: 2 m","place_of_production":"Lisbon","method_for_datation":"Comparison with other *azulejos* signed or dated by the same artist, \"P.M.P.\", such as that at Corpo Santo Brotherhood in Setúbal.","provenance":"St. Antão do Tojal Mitra, the Patriarch’s Palace","obtention":"The *azulejos* was designed for the staircase in the St. Antão do Tojal Mitra and is still in situ.","bibliography":"Smith, R., \"French models for Portuguese Tiles\", *Apollo*, 134, 1973, pp. 396–407.  \nSimões, J., *Azulejaria em Portugal no século XVIII*, Lisbon, 1979.  \nArruda, L., “Figuras de Convite”, *Azulejaria Barroca Portuguesa*, Lisbon, 1993.  \nArruda, L., *Caminho do Oriente*, Lisbon, 1998.","workshop":"Master’s period","author":"Luisa Arruda","translator":"Luisa Arruda","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["aristocracy","azulejo","Halberdier","staircase","tilework","welcoming person"],"materials":["Glazed","in cobalt-blue and gold over a white background. The tiles that form the bust of the person and superior part of the halberd show special carved contours.","painted tiles (azulejos)"]},"bda8c465-9ce4-5191-8783-1d1baf8d0177":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"The bowl shows a simple decoration which is enriched with splashes of colours under a transparent glaze.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 6th century / AD 12th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Height 9 cm, diameter max 18.5 cm","provenance":"Eastern Iran; Afghanistan","keywords":["ceramic","pottery"],"materials":["Earthenware","incised decoration","transparent glaze","white slip"]},"bdb59a8c-f1cd-55ee-bcbc-1e82a6258ce8":{"name":"Tile panel.","description":"The rectangular panel composed of square tiles is dominated by a yellow and brown horseshoe-shaped arch supported by two columns and two capitals. A dense, symmetrical floral design fills the area under the arch emerging from a vase standing on a base. The vase is flanked by cypress trees. Three lotus-like flowers on sturdy stems, one on the top of the other, form a middle axis. On each side of the axis a tendril composed of three scrolls emerges from the vase. Each scroll is filled with a large blossom, of which the two that face each other are similar: the lower pair are rosettes, the two in the middle are lotuses, and the top pair are peonies. The remaining surface under the arch and the spandrels above are filled with sprays of various flowers. Above the arch is a circle containing a motif of a half-moon. The design is painted in an opaque orange-yellow, two tones of green, dark and light blue and brown on an opaque white glaze. The panel is set in a wooden frame.  \nIn the AH 11th and 12th / AD 17th and 18th centuries, faience (glazed coloured earthenware) became the dominant element of the Tunisian architectural decoration and the horseshoe-shaped arch called *mihrab* (prayer niche) an unmistakable feature of most tile panels. The more naturalistic floral decoration and the representations of cypresses are due to the influence of Ottoman art.","short_description":"Rectangular panel of faience tiles painted with a horseshoe-shaped arch. A dense floral design, emerging from a vase, fills the area under the arch. In the AH 11th–12th / AD 17th–18th centuries, faience (glazed coloured earthenware) became the dominant element of Tunisian architectural decoration.","type":"Panel, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities (Medelhavsmuseet).","dates":"Hegira 12th–13th centuries / AD 18th–19th centuries.","location":"Stockholm","dimensions":"Height 156 cm, width 74 cm.","method_for_datation":"This tile panel shows close similarities to panels made by a faience atelier working from about the mid-12th–mid-13th / mid-18th–mid-19th centuries.","method_for_provenance":"The style of decoration was characteristic of ateliers in Tunis.","provenance":"Tunisia, possibly Tunis.","obtention":"There is no information about acquisition.","bibliography":"*Coleurs de Tunisie: 25 Siècles de Céramique*, Exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1994.  \nLoviconi, A. and Loviconi, D., *Les Faiences de Tunisie*, Aix-en-Provence, 1994.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TN_EN_001","author":"Friederike Voigt","copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["architectural decoration","ceramic","floral decoration","Tile panel"],"materials":["Ceramic","faience."]},"c01c0ea8-09eb-5aa5-9b63-e27164389d77":{"name":"Lustre bowl with a sun motif.","description":"A large dark-brown lustre bowl from Qal'at Ja'bar, which is a particularly remarkable example of so-called Raqqa-ware. It was uncovered in the 1973/4 archaeological excavations by the Syrian Directorate of Antiquities within the medieval fortress of Qal'at Ja'bar on the left bank of the Middle Euphrates, thus making it one of the few pieces that reached the Museum not via the art market but from a particular archaeological site.  \nThe decoration of this piece is highly original: it is dominated by an impressive sun with a female face, almond-shaped eyes, beauty marks on the cheeks and loosely curled hair. The solar-shaped face is framed by two halos of radiating rays which cover the central surface of the bowl.  \nThe astrological sign of the sun is a common iconographic motif on contemporary metalwork where it is usually surrounded by the planets and signs of the zodiac forming a cosmic circle. On medieval Syrian pottery, however, such a depiction is unique. Interestingly enough, the potter replaced the circle of planets with eight medallion-like ornaments – alternating red-on-white vegetal motifs with white-on-red lunar cartouches. This must be a specific “Raqqa” variation on the metalwork theme. The rim of the bowl is freely painted with dotted and curvilinear motifs that are regularly punctuated by a pair of vertical lines, a feature echoing calligraphic decoration.  \nThe dish belongs to the rare group of lustre-painted pieces with figurative decoration. Its shallow shape with convex profile, flat, everted rim and flaring foot is standard and particularly popular with lustre-wares. Its exterior is undecorated. The greenish transparent glaze covers only the top two-thirds of the vessel in typical Raqqa manner.","short_description":"This Raqqa-ware was found during excavations at the Ayyubid fortress Qal'at Ja'bar. Decorated in characteristic brown metallic lustre, the dish portrays a radiating sun with feminine facial features and jewellery. Planetary symbols were a common feature on Islamic luxury items, particularly on inlaid metalwork, more rarely on ceramics.","type":"Bowl, fritware","holder":"National Museum of Aleppo, Islamic Department","dates":"Hegira early 7th century / AD early 13th century.","location":"Aleppo","dimensions":"Height 14.1 cm, diameter 41.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stylistic considerations and archaeological excavation point to the region of Raqqa in which the production of lustre-painted pottery flourished during the 6th / 12th century up until the Mongol invasion of 655–6 / 1258–9.","method_for_provenance":"It is unlikely that the bowl was made *in situ*, although archaeological excavations have recently uncovered evidence of fritware production in Qal'at Ja'bar. Rather, the high quality of the piece points to a manufacture in a more specialised centre, most likely in one of the thriving pottery workshops in nearby Raqqa.","provenance":"Qal'at Ja'bar, Raqqa, Syria.","obtention":"The bowl was uncovered during archaeological excavations led by the Syrian Directorate of Antiquities in 1973/4.","bibliography":"*Land des Baal Syrien*, exhibition catalogue, Berlin, 1982, p.279 ; cat. no. 255.  \n*Au pays de Baal et d'Astarté: 10000 ans d'art en Syrie*, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1983, p.304; cat. no. 355.  \nTonghini, C., *Qal'at Dja'bar Pottery: A Study of a Syrian Fortified Site of the Late 11th-14th Centuries*, London, 1998.","author":"Julia Gonnella","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["astrology","Ayyubid","lustre-ware","metalwork","pottery","Raqqa","sun"],"materials":["Fritware with dark-brown lustre decoration on transparent glaze with a strong greenish tinge."]},"c14e61c4-a9ad-5af3-bb2d-94ef6f7c83f0":{"name":"Earthenware dish.","description":"Medium-sized circular earthenware dish, with the surface line slightly broken. It is decorated in chestnut colour on a white background with metallic lustre. It is one of the Persian-style *pardalot* series, whose central theme is a stylised bird surrounded by plant decoration. The bird is contained within a central area bounded by triple concentric lines, alternating with a band of interlacing. Its rim is rounded, accentuated by a wide continuous band, crossing over to the back of the dish. This is not decorated, but has drips resulting from the volatilisation of metal oxides during firing. Three equidistant spurs are still visible resulting from the mark left by the trivets. This dish is designed to resemble and substitute for tableware which was previously made of metal; it is nevertheless also considered a luxury object.","short_description":"This ‘cuenco’ dish from Manises, decorated in brown on a white lustre background, is part of the Persian-style *pardalot* series. The central motif is a stylised bird surrounded by plant decoration. This plate imitates, and was used instead of, metal tableware.","type":"Dish, clay","holder":"Machado de Castro National Museum.","dates":"15th century.","location":"Coimbra.","dimensions":"Height 6 cm, diameter (of rim) 28 cm, diameter (of base) 9 cm.","method_for_datation":"Probable dating by stylistic analogy with the class of gilded lustre-ware ceramics from Manises produced in the 15th–18th centuries. The Muslims of Valencia continued its production until the 18th century, introducing more varied profiles and new shapes, as well as variations in its decoration, especially in the use of polychromy. For this reason it is thought that this object may belong to the early period of production at Manises. The Persian-influenced shape and the popular nature of the central subject of the piece, characteristic of the first half of the 15th century, add strength to this dating.","method_for_provenance":"Manises is the source of the metallic-painted lustre-ware which developed a large market as luxury objects all over Europe during the 15th century.","provenance":"Manises, Valencia, Spain.","obtention":"It was obtained in 1915–16, and appears on the list of property transferred from the Episcopal Palace.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_ES_PT_001","author":"Ana Alcoforado","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["clay","earthenware dish","Glazed","lustre","Manises","modelled","Mudéjar","pardalot","Persian style"],"materials":["Clay modelled on the wheel and glazed (lustre-ware)."]},"c19090c2-9f5c-5b91-8652-fc049332fd82":{"name":"Jug.","description":"The jug has a squat globular body, a high concave neck with a flared rim and a low foot. It has underglaze painted in a bright blue, a thick opaque red and a diluted turquoise-green on a white slip. The design outlined in dark blue appears in two horizontal registers alternating tulips and carnations, referring to the floral style of the Iznik ceramics of the AH 10th–11th / AD 16th–17th centuries. However, as well as an obviously different kind of slip and glaze, the motifs are simplified and schematically executed. The handle and the narrow bands edging the floral depictions are ornamented with geometrical patterns. The jug is marked under the foot with a crescent and an asterisk.","short_description":"Jug of polychrome painted pottery. The motifs of the decoration – tulips and carnations – refer to the floral style of Iznik ceramics. The handle shows a geometrical pattern. The jug is marked under the foot with a crescent and an asterisk.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, glazed painting","holder":"Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities (Medelhavsmuseet).","owner":"National Museum of Fine Arts, Stockholm. In order to reorganise the expanding collections, the main part of the Islamic collection has been on permanent loan to the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities since 1982.","dates":"Hegira 13th century / AD 19th century.","location":"Stockholm","dimensions":"Height 18.6 cm, diameter of rim 8.3 cm.","method_for_datation":"Unlike Iznik wares of the 'quatre fleurs' style of the 10th–11th / 16th–17th centuries, this jug is marked under the foot. The object was dated according to similar marks, which are known from Ottoman ceramics of the 13th / 19th century, for example, from Istanbul.","method_for_provenance":"A vase housed in the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities has similar decoration and a mark which is signed 'Istanbul' within the crescent. However, it was not possible to identify the workshop to which the mark of a crescent and asterisk on the bottom belongs.","provenance":"Turkey.","obtention":"Purchased from the collection of F. R. Martin in 1898.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N. and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989.  \nCarswell, J., *Iznik Pottery*, London, 1998.  \nLane, A., *Later Islamic Pottery*, London, 1971.  \nMüller-Wiener, M., *Türkisch-Osmanische Keramik*, Traunstein, 2004.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Friederike Voigt","copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","floral decoration","pottery"],"materials":["Ceramic","underglaze painted."]},"c1a94556-7d78-595d-a94f-93dcbfdaae91":{"name":"Tile with a rider on a camel *(Bahram Gur Hunting)*","short_description":"The gem of the museum collection, this tile is today the only known dated object of Iranian lustred ceramics from AD 1220–1260. The artistic merits of the piece are unmatched. Sophisticated composition is perfectly aligned with the octagonal star plane. Delicate painting in amber-gold lustre is supplemented by soft tones of turquoise and blue applied to a background of ivory tint, the resulting colour combination producing a striking decorative effect.  \nThe scene on the tile deserves particular interest. According to Vera Krachkovskaya and Leon Guzalian, it probably illustrates one of the legendary episodes from *Shahnamа* (Book of Kings) epic by Ferdowsi, namely King Bahram Gur hunting.  \nThe border of the tile is inscribed in Persian, containing three verses by an unknown poet dedicated to unrequited love. Also here the date of the Muslim Hejira calendar is indicated: \"in the safari of 624\". This corresponds to the period from late January to the end of February AD 1227.  \nSuch tiles, alternating on the walls with diagonal or straight blue or turquoise crosses, decorated room interiors of Iranian elite.","type":"Ceramics; Tile","holder":"The Khanenko Museum","dates":"AD 1227","location":"Kyiv","dimensions":"Length: 21cm, Width: 21cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis and inscription reading by  L. Guzalian (publication, 1956, date), H. Rudyk (origin).","method_for_provenance":"Publication of Vera Krachkovskaya (1927). Old Museum Inventory Register (1925-1946).","provenance":"Iran","obtention":"Purchased by Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko.","bibliography":"Bilenko, H. and Rudyck (Rudyk), H., *Oriental Collection*, guidebook, Kyiv: The Khanenko Museum, 2005.  \nKrachkovskaya, V., \"Musulmsnskoye iskusstvo v sobranii Khanenko (Muslim Art from the Khanenkos' Collection)\", in Bartold V.V. (ed), *Zapyski Kollegii Vostokovedov (Notes of the College of Orientalists)* at Asian Museum of USSR Academy of Sciences, Vol II, Leningrad: USSR Academy of Sciences, 1927.  \nMason, R., *Shine Like the Sun: Lustre-Painted and Associated Pottery from the Medieval Middle East*, Biblioteca Iranica: Islamic Art and Architecture Series 12, Costa Mesa: Mazda Pub, 2004.  \nRudyk, Hanna, \"Lustrovana keramika Iranu 12-14 stolit z kolektsii muzeu Hanenkiv\" (\"12th-14th century Lustre ceramics of Iran in the Khanenko Museum Collection\"), *Oriental World (Shidnyi svit)*, 1 (2006): 135-136.","workshop":"The Khanenko Museum","author":"Antonina Makarevych","copy_editor":"Janice Medina","keywords":["Iran","Kashan","lustre","Shahname","tile"],"materials":["in-glaze painted in blue and turquoise","over-glaze lustre-painted","Stonepaste"]},"c1dc368c-d1ca-53c8-a0da-a63bd4ed9f6b":{"name":"*Jobbana* covered pot","description":"The word *jobbana* comes from the Arabic word *jben*, which refers to cheese. This lidded jar was originally used in Morocco to curdle milk, but was used also to preserve butter or serve *harira*, a soup with which the Ramadan fast is broken in the evening. The delicacy of the decoration of this pot is characteristic of the workshops of the city of Safi, a city on the west coast, whose name is inscribed under the base. The tone of blue reflects the use of a handmade nickel-based pigment. Ceramic production development in Safi would result from the arrival of potters from Fes who appreciated the quality of clay in banks near the city.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museum of the Arab World Institute","initial_owner":"Bernard Aubert","dates":"Hegira 2nd–3rd quarter of 13th century / AD first half of 19th century","location":"Paris","dimensions":"Maximum height: 25cm, Opening dimension: 18cm, Base dimension: 11.4cm","provenance":"Safi, Morocco","obtention":"Purchased from Bernard Aubert, 1989.","bibliography":"Bel, A., *Les industries de la céramique à Fès*, Algiers: Bastide-Jourdan, 1918: 292.  \n  \nBoukobza, A., *La poterie marocaine*, Casablanca: Alpha, 1974: 24, 27, 114; Fig. 17, 21.  \n  \nDelpont, E., et al., *Album du musée*, Paris: Somogy éditions d'art, 2012: 386.  \n  \nEbert, C. and Kalter, J., *Marokkanische Keramik*, Stuttgart: Hansjörg Mayer, 1988: 105, 117, 120, 134.  \n  \nMoulierac, J., et al., *Céramiques du monde musulman: collections de l'Institut du monde arabe et de J.P. et F. Croisier* , Paris: Institut du monde arabe, 1999: 149.","translator":"Judy Harter","materials":["Clay","painted decoration on opaque glaze"]},"c2c6489a-b997-5d3e-a98c-d31891a7ba03":{"name":"Large *khabiya* jar","description":"This large jar, *khabiya*, is intended for the storage of grain, semolina, oil, or water. Its motifs are typical of Tunisian craftsmanship, whose main production centre was in the pottery district (Qallaline) of Tunis. These motifs, the *taouq* (rim decoration), the strip of vertical hatching, and the band of ovoid kernels (*qloub*) are linked by similar designs. The composition is arranged in parallel bands, with the repeated use of yellow, green and brown.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museum of the Arab World Institute","initial_owner":"Alain and Dalila Loviconi","dates":"Hegira 4th-5th century / AD 11th century","location":"Paris","dimensions":"Height: 57cm, Diameter base: 20cm, Diameter opening: 25cm, Diameter maximum: 39 cm","place_of_production":"Qallaline, Tunisia","provenance":"Qallaline, Tunisia","bibliography":"Curatola, G., *Eredita' dell' Islam. Arte islamica in Italia*, Milan: Silvana Editoriale SpA, 1993: Fig. 84  \n  \nDaoulatli, A., *Poteries et Ceramics tunisiennes*, Tunis: Institut National d'Archéologie et d'Art, 1979: 71  \n  \nDelpont, E., et al., *Album du musée*. Eric DELPONT (et al.), Paris: Somogy éditions d'art, 2012: 291  \n  \nHarbi-Riahi, M., *30 ans au service du patrimoine: XXVIII centenaire de Carthage, 814 av. J. C. - 1986: de la Carthage des Phéniciens à la Carthage de Bourguiba*, Tunis: Institut National d'Archéologie et d'Art, 1986: 306  \n  \nMarcais, G., *Le Musée Stéphane Gsell. Musée des Antiquités et d'Arts musulman d'Alger*, Algiers: Gouvernement général de l'Algérie, Direction de l'intérieur et des beaux-arts, 1950: Pl. XXXIX","translator":"Judy Harter","materials":["Clay","design painted on opaque glaze"]},"c2d89824-82fc-5b0b-b842-57fa1d2f9bf8":{"name":"Ceramic boat model","description":"This is one of many clay models of flat-bottomed boats with vertical sides found at Ur, of varying shapes and sizes. It is among several examples that bear a resemblance to the *isbiya* barge (see item 2024.8.2 in the collection of the Open Museum Initiative for Water Culture), particularly in the lip protruding from the bottom edge of the boat. This feature is called *leffa* in Hit, where *isbiyas* were traditionally made, and is unique to the *isbiya*.","type":"Model","holder":"Basra Museum of Civilisation","owner":"Basra Museum","dates":"2500 AC","location":"Basra","dimensions":"Approx. 10cm x 5cm x 5cm","provenance":"Royal Cemetery of Ur, Iraq","obtention":"Transferred to Basra Museum from the Iraq Museum by Ministry of Culture. Originally excavated from the Royal Cemetery of Ur by Sir Leonard Woolley, 1920s.","author":"Ali Tahir Mousawi","keywords":["boat","ceramic","model","Sumerian","Ur"],"materials":["Clay","fired"]},"c360d26b-9b7f-5e18-8e84-14c2c3fee2ec":{"name":"Dish (charger).","description":"A wide flat dish in a form known as a charger, with decoration painted under the glaze in black and blue. The decorative motifs, which include scrolling arabesque stems and sinuous cloud motifs, are a distinctive combination of traditional arabesque (*rumi*) and Chinese (*hatayi*) styles, so this style has been dubbed *rumi-hatayi*. This style characterises the early phase of Iznik ceramics, when the potters were forging their own decorative idiom out of influences from Iranian and Chinese art, contemporary Ottoman metalwork and manuscript illumination, and others. The *cavetto*, or curve of the dish between the rim and the bottom, has been left blank, creating a zone of transition which sets off the decoration of the rim.","short_description":"A wide flat dish in a form known as a charger, decorated with scrolling arabesques, floral motifs and cloud-bands. This style characterises the early phase of Iznik ceramics, when the potters were forging their own decorative idiom out of influences including Iranian and Chinese art.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, glazed painting","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum.","dates":"Around hegira 916 / AD 1510.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Diameter 44.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stylistic comparison with other wares of the period.","method_for_provenance":"Iznik was the centre of quality ceramic production in this period.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Purchased by the Museum in 1884.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, Istanbul/London, 1989, pp.90–91.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Barry Wood","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["floral decoration"],"materials":["Painted and glazed ceramic."]},"c3763c63-3f3b-50c5-aca7-c1958aac4be6":{"name":"Filter for a water-jar.","description":"A clay water-jar filter perforated with Arabic calligraphic decoration that originates from Fustat, the old capital of Egypt. The filter once sealed the mouth of a small water-jar without a handle; functioning as a lid to protect the contents of the jar from, for example, flies, insects and dust. Neither the jar or its filter are glazed, allowing the water inside the porous body to evaporate a little, thus helping to keep the water in the jar cool. The incised calligraphy that pierces right through the base of the filter is a repetition of the two letters *Alif* (A) and *Lam* (L). They are written here in *kufic* script, a style named after the city of Kufa in Iraq. The *kufic* style is characterised by its geometrical shapes and decoration on the ends of the elongated parts of the words (see the vertical tips of the letters here). Calligraphy was not the only decorative device used to embellish such vessels: animals, geometric patterning and floral designs were also employed. No two vessels appear to be identical, despite the frequent use of animals such as elephants, hares and birds.","short_description":"Arabic calligraphy has been employed to decorate many objects in the Islamic world, from the commonplace, like this Fatimid water-jar filter, to the special, such as that found inlaid on metalwares. Such filters were decorated individually, whereby no two identical ones have been found.","type":"Earthenware, ceramics","holder":"Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira 4th–5th century / AD 10th–11th century.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 3.5 cm, diameter 7.7 cm.","method_for_datation":"Artistic analysis: many examples of this type of water-filter have been found during archaeological excavations at Fustat.","provenance":"Fustat, Egypt.","obtention":"Purchased by Glasgow Museums in 1919.","bibliography":"Allan, J. W., *Islamic Inscriptions*, Edinburgh, 1998.  \n  \nGrube, E. J., *Islamic Pottery of the Eighth to the Fifteenth Century in the Keir Collection*, London, 1976.  \n  \nKuhnel, E., *Islamic Arts*, London, 1970.  \n  \nScanlon, G. T., 'The Pits of Fustat: Problems of Chronology', *Journal of Egyptian Archaeology*, no. 60, 1974.","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["calligraphic decoration","domestic pottery","earthenware","water"],"materials":["turned and incised.","Unglazed earthenware"]},"c37f1ba0-6080-5fe6-a4db-d79005a48b01":{"name":"Tile panel","short_description":"Each tile of this large stair-shaped panel is ornamented with moulded octagons and partial hexagrams such that one corner is cut out to fit a separate spherical knob. This group of tiles is similar to a well-known group of tiles that once ornamented the exterior of Takht-i Sulaiman (c. 1270), which was the summer palace of the Ilkhanid ruler Abaqa (r. 1265–82). When Doris Duke purchased the tiles in Iran in 1938, they were said to have been excavated from a site called Sanek.","type":"Islamic, Indian & Southeast Asian works of art; tilework; ceramic","holder":"Shangri La, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira late 7th century / AD late 13th century","location":"Honolulu, Hawai'i","dimensions":"Each tile: 17.8 x 17.8 cm","provenance":"Iran","keywords":["Ilkhanid","Iran","monochrome-glazed","moulded","stonepaste","Takht-i Sulaiman","Tile panel","tilework","unglazed"],"materials":["monochrome-glazed","moulded","Stonepaste","unglazed"]},"c38b81ca-60f1-57d2-b720-57e2601984a6":{"name":"Tile panel in the form of a tomb cover","short_description":"This tomb cover consists of three large luster tiles, all of which are covered in cobalt calligraphy in relief. It is presumed that this tripartite panel constituted the upper surface of a sarcophagus marking the burial place of Imam Ja‘far’s daughter. As a descendent of an imam, her tomb would have been known as an *imamzada* (Persian: imam born). During the Ilkhanid period of rule in Greater Iran (1256–1353), Shi‘ite imamzadas preserved some of the finest Persian tilework ever made.","type":"Islamic, Indian & Southeast Asian works of art; Tilework; ceramic","holder":"Shangri La, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art","dates":"Dated hegira Rabi II 713 / AD July 1313","location":"Honolulu, Hawai'i","dimensions":"Overall: 194.3 x 82.6 cm","provenance":"Iran, Kashan","keywords":["calligraphy","Cenotaph","cobalt","funerary inscription","funerary object","Ilkhanid","Iran","Kashan","lustre","overglaze-painted","Qur'an","stonepaste","tilework","tomb","underglaze-painted"],"materials":["overglaze-painted in luster","Stonepaste","underglaze-painted in cobalt"]},"c4678676-f14a-5a4f-a93f-f7811ffd6c6e":{"name":"Tile","short_description":"Depictions of al-Masjid al-Haram come in a variety of forms. Among the popular depiction is a two-dimensional image found on *hajj* certificates, textiles, manuscripts and tiles. Each unit in these drawings is usually labelled in Arabic script, highlighting the key places shown in the illustration. This Iznik tile depicts the plan of al-Masjid al-Haram in Makkah with seven minarets and identifying inscriptions in *naskhi*.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia","dates":"c. Hegira 1100 / c. AD 1700","location":"Kuala Lumpur","dimensions":"27.4 x 26.6cm","provenance":"Turkey","obtention":"E. Imbert Collection, Milan EU private collection since before 1940","bibliography":"Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, *Dala’il al-Khayrat: Prayer Manuscripts from the 16th – 19th centuries*, Kuala Lumpur: IAMM Publications, 2016: 129.","materials":["Fritware with slabbing technique"]},"c4a199cd-9f33-5a29-aa87-3eb7131bf868":{"name":"Dish.","description":"A dish with the shield belonging to the Tondi family of Siena, Italy, in the centre surrounded by radiating chains of 'bryony' flowers (those with blue petals and lustre-painted centres) alternating with chains of blue 'parsley'-shaped leafs (those that are made up of ragged trefoil shapes), and both interwoven with lustre-coloured spindly 'fern' leaves. This style of dish belongs to a distinctive range that was much sought after in Spain and in other parts of Europe where it was exported in large quantities. This explains the presence of the Italian family's shield, for this type of lustre-ware was extremely popular in Italy.  \n  \nManises was one of the main pottery-making towns in Valencia, and played a leading role in the manufacture of lustre-wares for export to Europe, principally to France and Italy. Manises's pottery left for export from the Valencian port of Grao where many Manises potters owned pottery warehouses and shops. These potters were a mixture of Christians and Moors (Muslims), the latter of which were not permitted to take their skills to work outside the town, testifying to the value of their special skills to the economy of Manises. By the mid-16th century (AH 956), Manises had a major monopoly on the production of lustre-wares in Valencia.","short_description":"The old name for this type of Mudéjar-style Spanish lustre ceramics is ‘Hispano-Moresque’, a term indicating that the potters who made it were a mixture of Christians and Moors (Muslims), the latter of which were restricted to practising their much-praised skill outside the town of Manises in Valencia.","type":"Glazed earthenware","holder":"Burrell Collection, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira 864–84 / AD 1460–80.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"Diameter 45 cm.","method_for_datation":"Artistic analysis and identification of the shield belonging to the Tondi family of Siena, Italy.","provenance":"Manises, Valencia, Spain.","obtention":"Part of the collection given to the City of Glasgow by Sir William and Lady Burrell in 1944.","bibliography":"Ray, A., *Spanish Pottery 1248–1898*, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2000.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_ES_EN_001","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["coat of arms","Commerce","floral decoration","Hispano-Moresque"],"materials":["Glazed and lustre-painted earthenware."]},"c4ac31eb-6f1b-5165-aa8c-6ca2a725eb94":{"name":"Elements of a shutter.","description":"Four elements of a shutter, each in the shape of a cross and pierced by a circular hole at its centre. They are covered in green enamel, some of which has disappeared from certain parts.  \nGolvin (se Bibliography) mentions that the elements that compose this type of ceramic partitioning are usually assembled together with metal studs, and that, in contrast to plaster ones, those of this type do not include any fragments of coloured glass.","short_description":"These four parts of a screen wall are cross-shaped with a circular hole in their centre. They are covered with a green enamel that has disappeared in places. These parts were usually joined together using metal dowels.","type":"Shutter, ceramic","holder":"National Museum of Cirta","dates":"Hegira 406–547 / AD 1015–1152.","location":"Constantine","dimensions":"For each element: diameter 13 cm, depth 3 cm.","method_for_datation":"Elements found in the Qal'at Bani Hammad (5th–6th / 11th–12th centuries).","method_for_provenance":"Elements found in the Qal'at Bani Hammad.","provenance":"Qal’at Bani Hammad, Algeria.","obtention":"Archaeological repository (Blanchet excavation, 1897).","bibliography":"Bourouiba, R., *Les H'ammadites*, Algiers, 1984.  \nGolvin, L., *Recherches archéologiques à la Qal'a des Banû Hammâd (Algérie*), Paris, 1965.  \nInstitut du Monde Arabe, *L'Algérie en héritage*, *art et histoire*, catalogue, Paris, 2003.","author":"Leila Merabet","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"Maria Vlotides","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","ceramic partitioning","circular hole","cloister","Cross-shaped shutter","Enamel","Qal’at Bani Hammad"],"materials":["Moulded and enamelled ceramic."]},"c4af05d4-9269-5543-8456-f8734f0e243b":{"name":"Conical cup","description":"Stoneware, celadons, and porcelain from China fascinated the Arab, Iranian, and Turkish worlds. The chronicles of the reigns of the Abbasid caliphs bear witness to this, as do the collections of the Ottoman sultans.  \nIn the absence of kaolin, and to replace porcelain, ceramists opt for a new clay mixture, obtained from pulverised quartz pebbles, white clay, and frit (pulverised mixture of quartz pebbles and soda from vegetable ash). These are the available materials. The mixture is soft; this piece mimics the translucency of porcelain. This technique was not known in the West until the 18th century, evidence of the technical progress made by Eastern ceramists.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museum of the Arab World Institute","initial_owner":"Jean Soustiel","dates":"Hegira 4th-5th century / AD 11th century","dimensions":"Height: 9.6cm, Diameter: 7.5cm","provenance":"Rayy, Iran","obtention":"Purchased at the Art Musulman gallery in 1993.","bibliography":"Delpont, E., et al., *Album du musée*.  \n  \nMoulierac, J., et al., *Céramiques du monde musulman: collections de l'institut du monde arabe et de J.P. et F. Croisier* , Paris: Institut du monde arabe, Paris, 1999: 39.","translator":"Judy Harter","materials":["champlevé design","colourless transparent glaze","Siliceous material (pulverised quartz pebbles","white sintered clay)"]},"c4ea2f24-36c4-5686-ab6e-70e5af5815a2":{"name":"Horse and rider","short_description":"The small statue in full relief represents a rider on horseback and it was a vase or a bottle.","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 6th–7th century / AD 12th–13th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Height 27.5 cm, length 23.5 cm","provenance":"Iran","keywords":["ceramic","pottery","Seljuq"],"materials":["black and cobalt blue decoration under turquoise glaze","Frit body"]},"c5b5daa1-000f-54c3-95f9-2872725c902d":{"name":"Tile Bowl","description":"The bowl has a round and flaring rim. Its round body narrows towards the ring base. It is decorated with dark blue, green, red and yellow gilding on a white glazed ground. On the external part of the bowl, there are Surahs of al-Falaq and al-Ikhlas in medallions.  \nProduced in China for the Ottoman market.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Ankara Ethnography Museum","owner":"The Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism","dates":"Hegira 12th century / AD 18th century","location":"Ankara","dimensions":"Diameter: 15cm","place_of_production":"China","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","materials":["Terracotta tile"]},"c629077b-adfc-5181-840f-1bdf08974970":{"name":"Bowl with Inscription","short_description":"This bowl with white engobe (slip) is decorated with epigraphic inscriptions along its rim and in its centre. The word *ahmad* is written in the centre, and along the rim it reads, “May he do that which is praiseworthy.” The writing is delicate, this style also appears on several other vessels from Nishapur as well as on 11th-century vessels from Lashkari-Bazaar in Afghanistan.  \nEpigraphic Nishapur vessels are usually decorated with moral messages or the word *baraka* (blessing). Inscriptions also often contain a name, most likely the name of the owner.","type":"Bowl","holder":"MKG Museum for Applied Arts","dates":"Hegira 4th century / AD 10th century","location":"Hamburg","dimensions":"Height: 9.6cm, Diameter: 31.3cm","method_for_datation":"Dated through similar objects, e.g. Metropolitan Museum, 1975.168.","method_for_provenance":"Acquired from Mohamed Yeganeh, Stuttgart","provenance":"Iran, Nishapur","obtention":"Purchased in 1956.","bibliography":"Haase, C.-P., Kröger, J. and Lienert, U., *Oriental Splendour: Islamic Art from German Collections*, Hamburg: Museums für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, 1993.  \nPope, A. U., *Masterpieces of Persian Art*, New York: Asia House, 1954.  \nSchimmel, A., *Islamic Calligraphy*, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992.  \nWilkinson, C. K., *Iranian Ceramics*, New York: Asia House, 1963.","copy_editor":"Caitlin Link","keywords":["ceramics"],"materials":["Earthenware","white slip with black slip under a transparent glaze."]},"c6878c38-2ab4-59f1-9248-38d2398e71c3":{"name":"Table","short_description":"With the introduction of fritware, which is more cohesive than earthenware in its working state, twelfth-century Syrian potters branched out into producing ceramic furniture, such as this turquoise-glazed table. Six-sided tables of this type are believed to be based on wooden versions that have not survived. Perhaps in reference to the spaces in which they were used, the tables feature architectural motifs, such as the miniature pillars (balusters) on the sides and the pierced tabletop that resembles a *mashrabiya*, a type of window screen with openwork geometric design.","type":"Furnishings","holder":"Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)","dates":"Hegira late 6th century-early 7th century / AD late 12th-early 13th century","location":"Los Angeles","dimensions":"35.6 x 23.5 x 26.7cm","method_for_datation":"The table relates to others of its kind and, via glaze and body composition, to ceramic vessels all of which are attributed to the Ayyubid-era.","method_for_provenance":"This table belongs to a larger group of such tables believed to have come from Raqqa or the surrounding area. This attribution derives from the discovery of a ceramic table fragment of this type in the Great Mosque at Raqqa (restored in the twelfth century) and its relation in glaze and body composition to other Ayyubid-era ceramics.","provenance":"Syria, possibly Raqqa","obtention":"Collection of Maan Z. Madina (1926-2013), New York, until 2002 (sold to); LACMA, The Madina Collection of Islamic Art, gift of Camilla Chandler Frost.","bibliography":"Graves, Margaret S., \"Aesthetics of simulation: architectural mimicry on medieval ceramic tabourets,\" in Margaret S. Graves (ed), *Islamic Art, Architecture and Material Culture: New Perspectives*, Oxford: Archaeopress, 2012: 74.  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Lo Terrenal y lo Divino: Arte Islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Ángeles*, Santiago: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015: 86.  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Beauty and Identity: Islamic Art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art*, Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2016: 132-133.  \nKomaroff, Linda, *Collecting Islamic Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art: A Curatorial Perspective*, Los Angeles: Art Catalogues; LACMA, 2017: 30-31.","author":"LACMA Staff","keywords":["architectural motifs","Ayyubid","ceramic","Fritware","furnishing","geometric design","Glazed","mashrabiya","moulding","openwork","Syria"],"materials":["Fritware","molded","pierced and glazed"]},"c7057540-3049-55c4-895f-145533aab6a6":{"name":"Tile","short_description":"This square tile is decorated with a checkerboard pattern in yellow, black, green and white and was reportedly used to create a star-shaped frame. The Victoria and Albert Museum holds identical tiles which were made in Toledo.","type":"Architecture fragment","holder":"MKG Museum for Applied Arts","dates":"Hegira 880-905 / AD 1475-1500","location":"Hamburg","dimensions":"Length: 10.5cm, Width: 10.5cm","method_for_datation":"By comparison with similar objects e. g. Victoria and Albert Museum (see Ray 2000, p. 331).","method_for_provenance":"Unknown.","provenance":"Spain, Toledo","obtention":"Catalogued in 1974; accession unknown.","bibliography":"Ray, A., *Spanish Pottery 1248-1898. With a Catalogue of the collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum* ,London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2000.","copy_editor":"Caitlin Link","keywords":["Spanish","tile"],"materials":["Glazed ceramic"]},"c74b04a7-bc79-53ff-971f-1725e4e20a41":{"name":"Deep bowl.","description":"A deep dish decorated in green, red, blue and white with black outlines. Two harpies opposite one another are perched on bushes filled with scales, and flanked by boughs of plum-tree flowers which form the decoration of the central field inscribed inside a medallion. On this dish the harpies have a crowned female head and the body of a winged dragon. The depiction of harpies, mythical creatures, is related to various animal fables and takes different forms. Running around the flattened edge of the piece is a frieze of hunting dogs chasing birds, a cat, hares and a pair of owls facing one another. There are two holes in the border and on the foot-ring for hanging the bowl.","short_description":"Deep dish with a depiction of two facing harpies perched on bushes filled out with scales and flanked by bunches of plum blossom. The brim is decorated with a lively scene showing hunting dogs chasing birds, a cat and hares.","type":"Ottoman ceramics","holder":"Calouste Gulbenkian Museum.","dates":"About Hegira 987–92 / AD 1580–5.","location":"Lisbon.","dimensions":"Diameter (max.) 28 cm.","method_for_datation":"From the Jeuniette collection. It was purchased through M. Stora & Co. on 10 April 1919.","method_for_provenance":"By expert examination, stylistic and comparative analysis and the exhibition catalogues written by international specialists, mentioned in the bibliography.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"From the Jeuniette collection. It was purchased through M. Stora & Cª on 10 April 1919.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N . and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989.  \nRibeiro, M. Q., *Louças Iznik / Iznik Pottery*, Lisbon, 1996.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Maria Queiroz Ribeiro","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["bowl","ceramic","Engobe","Glaze","Iznik","Ottomans"],"materials":["Ceramic made from siliceous clay","painted onto engobe (slip) beneath a transparent glaze."]},"c9872ac2-6252-5a1f-a28c-b708fd12ec03":{"name":"Dish with bust of a young man in a turban","short_description":"Artists of Iran’s Safavid period (1501–1722) revelled in portraiture, whether rendered on paper or in other media. The painted panels in royal pavilions displayed small groups of beautiful people engaged in various leisure activities, and the tiled walls of bath-houses showed busts of individual men and women sporting fanciful headgear and coiffures. The dominant figural style of this period originated with renowned painter Reza-i ‘Abbasi (ca. 1565–1635), who worked at the court of Shah Abbas at Isfahan. Many of the features that characterized his figures appear in the works of his followers at Isfahan well into the second half of the 17th century, when this portrait dish was produced. Here, the face is shown in three-quarter view, the neck thrust forward and the chin drooping over the chest, as was fashionable in Reza’s portraits. The chin is full, and the mouth, by contrast, is tiny. The pose is languid (“sway-back”), suggesting an air of ennui.","holder":"Aga Khan Museum","dates":"1640–80","location":"Toronto, Ontario","dimensions":"Height: 7cm, Diameter: 33.9cm","provenance":"Iran, Isfahan","obtention":"Former Prince Saddrudin Aga Khan Collection","keywords":["Dish","figure","Iran","isfahan portrait","kubachi","male-figure","pottery","Safavid","safavid-pottery"],"materials":["and slips tinted tan and red","Stonepaste body","turquoise","underglaze-painted with black"]},"c9ebf772-81c8-5910-9ee0-c3321b952c9e":{"name":"Ewer (*ibrik*)","short_description":"Made mostly from metal or ceramic, ewers are used to hold and pour water. The body of this ewer is decorated on both sides with floral motifs surrounding an epigraphic medallion. The Arabic mirror-image inscription – ‘*Ya habibi, unzur bi hali!*’ (‘O my dear, see what has become of me!’) – suggests the union and complementarity to which all lovers aspire, ideals equally shared by the mystic aspiring to become one with God. The scrolls, flowers, and leaves painted in blue, green, red, and yellow recall the underglaze decoration of Iznik ware, whose famous floral style was continued in Kütahya following the decline of Iznik potteries. The present ewer is a late-nineteenth-century Kütahya revival piece.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"The National Museum of Art of Romania","dates":"Hegira 13th century / AD 19th century","location":"Bucharest","dimensions":"Height: 29cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis","method_for_provenance":"Stylistic analysis","provenance":"Kütahya, Turkey","obtention":"Transferred in 1949 from the National Museum Carol I in Bucharest.","bibliography":"Dunca, M., *Scrierea în arta islamică*, Bucharest: National Museum of Art of Romania, 2000: 58, cat. no. 32.  \nFehérvári, G., *Ceramics of the Islamic World in the Tareq Rajab Museum*, London / New York: I. B. Tauris, 2000.","author":"Mircea Dunca","keywords":["Mirror-image inscription"],"materials":["Fritware","underglaze painting"]},"ca90aa20-6045-5b3e-a90f-eb2fa90c0be6":{"name":"Pitcher","description":"The rim is shaped like a rooster's head. In form, it has a thin long neck, vertical round handle, bulging wide body and ring bottom. The white paste is covered with blue glaze. The entire exterior surface is decorated with curly and wave motifs in dark brown paint on blue glaze.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Ankara Ethnography Museum","owner":"The Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism","location":"Ankara","dimensions":"Height: 29cm, width: 22cm, depth: 15cm, Q: 8cm","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","materials":["Terracotta"]},"cb759986-93f3-578a-a7c7-9068cd703d02":{"name":"Jar.","description":"A jar with tiered decoration consisting of four bands: two with a chain of leafs, one with a row of five running hares and another with a row of calligraphy. The calligraphy consists of a repetition of the word *Baraka*, meaning blessings or bounty. The use of words or phrases that blessed the owner or user on the one hand, while acknowledging God's bounty in being able to posses such items and their contents on the other, was common on Islamic ceramics of the time. The row of running hares shows two of the five looking backwards, while the other three run facing forwards. All the hares wear a studded collar-band.  \n  \nTowards the end of the AH 4th century / AD 10th century the Egyptian potters began to use lustre-painted decoration on their pots. They seem to have learned the technique from Iraqi potters who had migrated to Egypt; they in turn had first learned to paint-in-lustre from the glassmakers of Syria and Egypt during the AH 3rd century / AD 9th century.","short_description":"The expensive lustre-painted decorative technique on this Fatimid Egyptian ceramic jar came from Iraqi with potters migrating to Fustat. Its typical Fatimid decoration and calligraphic band of script also find their origin in the decorative style developed originally in the Abbasid city of Samarra in Iraq.","type":"Earthenware","holder":"Burrell Collection, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira late 4th–early 5th century / AD late 10th–early 11th century.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 20.3 cm, width 21.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"Artistic analysis: the style of the hares and the band of *kufic* script resemble those on other ceramic objects and fragments found in Fustat that have been attributed to the Fatimid period in Egypt.","provenance":"Egypt.","obtention":"Part of the collection given to the City of Glasgow by Sir William and Lady Burrell in 1944.","bibliography":"Grube, E. J., *Islamic Pottery of the Eighth to the Fifteenth Century in the Keir Collection*, London, 1976.  \n  \nRaby, J., (ed), *Cobalt and Lustre: The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery*, the Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, Oxford, 1994.","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["animal decoration","calligraphy","crafts","zoomorphic imagery"],"materials":["Glazed and lustre-painted earthenware."]},"cb75e86e-de6a-5a10-87b0-77f7d01615a4":{"name":"Tile.","description":"The square-edge tile is decorated with a repetitive design painted in cobalt-blue, bright green, manganese purple and turquoise with deep black outlines under a transparent, colourless glaze on a white background. The blue and turquoise colours run and the glaze is crackled. Bands of alternating coloured trefoils between turquoise stripes frame the slightly damaged tile on the vertical sides. The design is symmetrically composed of two opposite arabesques linked with their points to half-trefoil motifs, both filled with arabesques. The area in between is filled with two sprays of carnations at the bottom, three lilies in the middle and two sprays of other flowers above. Two of the three lilies at the centre form an S-shaped tendril with stems growing out of the lower lilies and continue above with stems of flowers emerging from their blossoms. On the back, the tile is cut, showing that it was used in wall decoration.","short_description":"Square tile with underglaze painted decoration in blue, bright green and manganese. The symmetrically composed design shows arabesques forming an area filled with sprays of carnations, lilies and other flowers. The motif is framed with alternating coloured trefoils.","type":"Ottoman ceramics","holder":"Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities (Medelhavsmuseet).","dates":"Hegira mid-10th century / AD mid-16th century.","location":"Stockholm","dimensions":"Height 27 cm, width 27 cm, depth 1.8 cm.","method_for_datation":"The tile was dated from its colour scheme. In the 940s / 1540s Iznik underglaze painted tile work expanded its palette to include green and purple. Purple was replaced by red when it was introduced as an underglaze colour for tile work in the 950s / 1550s.","method_for_provenance":"Attribution of pottery tiles showing this colour scheme is difficult since it was used by potters in both Iznik and Damascus. However, this tile seems to be a product of Iznik because of its fine paste and its intricate but delicate composition.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"There is no information about acquisition.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N. and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989.  \n*Carreaux Décoratifs de l'époque Ottomane. La Collection du Musée de Bonnat à Bayonne*, Exhibition Catalogue, Bayonne, 2001.  \nMüller-Wiener, M., *Türkisch-Osmanische Keramik*, Traunstein, 2004.  \n*Im Lichte des Halbmonds: Das Abendland und der Türkische Orient*, Exhibition catalogue, Leipzig, 1995, cat. no. 42.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Friederike Voigt","copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["floral decoration","tile","underglaze painting"],"materials":["Ceramic","painted and glazed."]},"cc2e6597-5498-5c64-94ac-0ecb6099dcdd":{"name":"Lustre bowl.","description":"The inner surface of the bowl is decorated with two patterns: symmetrical arabesques and bands of intertwining *kufic* calligraphy. Both motifs are framed within eight separate boxes, and the two patterns alternate with each other. Both are painted in golden brown lustre over a white glaze. The surrounding space is covered in dots or small entwining scrolls. The outer surface is decorated with hastily painted flutings and a braided band, over a light blue glaze. The bowl is one of the most important examples of Nasrid ceramics given its display of painstaking paintwork and the fact that the place where it was made is noted on its ring-base.","short_description":"The technique of lustre-ware pottery was introduced to al-Andalus from Egypt and outstanding quality was soon attained. This bowl with a design of geometrical and vegetal panels has an inscription on the foot stating that it was made in the Spanish city of Malaga.","type":"Bowl, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art at the Pergamon Museum","initial_owner":"W. von Bode, F. Sarre.","dates":"Hegira mid-8th century / AD mid-14th century.","location":"Berlin","dimensions":"Height 8.5 cm, diameter 23 cm.","method_for_datation":"The production of lustre-ware in Andalusia began in the 6th / 12th century. In 750 / 1350, the Arab chronicler Ibn Battuta noted the production of ceramics in his writings on Malaga. This bowl is the only intact item by which the source may be verified. Overall the decoration also corresponds to other branches of the arts and crafts of that period, an example being the decorative patterns used in textiles.","method_for_provenance":"There is an inscription in cursive Arabic script on the bowl’s base stating that it was made in Malaqa (Málaga). Thus the bowl acts as an important marker for the identification and dating of the entire collection of Spanish lustre-ware from the same period.","provenance":"Malaga, Spain.","obtention":"A gift donated by Friedrich Sarre. The bowl was bought in 1901 in Italy by W. v. Bode and was given to Sarre as a gift, which he later donated to the museum.","bibliography":"*Islamische Keramik*, Catalogue, Düsseldorf, 1973, no. 470.  \nMartin, F. R. and Sarre, F. (eds.), *Die Ausstellung von Meisterwerken Muhammedanischer Kunst München 1910*, Munich, 1912, Vol. 2, no. 1610, pl. 117.  \n*Museum für Islamische Kunst Berlin*, Catalogue, Berlin, 1973–9, no. 342.  \nSarre, F., “Die Spanisch-Maurischen Lüsterfayencen und ihre Herstellung in Malaga”, *Jahrbuch der Preußischen Kunstsammlungen* 24, 1903, 103–30.  \n*Schätze der Alhambra: Islamische Kunst aus Andalusien*, Catalogue, Berlin, 1995, no. 122.","author":"Annette Hagedorn","translator":"Maria Vlotides","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["Andalusia","Luster","Malaga","Nasrid"],"materials":["Ceramic with lustre painting."]},"cc85a9f2-18dc-5a33-bf12-4417efe116f0":{"name":"Ewer","short_description":"Composite-bodied ceramic ewer, the body covered with upright foliate scrolls bearing lotus blossoms, and the neck with a continuous scroll of leaves and lotus blossoms.","type":"Vessels & receptacles, Ottoman ceramic","holder":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah","dates":"Hegira 968–978 / AD 1560–1570","location":"Kuwait City","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","keywords":["floral motifs","Iznik ceramics","lotus"]},"ccab83d9-f7e5-548c-8ca6-04c897269224":{"name":"Tile fragment of the Omar Mosque in Jerusalem","description":"Islamic art collected by the Museum of Applied Arts.","type":"Ceramic tile; tilework","holder":"MAK – Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art","dates":"c. 1600","location":"Vienna","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega"},"cd2f0486-91f0-5d6c-834e-06e9ae177ed0":{"name":"Bowl.","description":"This little bowl is an example of fine Syrian lustre-ware pottery of the Atabeg period. It has a conical body with a carinated base and a columnar foot. The inner part of the vessel is decorated with a drawing of a bird that resembles a spotted dove. A stylised branch carefully fills the space surrounding the bird. The rim of the bowl is lavishly decorated with a repeating pattern of curling leaves with lobed edges. Meanwhile, the outside of the bowl is inscribed with an Arabic text in *naskhi* script that may be translated as follows: “Money, happiness, peace, honour, prosperity, and sovereignty.” All the decoration is executed in a honey-yellow metallic lustre on a pale ivory-coloured base. The fluidity of the vegetal scrolls around the rim, the realism of the bird portrait in the centre and the careful attention to artistic detail indicate the high-level workmanship of this piece.  \nIslamic ceramics with metallic lustre were considered the most luxurious. The technique was probably invented in AH 3rd- / AD 9th-century Iraq during the Abbasid period. The technique was popular initially in Abbasid Samarra, but it flourished most expressively in Fatimid Egypt, and continued to spread throughout the Mediterranean and eastern Islamic region. In Syria, Tel Minis and Raqqa were important centres of production, while Kashan in Iran was also a renowned producer of lustre-ware. Valued for its capacity to cloak pottery with a precious metallic sheen, the technique continued to spread as a luxury commodity. By the time of the Nasrid period in the AH 8th / AD 14th century, the technique had developed in Spain and Italy to play an influential role in the artistic expression of painted ceramics on the eve of the European Renaissance.","short_description":"Lustre-painted pottery was a highly valued luxury product. This bowl decorated with a central bird portrait and a sequence of elaborately curling leaves along the rim is painted with careful attention to detail and harmony. Blessings to the owner are inscribed on the bowl's exterior.","type":"Bowl, earthenware","holder":"National Museum of Damascus","dates":"Hegira 5th–6th century / AD 11th–12th century.","location":"Damascus","dimensions":"Height 6 cm, width 15 cm.","method_for_datation":"Many similar pieces of lustre-ware have been attributed to the 5th / 11th and 6th / 12th centuries.","method_for_provenance":"While lustre-painted pottery of this quality has also been found in Fatimid Egypt, the carinated shape of this bowl and the use of cursive *naskhi* script supports the attribution to the Eastern lands of Atabeg-ruled Raqqa and Jazira. There were other contemporaneous production centres in Syria and elsewhere, thus it is not possible to establish the provenance definitively.","provenance":"Probably Syria; Jazira or Raqqa region.","obtention":"Purchased in 1960.","bibliography":"Abu al-Faraj al-Ush, M., *A Concise Guide to the National Museum of Damascus,* Damascus, 1969, p.232.  \nPhilon, H., *Early Islamic Ceramics: Ninth to Late Twelfth Centuries*, Athens, 1980,  \nfig. 430.  \nPorter, V., and Watson, O., “'Tel Minis' Wares”, in *Syria and Iran: Three Studies in Medieval Ceramics*, Oxford, 1987, pp.173–248.  \nSoustiel, J., and Kiefer, C., *La céramique islamique*, Fribourg, 1985.  \nWatson, O., *Ceramics from Islamic Lands*, London, 2004.","author":"Mona al-Moadin","translator":"Hilary Kalmbach (from the Arabic)","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["bird","ceramics","earthenware","Iran","metallic lustre painting","naskhi script","Raqqa","Samarra","Tel Minis"],"materials":["Earthenware with tin-glazed metallic lustre."]},"cd55af48-0b6d-5d4f-8dcd-ba7574d7bc56":{"name":"Dish with small bull.","description":"Dish with curved sides and a foot-ring painted in intense red lustre on a white-cream background. At the centre of the decoration there is a silhouette of a small bull or bullock painted in lustre with the detailing obtained by leaving some parts uncoloured, from which emerge four long symmetrical stalks with stylised flowers, probably derived from an adaptation of the plant shoots that occur on other examples of this type of object.  \nThe four sections into which the dish is divided are each decorated with a large bush with feathered leaves set diagonally, which predate a motif extremely common in later pieces (AH 12th / AD 18th century).  \nEach bush bears two pieces of a sort of triangular fruit decorated with a fish-scale pattern obtained by leaving parts uncoloured.","short_description":"The decoration on this plate presages motifs that would become common in objects produced later in Valencia.","type":"Dish, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”","dates":"Hegira 11th century / AD 17th century.","location":"Rome","dimensions":"Height 7.6 cm, diameter 36.5 cm.","method_for_provenance":"The decoration on the base of the dish, filled with groups of dots, other smaller, flowering bushes and tiny cruciform and star motifs, recurs in later Valencian production in then 12th / 18th century. Along the edge of the plate, accentuated by a broad band of solid lustre, there is a frame made up of a series of semi-circles containing small lustre disks, which predates a motif belonging to a later age, and which was probably inspired by the ‘fingernail’ motif that was commonly used on the edges of plates in the first third of the 11th / 17th century.","provenance":"Spain, Valencian workshop.","obtention":"Purchase.","bibliography":"Ainaud De Lasarte, J., *Cèramica y Vidrio*, Ars Hispaniae, Vol. 10, Madrid, 1952.  \nFronthingham, A. W., *Lustreware of Spain*, New York, 1951.  \nTorre, P., “Maioliche a Lustro Ispano-Moresche”, *Serie Schede Museo Nazionale d'Arte Orientale*, 7, Rome, 1987.  \nTorre, P., *Le Mille e una Notte: Ceramiche Persiane, Turche e Ispano-Moresche, Faenza*, 1990.  \nTorre, P., “Techniques Journeying from East to West at the Time of the Crusades”, *Crusades: Myth and Realities*, Nicosia, 2004.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_ES_EN_001","author":"Paola Torre","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["Dish","figurative decoration","floral decoration","lustre","Mudéjar art"],"materials":["Lustre-painted ceramic."]},"cd6b2c88-0a74-5d2f-8cba-5b3ea7174b9c":{"name":"Tympanum made of 16 tiles from the palace of the grand vizier Piale Pasha (c. 1515-1578)","description":"These tiles decorated the palace of the Ottoman Grand Vizier Piale Pasha, or possibly the mosque the Vizier commissioned. Both buildings were completed in 1573 and richly decorated with tile panels. The palace and the mosque were restored after an earthquake in 1890, and the tile panels were sold all over the world. At least nine identical tympanums are now in American and European museums.","type":"Ceramic tile; tilework","holder":"MAK – Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art","dates":"1573; acquired in 1885","location":"Vienna","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega"},"cdef497c-1efa-5c25-b7ef-048f71a83d64":{"name":"Blue glazed jar","description":"This jar, with two small handles, a narrow neck and a globular body is covered externally with a turquoise-blue glaze, while the interior is covered with a white glaze. The lip of the neck is protruding, which may have allowed for the placement of a small ceramic or wooden lid held by a textile.  \n  \nThis functional object used for the storage and transportation of liquids, such as oil, water, wine or syrup. t was discovered at the Murwab archaeological site in northwest Qatar. The production of this type of jar appears to have ceased in the middle of the 9th century, according to the stratified archaeological findings of Susa (Iran), Samarra and Basra (Iraq). The most important workshop for this production was the centre of Basra.","type":"Container","holder":"National Museum of Qatar","owner":"National Museum of Qatar","initial_owner":"Qatar Museums","dates":"AH late 2nd to late 3rd century / AD late 8th to late 9th century","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Height: 25.5cm, body diameter: 15.5cm","place_of_production":"Basra, Iraq","method_for_datation":"Stratigraphy/scientific analysis.","method_for_provenance":"Stratigraphy/scientific and laboratory analysis.","provenance":"Murwab, Qatar","obtention":"Archaeological excavation.","bibliography":"Carvajal Lopez, J., Guerin, A., and Georgakopoulou, M., \"Petrographic analysis of ceramics of Murwab, an early islamic site in Qatar\", Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 51 (2022): 55–70.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Preliminary pottery study: Murwab horizon in progress, ninth century AD, Qatar\", in Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 40 (2010): 17–34.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Territory and settlement patterns during the Abbasid period (ninth century AD): the village of Murwab (Qatar)\", Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 39 (2009): 181–196.  \n  \nHardy-Guilbert, Cl., \"Fouilles archéologiques a Murwab, Qatar\", in R. Boucharlat et J.-F. Salles (eds.), Arabie Orientale, Mésopotamie et Iran méridional: De l’Age du Fer au début de la période islamique, Paris: ERC 37, 1984: 169–188.  \n  \nKnuth, E., \"An Early Islamic fort and settlement at Murwab”, in F. Hojlund (ed.), Danish Archaeological Investigations in Qatar 1956–1974, Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 97 (2017): 83–98.","author":"Alexandrine Guerin","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","keywords":["9th century","Basra","blue glaze","earthenware","table jar"],"materials":["Glazed earthenware"]},"ce05bc9c-4579-5b05-b81e-5aae5c270b67":{"name":"Pottery jar","description":"Although blue and white porcelains were described as vulgar by Chao Zaho (Chao Mingzhong) in his 1388 book about art and antiquities (the first book for connoisseurs) entitled *Gego yaolun* (The Essential Criteria of Antiques), these porcelains became more beloved and fashionable from their earliest appearance in Chinese and European markets. The first use of these two colours: blue (evoking the infinity of sea and sky) and white can be traced back to the Near and Middle East. They had a large impact on Chinese ceramics. Blue is also said to be effective against bad intentions. The pigments used for underglaze blue in Persia were lapis lazuli (*lajavard*) and cobalt, which was cheaper. The inside of the bowl is decorated with dynamic, loose floral motifs applied with sparse brushstrokes under the greyish-white glaze of the bowl on a small base. The rim is lined with blue.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum","owner":"His Excellency Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani","initial_owner":"Unknown","dates":"Hegira 13th century / AD 19th century","location":"Doha, Qatar","dimensions":"Height: 4.5cm, diameter: 15cm, base diameter: 7cm","place_of_production":"Algeria","method_for_datation":"Analysis of techniques, style and motifs","method_for_provenance":"The origin of acqusitions","provenance":"Algeria","obtention":"Purchased","author":"Terézia Bardi","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","materials":["Clay","Earthenware","Glaze","underglaze painting"]},"ce44f778-9091-5698-8d43-0e6b3026e21a":{"name":"Jar.","description":"A globular jar on a near-symmetrical foot, with a short neck which curls out at the lip. The body of the jar is decorated with three bands of blue and white underglaze painting. The central and largest band contains prominent arabesques in white on blue, while the narrower bands above and below feature Chinese-inspired floral ornament in blue on white. The neck and foot are decorated with narrower bands which include interlocking strap-work and small circular motifs. There are two blank torus mouldings around the neck.  \n  \nThis jar is a fascinating example of the many artistic influences at work in early Iznik pottery. Its body copies a Chinese shape, and the aesthetic of blue-on-white, also of Chinese inspiration, was in vogue in the Middle East during the AH 9th / AD 15th century. The peony motifs on the body, too, are of Chinese origin. On the other hand, the influence of Ottoman metalwork, particularly silver, is also palpable; it can be seen in details such as the torus mouldings and the arabesques crowding the central register. The use of this sort of arabesque design has its roots in a style of decoration originating at the Ottoman royal scriptorium, possibly from the hand of a single artist whom the sources refer to as 'Baba Naqqash.' Designs on paper associated with Baba Naqqash show traditional Islamic arabesques combined with Chinese elements to form a new and distinctively Ottoman idiom. Since their decoration reflects this development quite closely, this jar and other early Iznik ceramics like it – once called 'Abraham of Kütahya wares' after an unusual ewer in the British Museum – have been dubbed 'Baba Naqqash' ware by scholars.","short_description":"A globular jar on a near-symmetrical foot, with three bands of blue-and-white decoration. The decoration shows the emergence of a truly Ottoman style out of a mixture of influences including Chinese art and contemporary metalwork. It can be traced to developments in the Ottoman imperial scriptorium.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, glazed painting","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum.","dates":"About hegira 856 / AD 1480.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 24.5 cm, diameter 23.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"Comparison with the Ottoman decorative style prevalent during the last years of the reign of Sultan Mehmed II (r. twice, 1444-46 and 1451–81).","method_for_provenance":"Iznik was the centre of quality ceramic production during this period.","provenance":"Probably Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Purchased by the Museum in 1952.","bibliography":"Arts Council of Great Britain, The Arts of Islam, London, 1976, 265, cat. no. 405.  \n  \nAtasoy, N., and Raby, J., Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, Istanbul/London, 1989, p.39 (fig. 31), p.47, p.77, p.79, and colour plate 276.  \n  \nLane, A., \"Ottoman Pottery of Isnik,\" Ars Orientalis 2, 1957, pp.45–8, pl. 23a.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Barry Wood","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Chinese influence","floral decoration","Ottoman ceramic","Ottoman metalwork"],"materials":["Painted and glazed ceramic."]},"ce637fbb-3666-5ca2-b5a7-515016f46a6d":{"name":"Star tile with seated figure","short_description":"In Iran, during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, star-shaped luster tiles were made in great numbers for the walls of religious and secular buildings. Figurative and non-figurative imagery was painted in the centre, while verses from the Qur'an or selections from Persian poetry were written around the edges. The halo surrounding the head of the seated figure indicates that this person was an important individual, such as royalty.","type":"Islamic, Indian & Southeast Asian works of art; tile; ceramic","holder":"Shangri La, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira late 7th century / AD late 13th century","location":"Honolulu, Hawai'i","dimensions":"Diameter: 20.6 cm","provenance":"Iran","keywords":["figurative decoration","human representation","Ilkhanid","Iran","lustre","overglaze-painted","star","stonepaste","tile"],"materials":["overglaze-painted in luster","Stonepaste"]},"cf1afb8b-9458-59a3-ba8d-167823382d2f":{"name":"Table top","short_description":"Large circular tiles, surrounded by a border of smaller tiles, were used as table tops. They were mostly decorated with banquet scenes, a recurrent theme in Persian art. Here the composition illustrates an episode from Ferdowsi's epic *Shahnameh* (The Book of Kings), namely the punishment of Zahhak: having chased away the Iranian king Jamshid, Zahhak rules like a tyrant for one thousand years, but is overthrown by Fereydun, following a popular uprising led by the blacksmith Kaveh. His life is spared, but he will be imprisoned in a cave on Mount Damawand, where he will remain until the end of the world. The scene shows the procession with Zahhak being led to the place of his imprisonment. The tyrant riding a camel is depicted in the upper left corner; two snakes feeding on human brains are growing out of his shoulders. On his left, Kaveh in a green robe is carrying a banner made out of his leather apron, inscribed with Arabic numerals. On Kaveh’s left, the young king Fereydun, riding a bull, is carrying his bull-head mace, the weapon with which he defeated Zahhak. The magnificent procession is minutely depicted in a complex scene: hierarchical proportion and diagonal composition are used here to give emphasis to the main characters, accompanied by a richly attired retinue riding on elephants.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"The National Museum of Art of Romania","dates":"Hegira late 13th – early 14th century / AD late 19th century","location":"Bucharest","dimensions":"Diameter: 50cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis","method_for_provenance":"Stylistic analysis","provenance":"Iran","obtention":"Purchased by the Museum in 1959.","bibliography":"*Arta iraniană în colecţiile din Republica Socialistă România*, Bucharest: Muzeul de Artă al Republicii Socialiste România, 1971; 38, cat. no. 104.  \nDunca, M., *Islamic Art at the National Museum of Art of Romania*, Bucharest: National Museum of Art of Romania, 2015: 98, no. 43.","author":"Mircea Dunca","keywords":["Shahname"],"materials":["Fritware","underglaze painting"]},"d000e4f8-141c-5c31-bc47-44557dd76807":{"name":"Large dish (*m'tred*)","description":"Large, blue, glazed terracotta dish, dated 1864 and made in Fez.","type":"Pottery","holder":"Batha Museum","dates":"1864","location":"Fez"},"d06f4d6a-a257-5324-a2d7-ce12318aa95d":{"name":"Dish.","description":"The deep pottery dish has a flat foliated rim and is decorated in underglaze cobalt-blue, bright turquoise, green, relief opaque red and black for the outlines. The centre of the dish shows a symmetrical design of two curving red dotted tulips and two smaller red flowers on stalks clasped together with a pointed, scalloped medallion between them. Small roses and other flowers springing from a leafy tuft fill the area underneath. The shape of the dish, with a foliated rim, and the stylised pattern of waves breaking on rocks on the rim are of Chinese origin. The latter developed into a popular Iznik design with a tendency to stylisation during the AH 10th / AD 16th century. The rocks and waves, originally painted in different colours, are both blue on this dish, a characteristic feature of later Iznik ware. The pointed, scalloped medallion developed in the courtly ateliers, used to decorate textiles or tiles, occurred on pottery from the AH 980s / AD 1580s. Vessels from the second half of the AH 10th / AD 16th century are mostly not imperial commissions, even if they show designs of the courtly ateliers. The potters, producing for the local market, created their own compositions by combining single elements of various styles and sources. On the back the dish is painted with four blue coloured tulips alternating with four rosettes on a white background. The transparent glaze on the back is slightly yellow coloured.","short_description":"Polychrome underglaze painted dish with a foliated rim. In the centre is a symmetrical design of flowers and a medallion. The single elements, originally designed in the courtly workshops, were combined in a pattern by the potters themselves. The wave and rock motif on the rim is of Chinese origin.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, glazed","holder":"Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities (Medelhavsmuseet).","owner":"National Museum of Fine Arts, Stockholm. In order to reorganise the expanding collections, the main part of the Islamic collection has been on permanent loan to the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities since 1982.","dates":"Hegira late 10th–early 11th centuries / AD late 16th–early 17th centuries.","location":"Stockholm","dimensions":"Height 6 cm, diameter 30.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"The scalloped medallion as an element of decoration occurred on pottery from the 980s / 1580s.","method_for_provenance":"The floral decoration and the shape are both specific to Iznik ceramics.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Purchased with government funds from the collection of F. R. Martin.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N. and Raby, J., *Iznik*: *The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989.  \nCarswell, J., *Iznik Pottery*. London, 1998.  \nMüller-Wiener, M., *Türkisch-Osmanische Keramik*, Traunstein, 2004.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Friederike Voigt","copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["Dish","floral decoration","Ottoman ceramic","Plate","pottery"],"materials":["Ceramic","painted and glazed."]},"d0cd0d4e-b74c-5e32-a326-e726894f5838":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"The earthen white bowl has a two-coloured decoration on a white background. The bird in the centre is clearly recognisable, with tendril patterns grouped around it. Provenance has been ascribed to Eastern Iran due to the presence of calligraphic elements, particularly evident in the bird’s body, which has been drawn with only two lines traced in one movement. The bird is undoubtedly a peacock, an ancient Persian symbol. The attractive but somewhat hastily executed decoration suggests that the bowl was made in the 11th century.  \n  \nSlip-painted ware with coloured decoration are typical of Iran and the eastern Iranian world of the 10th and 11th centuries. They are characterised by their often multi-coloured decoration, very thin bodies and the common use of animalistic decorations.","type":"Ceramic vessel","holder":"Museum Rietberg","initial_owner":"Gallery Heidi Vollmoeller, Zurich","dates":"Hegira 4th-5th century / AD 10th-11th century","location":"Zurich","dimensions":"Height: 11.5cm","method_for_datation":"By comparison with similar dated objects","method_for_provenance":"Old museum inventory.","provenance":"Iran","obtention":"Acquisition","bibliography":"Watson, Oliver, *Ceramics From Islamic Lands*, London: Thames & Hudson, 2004: esp. 232-236 and 243-245.","author":"Axel Langer","copy_editor":"Jonathan Turnbull","materials":["Earthen ware","white slip with brown and yellow slip decoration under a transparent glaze"]},"d182a16f-df1f-5ece-848d-95d8514da95e":{"name":"Glazed tile 'Butterflies'","description":"The glazed tile or azulejo is a particularly expressive component of Portuguese art that is constantly being renovated. Between the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, it is strongly influenced by art nouveau, as is shown by this tile by Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro, made in one of Portugal’s main ceramic centres, the town of Caldas da Rainha.","type":"Ceramic; tile","holder":"National Tile Museum","dates":"c. 1905","location":"Lisbon","author":"DGPC"},"d1df60cc-7f00-5222-836d-c786e82473ca":{"name":"Water jug filter","description":"The decorative openings on the necks of this type of water jugs (fired clay vessels that cool their contents through a process of gradual evaporation) are evidence of the inventiveness of Cairo potters. They would trace the design onto wet clay with a sharpened reed similar to a calligraphy pen, in a technique similar to *al fresco* painting.","type":"Water filter","holder":"Institute of the Arab World","dates":"AH 2nd–7th / AD 8th–13th centuries","location":"Paris","dimensions":"Diameter: 8cm","provenance":"Egypt","obtention":"Formerly in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Jean-François Bouvier.","bibliography":"Institut du Monde arabe, *A la plume, au pinceau, au crayon : dessins du monde arabe: catalogue de l’exposition au Musée de l’Institut du Monde arabe*, Paris: Institut du Monde arabe, 2019.","translator":"Judy Harter","keywords":["ceramic","clay","Filter","water"],"materials":["incised and perforated","Unglazed ceramic clay"]},"d1fd8d7d-6217-538a-98af-666817b8e42a":{"name":"Tile panel","short_description":"The panel is made by ten tiles arranged in two vertical columns which form a design of ogival strapwork containing flowers and palmettes.","type":"Tile panel; ceramic","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira late 10th–early 11th century / AD late 16th–early 17th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Height 117.5 cm, width 46.5 cm","provenance":"Syria","keywords":["architectonic decoration","panel","tiles","tilework"],"materials":["Polychrome underglaze decoration"]},"d209c356-064a-548c-bf26-d4da707c6cfc":{"name":"Tile with stork.","description":"This hexagonal tile, painted in blue and black beneath a turquoise glaze, is decorated with a stork placed in the centre, on a background of shoots covered in leaves and flowers. This piece was intended for architectural use as a wall covering.","short_description":"In the Muslim world, tiles such as this one were generally used in building, in particular as a domestic wall covering. The technique used in its production place it in Syria or Egypt in the AH 9th / AD 15th century.","type":"Tile, ceramics","holder":"Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”","dates":"Hegira 9th century / AD 15th century.","location":"Rome","dimensions":"Width 20.5 cm, length of each side 10.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"This type of object was being produced in the 9th / 15th century.","method_for_provenance":"Tiles of this type, decorated with blue on white or, as with this piece, black beneath a turquoise glaze, were extensively produced in Syria during this period. Such products were also exported to Turkey and Egypt.","provenance":"Egypt or Syria.","obtention":"Purchase.","bibliography":"Atil, E., *Renaissance of Islam: Art of Mamluks*, Washington, 1981.  \n*Bollettino d'Arte*, 1974, nos. 3–4.  \nLane, A., *Later Islamic Pottery*, London, 1957.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_EG_EN_001","author":"Paola Torre","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["figurative decoration","Mamluk art","tiles"],"materials":["Glazed ceramic."]},"d2163cf3-a3dd-5a72-9324-78105e6a16e4":{"name":"Dish","short_description":"Like many sixteenth-century Iznik dishes, this one is characterized by the naturalistic depiction of flowers (carnations, tulips), and a palette of green, blue, and red. The rim of the plate features a wave and rock pattern that demonstrates the influence of Chinese art (especially of earlier and contemporary Ming porcelains) on Iznik production.","type":"Islamic, Indian & Southeast Asian works of art; ceramic","holder":"Shangri La, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira c. 987 / AD 1580","location":"Honolulu, Hawai'i","dimensions":"Diameter: 30.8 cm","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","keywords":["ceramic","cloud pattern","Dish","floral decoration","hyacinth","Iznik","Ottoman","saz","stonepaste","tulip","underglaze-painted"],"materials":["Stonepaste","underglaze-painted over a slip coating"]},"d26367ea-3684-5799-b481-4efef3e51786":{"name":"Chimneypiece.","description":"A large tile ensemble forming a chimneypiece for a fireplace. The hood is formed as a cone with seven faceted sides, each of which continues down to form the arch surmounting the fireplace niche. A repeat of the chintamani motif of three circles and two wavy stripes provides the main decorative scheme for the hood and arch. The hood is set within a tall rectangular frame whose border contains intertwining flowering stems on a blue background. The spandrels on either side of the hood include white arabesques on a turquoise background, dark-blue arabesques showing European influence on a white background, and two large ceramic bosses. At the base of the chimneypiece, two side panels echo the *chintamani* decoration of the hood and arch.  \n  \nA band of cartouches at the top of the fireplace arch, one on each of its seven facets, contains inscriptions with the names of the 'Companions of the Cave' and their dog. (One cartouche has two names, so as to fit in all eight.) The 'Companions of the Cave' (*ashab al-kahf*), also known as the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, are the subject of an ancient story which was repeated in the Qur'an (*sura* 18, verses 9–26). According to the story, seven Christian youths went into a cave to escape religious persecution and fell asleep, awakening miraculously several hundred years later. In later Islamic times the custom arose of hanging the names of the Seven Sleepers (as well as their dog, Qitmir) in one's house as a way of averting misfortune.  \n  \nThe fireplace was originally made for the palace of the Ottoman official Fuad Pasha, a building which burned down in 1857.","short_description":"A large tile ensemble forming a chimneypiece for a fireplace. A band of cartouches contains inscriptions with the names of the ‘Seven Sleepers of Ephesus’ and their dog, names which were thought to bring good luck. It was originally installed in the palace of an Ottoman official.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, glazed painting","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum.","initial_owner":"Fuad Pasha.","dates":"Hegira 1143 / AD 1730–31.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 360 cm, width 233 cm, depth 53.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"One of the tiles has a short poem on it which reads, 'A man emerged to pray and said at once by way of a chronogram, “Here are Ottoman tiles apparent”'. The chronogram adds up to 1143.","method_for_provenance":"By the 18th century, the tile industry at Iznik was in a state of complete collapse. When the Ottoman court began to take a renewed interest in decorative tilework under Sultan Ahmed III (r. 1115–43 / 1703–31), it reconstituted the industry in Istanbul.","provenance":"Istanbul, Turkey.","obtention":"Purchased by the Museum in 1891.","bibliography":"Lane, A., *Guide to the Collection of Tiles*, \\[at the Victoria and Albert Museum\\] London, 1960, pp.22–3.  \n  \nStanley, T., with Rosser-Owen, M. and Vernoit, S., *Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Middle East*, London, 2004, p.105.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Barry Wood","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["arabesque","cintamani","palatial architecture","tilework"],"materials":["Painted and glazed ceramic."]},"d2f08f61-a6b8-5361-a62a-5d13c106699b":{"name":"Jar","short_description":"Earthenware jar with five applied handles and a short vertical neck. It is glazed and decorated in monochrome luster with drips of turquoise glaze.","type":"Vessels & receptacles, earthenware, ceramic","holder":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah","dates":"Hegira 4th century / AD 10th century","location":"Kuwait City","provenance":"Iraq","keywords":["earthenware","Glaze","Luster"]},"d330f255-e6aa-5ada-a3e4-633faa06f950":{"name":"Konch","alternate_name":"Teta (কোচ)","description":"The Konch is a fishing device made from bamboo and iron spikes, and is specifically designed to catch larger fish. It is similar to the Juti, but employs at least 10 pieces of bamboo splits, which are firmly fixed in a bunch. In order to increase its effectiveness, the tips of the bamboo are topped with sharp and pointed iron caps. To use it, fishermen must wait with great patience until they find a fish, often spending hours on a boat or at the water's edge. Once they eventually find one, they hurl the implement with great force, pinning the fish down and striking it. The species of fish caught with this device include Rui (Labeo rohita), Catla (Catla catla), Shoal (Channa striatus), and Gozar (Channa marulius), amongst others.  \nTraditional fishing gear consists of a long bamboo handle (2-4m) with a 60-65cm iron rode at the base, and is fitted with multiple iron hooks at the apex. The iron rode is securely attached to the bamboo handle using coconut thread or iron wire.","type":"Fishing gear","holder":"Water Museum","dates":"21st century","location":"Pakhimara, Kuakata District, Barishal Division, Barishal","bibliography":"Siddiq, M., *et al.*, “Fishing Gears of the Meghna River Estuary of Chandpur Region, Bangladesh”, in *Trends in Fisheries Research, 2(1; 2018): https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325120382\\_FISHING\\_GEARS\\_OF\\_THE\\_MEGHNA\\_RIVER\\_ESTUARY\\_OF\\_CHANDPUR\\_REGION\\_BANGLADESH \\[last accessed: 04/10/25\\]*","author":"ActionAid Bangladesh","copy_editor":"Zeina Al Amad","keywords":["fishing gear","konch","teta","water"],"materials":["Bamboo","Iron spikes"]},"d348585a-7bd5-5541-a59b-2dc830deea8e":{"name":"Bowl fragment","short_description":"The bowl fragment is decorated with an Arabic inscription in *thuluth* calligraphy reading *‘li'l muhamir al-amir’* (‘to the prince’s cupbearer’) and a heraldic cup motif. The letters and the cup are painted in shades of brown or in white, their outlines are incised. Above the inscription, a narrow register with an incised scroll. A recurrent motif in Mamluk art, blazons were displayed on both monuments and a large variety of objects (arms and armour, ceramics, glass, metalwork, and textiles). Around fifty such blazons are currently known; when accompanied by inscriptions identifying the name of the commissioner they could be actually traced back to a historical personality; others were interpreted on a more general, symbolic level. Animal motifs (the lion, the eagle) were sometimes part of a sultan’s blazon, whilst other motifs were associated with offices held by Mamluks in the sultan’s entourage: the cup with the cupbearer (*saqi*), the polo clubs with the polo master (*jukandar*), the sword, the bow or the mace with the arms bearer (*silahdar*), the lozenge (*buqja*) with the master of the robes (*jamdar*).","type":"Ceramics","holder":"The National Museum of Art of Romania","dates":"Hegira 8th century / AD 14th century","location":"Bucharest","dimensions":"Height: 12.4cm, Width: 15cm","place_of_production":"Fustat, Egypt","method_for_datation":"Both materials and technique, as well as the heraldic decoration are characteristic of Mamluk art.","provenance":"Cairo, Egypt","obtention":"In 1932 the Arab Museum in Cairo donated a collection of ceramic sherds to the Toma Stelian Museum in Bucharest, whose holdings were transferred to the National Museum of Art of Romania in 1949.","bibliography":"Atıl, E., *Renaissance of Islam: Art of the Mamluks*, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1981.  \nDunca, M., *Scrierea în arta islamică*, Bucharest: National Museum of Art of Romania, 2000: 56, cat. no. 29.  \nMayer, L. A., *Saracenic Heraldry*, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1933.  \nWatson, O., *Ceramics from Islamic Lands*, New York: Thames & Hudson, 2005.","author":"Mircea Dunca","keywords":["blazon"],"materials":["Incised (sgrafitto) red earthenware","painted in two browns and in white under a yellow glaze","white slip"]},"d364400e-08ec-5cf3-9810-eaa259a97ddd":{"name":"Pitcher","description":"This ceramic pitcher has a handle, a straight cylindrical neck and a ring base. It is dark blue and turquoise under a transparent glaze. There is an inscription border around the rim. The neck is decorated with vertical lines, and the shoulder has dark blue motifs on a turquoise ground. The body is covered with a geometric design of hexagons.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts","dates":"AH end of 5th–end 7th century/ AD 12th–13th centuries","location":"Istanbul","dimensions":"Height 27.5, base diameter: 8.5cm","materials":["Ceramic"]},"d3981150-1dad-5bad-9f7e-e4e7cb1fa469":{"name":"Water jug (*maşrapa*)","description":"This pitcher (*maşrapa*) has a blue interior glaze and light brown exterior. The exterior surface is coated in a milky brown glaze and decorated with stylised vegetal motifs.","type":"Jug","holder":"İstanbul Su Müzesi / Istanbul Water Museum","dates":"Hegira 5th–6th century / AD 11th–12th century","location":"Istanbul","dimensions":"Height 12.5cm","place_of_production":"Persia","method_for_datation":"Determined by the experts of the Istanbul Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts.","method_for_provenance":"It was determined by the experts of the Istanbul Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts.","obtention":"Purchased.","author":"Ercan Topçu","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","keywords":["Glazed","Jug","vegetal motifs","water"],"materials":["Glazed ceramic"]},"d39da914-020c-5c37-a7ff-589980514ce1":{"name":"Mosque-lamp-shaped vessel with Arabic inscriptions","short_description":"With its delicate spiralling stem design, this small vessel belongs to a group of ceramics formerly referred to as \"Golden Horn\" wares. Current scholarship, however, prefers the term *tughrakes*\\-, or \"*tughra*‑illuminator\" style for such decoration, comparing its design to the fine swirling vines adorning *tughra* calligraphies. During this period, pottery shapes often imitated metalwork forms. This piece, however, emulates glass mosque lamps, which often displayed Arabic inscriptions.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"The Metropolitan Museum of Art","dates":"Hegira 931–47 / AD 1525–40","location":"New York","dimensions":"H: 17cm, Max. Diameter: 14.8cm","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey","obtention":"Vendor: Brimo de Laroussilhe, Paris  \nFormer owner: Octave Homberg, Paris (by 1903–8; sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, May 11–18, 1908)  \nFormer owner \\[dealer\\]: \\[Brimo de Laroussilhe, Paris, until 1959; sold to MMA\\]","bibliography":"Atasoy, Nurhan, Raby, Julian and Petsopoulos, Yanni (ed), *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London: Thames and Hudson, 1989: no. 157, 114-115, ill. (b/w).  \nDenny, Walter B., *The Ceramics of the Mosque of Rustem Pasha and the Environment of Change*, New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1977: 259, ill. fig. 3 (b/w).  \nEkhtiar, Maryam, Canby, Shelia R., Haidar, Navina and Soucek, Priscilla P. (eds), *Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art*, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011: 286, 299-300, no. 208, ill. 300 (colour).  \nGrube, Ernst J., \"The Varieties of Islamic Art\", *Apollo, New Series*, LXXXII / 43 (September 1965): 237, ill. fig. 5.  \nLane, Arthur, \"Ottoman Pottery of Isnik\", *Ars Orientalis*, 2 (1957): 270-72.  \nJenkins-Madina, Marilyn, \"Islamic Pottery: A Brief History\", *Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. New Series*, 40/4 (Spring 1983): 41, no. 46 ill. pl. 46 (colour).  \nKhoury, Nuhan, N. N., \"The Mihrab Image: Commemorative Themes in Medieval Islamic Architecture\", *Muqarnas*, 9 (1992): 21, ill. fig. 12 (b/w).  \nKoechlin, R. and Migeon, Gaston, *Oriental Art. Ceramics, Fabrics, Carpets One Hundred Plates in colour*, Paris, 1928. ill. pl. XXXIX. An almost identical lamp is illustrated.  \nMigeon, Gaston, *Exposition des Arts Musulmans au Musee des Arts Decoratifs*, Paris: E. Levy, 1903: 7. Similar lamp illustrated.  \nSchimmel, Annemarie, \"Islamic Calligraphy\", *Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. New Series*, 50/1 (Summer 1992): 44-45, ill. fig. 54 (colour).  \nWelch, Stuart Cary, *The Islamic World. Vol. 11*, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987: 116, ill. fig. 86 (colour).  \nMetropolitan Museum of Art (ed), \"The Recent Acquisitions Room\" *Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. New Series*, 18 (April 1960): 269-271, ill. 271 (b/w).","copyright":"The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1959","keywords":["Anatolia","Arabic inscription","blue-and-white","calligraphy","ceramic","floral decoration","floral motifs","floriated","foliated","Fritware","Glazed","inscription","Iznik","Iznik pottery","Mosque Lamp","Ottoman","Ottoman ceramic","plant decoration","pottery","Shi'a","stone-paste","Thuluth","tughra","Turkey","vegetal motifs"],"materials":["painted in blue under transparent glaze","Stonepaste"]},"d40f4cf7-8833-5a78-ab2e-a55dbf38460f":{"name":"Large jar.","description":"A large, unglazed but richly decorated *khubb* jar used for storing water. It has an oval-shaped body without a base. Most of the body's surface is decorated with a repeating pattern resembling a stylised horned animal head. The cylindrical neck and protruding lip are richly decorated with pierced carving and applied pieces of clay that were attached to the body of the jar after its basic shape was made. These include human forms in profile and in a standing posture amidst allegorical creatures and stylised foliage. A band of Arabic writing in *thuluth* script divides the ovoid shape of the jar between body and neck. It is possible to translate the text as follows: “\\[May God grant\\] power, prosperity, happiness, respect, bliss and advancement.”  \nOne of the decorative scenes applied on the jar's neck may be described as follows: in the centre is a frontally oriented person who is sitting in the \"Eastern\" posture of worship (i.e. with his arms bent up at the elbow and palms facing the object of worship). He is framed by an overhead arch with a pair of open-jawed dragons facing each other. Beneath the dragons' claws there is a protruding knob flanked by a pair of lion-like faces whose eyes, nostrils, and ears are accentuated by pierced circles. Similar fantastical imagery continues below the seated figure. His crossed legs rest on top of two human-headed birds with young female faces, coiffed hair and elegantly decorated wings. Beneath these fantastical birds there is a pair of protruding lion heads. All these figures are placed on a background of stylised, perforated vegetal motifs.","short_description":"This large water-jar with its ovoid shape, pierced carving and moulded figurative attachments is a masterpiece of the pottery industry of Jazira in the AH 5th and 6th / AD 11th and 12th centuries.","type":"Jar, earthenware","holder":"National Museum of Damascus","dates":"Hegira 6th century / AD 12th century.","location":"Damascus","dimensions":"Height 99 cm, diameter 45.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"The vessel is extremely similar in size, shape, decoration and apparent use to many other pieces produced during the Atabeg and Ayyubid periods (6th / 12th and early 7th / 13th centuries) in the Jazira region.","method_for_provenance":"Although this jar was found in Damascus, *khubb* jars were typically produced in the Jazira area, especially in the cities of Mosul, Sinjar and Tikrit.","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.","obtention":"The jar was found in Veterinarian Street (Jadat al-Bayatira) in the Aqaba Quarter of Damascus, and was purchased by the Museum in 1927.","bibliography":"Abu al-Faraj al-Ush, M., *A Concise Guide to the National Museum of Damascus,* Damascus, 1969, pp.227–8.  \nCluzan, S. et al (eds), *Syrie: Mémoire et Civilisation*, Paris, 1994.  \nEttinghausen, R., Grabar, O., and Jenkins-Madina, M., *Islamic Art and Architecture 650–1250*, New Haven, 2001, p.249.  \nPorter, V., *Medieval Syrian Pottery*, Oxford, 1981.  \nSoustiel, J., and Kiefer, C., *La céramique islamique*, Fribourg, 1985.  \nWatson, O., *Ceramics from Islamic Lands*, London, 2004.","author":"Mona al-Moadin","translator":"Hilary Kalmbach (from the Arabic)","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["ceramics","earthenware","Jar","Jazira","pottery","Thuluth"],"materials":["Earthenware."]},"d471ccf4-8028-5b73-9f99-00c909de85df":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"The large and diverse museum collection of Samanid pottery from old Samarqand (Afrasiab) includes several stylistic types found only in the Transoxiana region. One of the most distinctive of these is presented by a deep hemi-spherical bowl with concave rim and a ring foot, painted with brownish red, olive green and black on white slip. The palette suggests the dating of the bowl to the 10th century.  \nThe composition of the décor is radial. A round medallion in the centre is filled with olive green grid and encircled with a narrow band of meander. Walls are divided into six large trapezoidal segments painted with alternating patterns of brownish red “open hearts” motif and olive green grid motif. Segments are separated by six radial bands of black “open hearts” ornament. Along the rim above large segments there are narrow lambrequins with stylized floral pattern painted in black. The bowl is very well preserved and makes a stunning impression by its intensive colours and bright glitter of the high quality glaze.","type":"Ceramics; Bowl","holder":"The Khanenko Museum","dates":"AD 10th century","location":"Kyiv","dimensions":"Height: 8.5cm, Diameter: 27.1cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis by H. Shyshkina (examination, 1977, date and origin).","method_for_provenance":"According to the entry in the old Museum Inventory Register (1925-1946).","provenance":"Samarqand, Central Asia","obtention":"Acquired by the Khanenko Museum in 1925. From the former collection of the Kyiv University Cabinet of Arts.","bibliography":"Bilenko, H. and Rudyck (Rudyk), H., *Oriental Collection*, guidebook, Kyiv: The Khanenko Museum, 2005.  \nShishkina, G., *The Glazed Pottery of Sogd (second half of VIII – early XIII century)*, Tashkent: Fan, 1979.  \nVyazmitina, M. (ed), *Mystetstvo krain islamu (Art from Islamic Countries)*, catalogue, VUAN Museum of Art, Kyiv: All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, 1930.  \nWilkinson, Ch. K., \"The Glazed Pottery of Nishapur and Samarkand\", *The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin*, 20: 3 (November 1961): 102-115.","author":"Antonina Makarevych","copy_editor":"Janice Medina","keywords":["earthenware","Samanid","Samarqand","underglaze painting"],"materials":["Earthenware","white slip with polychrome slip decoration under transparent glaze"]},"d4c79927-459a-53a9-ae7c-8f1aee62f08d":{"name":"Alhambra vase.","description":"The jar, shaped like an amphora, belongs to the group of so-called Alhambra vases characterised by a swelling body, a neck with protruding lip and wide flat handles. One of the handles of this vase was lost and has been replaced by a bronze dragon. Base supports were added later to the vase to hold it upright. The decoration, overglaze painted in a yellowish lustre, emphasises the different components of the vase: perpendicular designs fill the panels of the long, ribbed neck, alternate narrow and wide horizontal bands define the elongated body, and an all-over lattice of rhombs covers the remaining handle. A limited repertoire of designs consisting of inscriptional, ornamental and vegetal elements is repeated in the individual areas of the body and the neck. The decoration of this vase shows some special features not found on other vases. The most remarkable difference is the obligatory *kufic* inscription of the body which is not set in a wide central area. Another feature is the vegetal pattern composed of thin stems that lack a recognisable inner structure.  \nThe Alhambra vase in Stockholm is one of the few nearly complete vases. When it was described for the first time in the 16th century by pilgrims as a relic in a church in Cyprus, the vase was believed to be one of the jars from the Marriage at Canaan when Christ transformed water into wine. In 1580 the vase came as booty in the possession of the Ottoman sultan. Some time later, a German ambassador at the Sublime Porte succeeded in buying the Christian relic and the vase passed into the treasury of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II (1552–1612). When the Swedish army conquered Prague in 1648, it was taken to Sweden and became part of the treasures of the royal family. In the first half of the 18th century the Swedish architect C. Härleman restored the missing handle by designing a dragon. He also added the bronze wreath, covering much of the bold *naskhi* inscription on the shoulder, which cannot be read.","short_description":"Large, amphora-like jar (so-called Alhambra vase). Horizontal bands contain inscriptions, ornamental and vegetal motifs. One of the characteristic wide flat handles was replaced by a bronze dragon. The base intended to hold the jar upright was also added later.","type":"Vase, ceramic","holder":"National Museum of Fine Arts.","dates":"Hegira second half of the 8th century / AD second half of the 14th century.","location":"Stockholm","dimensions":"Height *c*. 119 cm.","method_for_datation":"Because of its elongated shape and its decoration scheme, the Stockholm vase is a predecessor of the blue painted vases dated to the late 8th–early 9th / late 14th–early 15th centuries. Its comparison with the architectural and textile ornament of the time of the reign of Muhammad V (764–94 / 1362–91) is evidence for an attribution of the vase to the second half of the 8th / 14th century.","method_for_provenance":"Several jars of this type were found in the Alhambra Palace in Granada, which also gives the objects their name. It is not known exactly where the vases were produced. They were probably made in Malaga, southwest of Granada, which was the centre of lustre ceramic production from the 7th to the 9th / 13th to the 15th centuries.","provenance":"Spain, possibly Malaga.","obtention":"The Alhambra vase was part of the royal collections, which were transferred to the Royal Museum, later the National Museum of Fine Arts, opened in the palace in 1794.","bibliography":"Aguado Villalba, J., Tinajas medievales españolas: Islamicas y Mudéjaros, Madrid, 1991.  \nFrothingham, A. W., *Lusterware of Spain*, New York, 1951.  \nKenesson, S. S., “Nasrid Luster Pottery: The Alhambra Vases”, *Muqarnas* 9, 1992, pp.93–115.  \nKurz, O., “The Strange History of an Alhambra Vase”, *The Decorative Arts of Europe and the Islamic East*, London, 1977, pp.205–12.  \nMartínez Caviró, B., *Cerámica Hispanomusulmana Andalusi y Mudéjar*, Madrid, 1991, pp.75–123.","author":"Friederike Voigt","copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["Alhambra vase","ceramic","Lustre painting"],"materials":["Ceramic","opaque glazed","overglaze painted in lustre."]},"d4cb27ef-ed38-5e0e-a7ee-36d39dde3dca":{"name":"Tile panel","short_description":"These tiles, purchased from a gallery in Iran in 1938, are said to have come from Julfa, an Armenian suburb of Isfahan, Iran. Indeed, the lively animals (such as ibexes, ducks, tigers, and gazelles) seen on the tiles are typical of underglaze-painted tiles of Julfa. To achieve the sharp, polychrome designs seen on haft-rangi tile, the colored glazes were separated by a black line that prevented the colours from blending together.","type":"Islamic, Indian & Southeast Asian works of art; tilework; ceramic","holder":"Shangri La, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira 11th century / AD 17th century","location":"Honolulu, Hawai'i","dimensions":"Overall: 140.7 x 188.9 cm","provenance":"Iran, Isfahan","keywords":["floral decoration","haftrang","Iran","Julfa","Safawid","stonepaste","Tile panel","tilework","underglaze-painted"],"materials":["Stonepaste","underglaze-painted"]},"d4d259e7-4328-5707-904a-64246e07850e":{"name":"Tile panel.","description":"Lunette-panel of 16 tiles. Said to have come from the mosque of the Ottoman Grand Admiral Piyale Pasha, the panel shows the Iznik potters at the height of their powers. A cloud-band of deep-red undulates through a field of blue flowers and green leaves, all carefully organised around spiralling arabesques. The dark-blue of the border is offset by the green and red of the alternating flowers and leaves. While the form of the panel is a common one, as lunettes were a standard feature of Ottoman architectural decoration, the quality of decoration makes this a particularly splendid example.","short_description":"A panel of 16 tiles shaped to form a lunette-panel. This particular example is said to have come from a mosque founded by the Ottoman Grand Admiral Piyale Pasha. The quality of the tiles, particularly the use of red and green, shows the splendour of the Iznik pottery industry at its zenith.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, Glazed painting","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum.","dates":"Around hegira 981 / AD 1573-4.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Width 149 cm.","method_for_datation":"The panel was taken from above a window in the mosque of Piyale Pasha in Istanbul, built in 981 / 1573-4.","method_for_provenance":"Iznik was the centre of quality ceramic production in this period.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Purchased by the Museum in 1897.","bibliography":"Lane, A., A Guide to the Collection of Tiles, [at the Victoria and Albert Museum], London, 1960, p.21.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Barry Wood","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["floral decoration","Mosque interior decoration","tilework"],"materials":["Painted and glazed ceramic."]},"d506ae4d-e5e8-5946-b5f5-cc9da28f5457":{"name":"Dish.","description":"A small, square relief-moulded ceramic dish with nine sections: five circular and four egg-shaped in the corners. The flat surface around these indentations is covered with relief decoration. This was probably used as a condiment tray with a different delicacy held in each compartment. Unusually for this type of ceramic the craftsman has signed his work; Abu Nasr states that he is from Basra but that this dish was made in Egypt. It is possible that Abu Nasr moved from Basra after a period of political unrest there, to settle in Egypt under the relative stability of the Tulunid dynasty. He offers, therefore, an interesting example of the tendency of craftsmen to leave areas of political upheaval and migrate to more politically peaceful locations where patronage would be more abundant.","short_description":"This ceramic dish was made by one Abu Nasr; he states that he is from Basra but that he made the dish in Egypt. This is clear evidence that not only artefacts, such as wood-carvings and ceramics, but craftsmen themselves travelled from Abbasid Iraq to Tulunid Egypt in the AH 3rd / AD 9th century.","type":"Ceramic, glazed pottery","holder":"The British Museum.","dates":"Hegira 3rd century / AD 9th century.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Width 34.9 cm.","method_for_datation":"Other lead-glazed ceramics with relief decoration have been found at sites in Abbasid Egypt and Iraq, dating to the 3rd / 9th century.","method_for_provenance":"The craftsman has inscribed the dish with the words: 'the work of Abu Nasr of Basra in Egypt'. Therefore although he originated in Basra, he made this dish in Egypt.","provenance":"Egypt.","obtention":"Bequeathed by Augustus Wollaston Franks in 1889.","bibliography":"Grube. E., et. al., *Cobalt and Lustre: The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery*, London, 1994, pp.10–34.","author":"Emily Shovelton","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["food","patronage"],"materials":["Relief-moulded and lead-glazed ceramic."]},"d55b9320-ae0b-59f0-aa56-266f6476f76e":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"This bowl belongs to a group of quartz frit ceramics with luster decoration produced in Kashan at the end of the Hegira 6th century. Thanks to vessels dated between Hegira 575 and 595 (AD 1179 to 1198), the period in which they flourished can be narrowed down fairly precisely. Characteristic are the individual figures in clearly defined fields.  \n  \nThis bowl is fashioned after a metal prototype. In order to obtain the shape, the vessel was not formed on the potter's wheel but with the help of models.","type":"Ceramic vessel","holder":"Museum Rietberg","initial_owner":"Private collection, Switzerland","dates":"Hegira end of 6th century / AD end of 12th","location":"Zurich","dimensions":"Height: 9.1cm, Diameter: 15.1cm","method_for_datation":"By comparison with similar dated objects","method_for_provenance":"By comparison with stylistically similar works","provenance":"Iran, Kashan","obtention":"Bequest of Martha and Ursula Wirz","author":"Axel Langer","copy_editor":"Jonathan Turnbull","materials":["Frit ware","lustre decoration painted on an opaque white glaze"]},"d5968214-2acb-5a7f-a152-88470aecce15":{"name":"Dish with conical boss.","description":"A large plate turned on a wheel, with an elevated central boss (umbonate). It is profusely decorated with copper-chestnut, with sections in blue, on a white background with metallic lustre. The central subject, heraldic in style, occupies the entire base of the piece and consists of a two-headed eagle, with a crown, surrounded by stylised plant motifs – ivy leaves. The same decorative motifs are repeated on the flat part of the rim, interspersed by four large leaves (similar to parsley leaves) accentuated in blue. The reverse of the object is decorated with stylised marks consisting of inward curving lines, reminiscent of initials. It has three equidistant spurs resulting from the mark left by the trivets. This is a luxury but practical object, used as tableware as a substitute for metal objects, which it imitates in its design.","short_description":"Bossed dish from Manises in the Valencia region. The town’s ceramics tradition dates back to the Islamic period. This luxury item has a central, heraldic-style motif consisting of a two-headed eagle with a crown surrounded by stylised plant motifs.","type":"Dish, clay","holder":"Machado de Castro National Museum.","initial_owner":"João Maria Correia Ayres de Campos, Count of Ameal.","dates":"15th century.","location":"Coimbra.","dimensions":"Height 7.5 cm, diameter (of rim) 38 cm, diameter (of base) 9 cm.","method_for_datation":"Probable dating by stylistic analogy with the class of gilded lustre-ware ceramics from Manises (15th–18th century). The Muslims of Valencia continued its production until the 18th century, introducing more varied profiles and new shapes, as well as variations in its decoration, especially in the use of polychromy. For this reason it is thought that this piece may belong to the early period of production in Manises. In addition, the stylised elements on the reverse of the object are still characteristic of the 15th century.","method_for_provenance":"Manises is the source of the metallic painted lustre-ware which developed a large market as luxury objects all over Europe during the 15th century.","provenance":"Manises, Valencia, Spain.","obtention":"It was obtained in 1921, through donation.","bibliography":"*Vente d'Objets d'Art. Collections Comte de Ameal. Catalogue Descriptif*, Lisbon, 1921, no. 2157.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_ES_PT_001","author":"Ana Alcoforado","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["clay","eagles","Glazed","lustre","Manises","modelled","Mudéjar","umbonate dish"],"materials":["Clay modelled on the wheel and glazed (lustre-ware)."]},"d597f360-10fd-5808-93c6-1f3065c51d77":{"name":"Tile panel, custom-made for Shangri La's courtyard","short_description":"Creating a tile mosaic is an intricate process. Monochrome-glazed tile slabs are first fired and then cut into small pieces of varying shapes. The pieces are fitted together upside-down, and plaster is poured over them to form a solid, secure backing. The design of this massive tile mosaic, which was custom-made for Shangri La in Iran in 1938, derives from a pair of mosaic tile panels on the portal to the Shah's mosque (Masjid-i Shah) in Isfahan, Iran.","type":"Islamic, Indian & Southeast Asian works of art; tilework; ceramic","holder":"Shangri La, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira 1356–1358 / AD 1938–1939","location":"Honolulu, Hawai'i","dimensions":"Overall: 609.6 x 335.3 cm","provenance":"Iran, Isfahan","keywords":["arabesque","architectural decoration","Early Pahlavi","floral decoration","inscription","Iran","monochrome-glazed","mosaic","revivalism","Safawid revival","stonepaste","tilework"],"materials":["monochrome-glazed fragments assembled as mosaic","Stonepaste"]},"d610db47-e679-5566-8a64-70b9efcac53f":{"name":"Tile with green parrots","short_description":"The colour palette of this beautiful tile includes emerald green and bright tomato red that were mastered by potters of Turkish Iznik in the second half of the AD 16th century. The sophisticated composition of two parrots (or peacocks) sitting on either side of the fountain surrounded by a dense foliage of scrolled serrated \"*saz*\" leaves represent the style introduced into Iznik décor by Şahkulu, the head of the court design atelier from 1526–56. The old-known Middle Eastern motif of two birds flanking a water pool refers to the idea of Paradise and immortality of a human soul.  \nIn the 16th–17th century the Ottomans widely used painted ceramic tiles for inside decoration of religious or secular buildings. The idea was to strike a visitor of a mosque or palace by a sharp contrast between the austere external walls and the stunning beauty of the interior.","type":"Tile","holder":"The Khanenko Museum","dates":"AD late 16th–early 17th century","location":"Kyiv","dimensions":"Width: 24cm, Length: 24cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis by Yu. Miller (publication, 1972, date, origin).","method_for_provenance":"According to the entry in the old Museum Inventory Register (1925-1946).","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey","obtention":"Purchased by Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko. Donated by Varvara Khanenko in 1918, nationalized by Bolshevik regime in 1919.","bibliography":"Carswell, J., *Iznik Pottery*, London: British Museum Press, 1998.  \nDenny, W. B., *Gardens of Paradise: 16th century Turkish Ceramic Tile Decoration*, Istanbul: Ertug & Kocabiyik, 1998.  \nMiller, Yu, *Art of Turkish Ceramics*, Leningrad: Aurora Publishing House, 1972.  \nRudyk, Hanna, \"Ottoman Collection in The Khanenko Museum\", *Chronicles-2000*, 1: 95 (2013): 479-495.  \nVyazmitina, M. (ed), *Mystetstvo krain islamu (Art from Islamic Countries)*, catalogue, VUAN Museum of Art, Kyiv: All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, 1930.","author":"Antonina Makarevych","copy_editor":"Janice Medina","keywords":["ceramics","Iznik","Ottoman","stonepaste","tile","Turkey"],"materials":["polychrome painted under transparent glaze","Stonepaste"]},"d6aabbc5-689a-572b-bc5c-97c69c34d4f6":{"name":"Mina'I bowl","short_description":"A typically round bowl sitting on a short circular foot. The interior is decorated with pairs of seated figures dressed in brightly coloured clothes separated by small pointed cypress trees with a man on horseback in the centre. Below the rim on the inside is a calligraphic band whilst on the exterior is a red and blue decoration.","type":"Bowl","holder":"Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization","dates":"Late 6th-early 7th century AH / Late 12th-early 13th century AD","location":"Sharjah","dimensions":"Height: 7.5cm, Diameter: 17.1cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis","method_for_provenance":"Stylistic analysis","provenance":"Kashan, Iran","obtention":"Purchased","author":"Hazelle Page","materials":["Ceramic","enamelled paint","Mina'i ware"]},"d71042b5-7752-5d3f-8e19-eda7d0c3baca":{"name":"Large jar with relief decoration.","description":"The egg-shaped jar, with three small handles, is covered entirely with a heavy dark-green glaze, which is common in Sassanid ceramic production.  \nThe decoration is based on a series of concentric circles in relief finished off in the middle with a motif of a stylised bunch of grapes, which is related to a widespread tradition of symbolic figures. Below the brim there is a geometric motif in relief made up of small rhombuses, and the lower part of the body is decorated with apex motifs.  \nThe shape, decoration and technique used in the piece are evidence of the stylistic continuity between the late Sassanid and the early Islamic periods. The jar was probably intended to store foodstuffs.","short_description":"Sassanid influences are clearly recognisable in the shape, decoration and production technique of this jar, which was probably used to store foodstuffs.","type":"Jar, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”","dates":"Hegira 2nd / AD 8th century.","location":"Rome","dimensions":"Height 44 cm, diameter 39 cm.","method_for_datation":"Through stylistic analysis. The shape and decoration of the jar, the technique used and the dark green glaze are all typical of Sassanid ceramics.","method_for_provenance":"Similar examples were common in Persia and Iraq, countries in which they were in use until the 3rd / 9th century.","provenance":"Iran.","obtention":"Purchase.","bibliography":"Erdmann, K., *Die Kunst Irans zur Zeit der Sasaniden*, Magonz, 1969.  \nFèhervari, G., *La Ceramica Islamica*, Milan, 1985.  \nGrube, E.J., *Cobalt and Lustre. The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery. The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art*, Vol. IX, London, 1994.  \nLane, A., *Early Islamic Pottery*, London, 1953.  \nTorre, P., *Le Mille e una Notte: Ceramiche Persiane, Turche e Ispano-Moresche*, Faenza, 1990.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_JO_EN_001","author":"Paola Torre","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","geometric decoration"],"materials":["Glazed ceramic."]},"d73ce677-c4d9-526d-a784-55d5db6b9325":{"name":"Storage jar.","description":"A small, dark-gray storage jar of beautiful form, with a ribbed body and linear geometric pattern, painted with a single and a multiple-headed brush prior to firing, which covers the entire vessel. The extent of decoration on this jar means that it was probably a costly item.  \n  \nThe jar has a triangular rim, two loop handles and a round umbilical base. It was made of two parts joined by pressing the clay together, as there is a flange between the shoulder and the ribbed body. The jar was broken into pieces when recovered and has been subsequently mended.","short_description":"A small storage jar from the nymphaeum at Umm Qays with a geometric pattern painted before firing. It was made of two parts, joined at the flange between the shoulder and body. The extent of decoration probably made it a costly item.","type":"Jar, ceramic","holder":"Umm Qays Archaeological Museum.","dates":"Hegira, second half of the 1st century / AD 2nd half of the 7th century.","location":"Umm Qays","dimensions":"Height 47.5 cm, diameter (of rim) 10 cm; diameter (of base) 22 cm.","method_for_datation":"The jar was dated by stratigraphic context and comparison with similar vessels uncovered at other sites.","method_for_provenance":"The jar was found at the nymphaeum of Umm-Qays during excavation, but the original place of production is not known.","provenance":"Umm Qays, Jordan.","obtention":"The jar was uncovered in the course of an archaeological excavation carried out at the nymphaeum (a pleasure garden) at Umm-Qays in 2001.","bibliography":"Harding, G. L., 'Excavations on the Citadel, Amman', *Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan*, Vol. I, 1951, pp.7–16, fig. 4.41 (for similar jars).  \n  \nSmith, R. H., *Pella of the Decapolis*, Vol. I, London 1973, p.233, object no. 281, plate 45, photo 85 (for similar jars).","linkcatalogs":"IAM_JO_EN_001","author":"Aida Naghawy","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["luxury ware","nymphaeum","pottery."],"materials":["Wheel-thrown ceramic."]},"d7e18569-9eee-57d9-a0c1-5ccdc6d021f5":{"name":"Covered inkstand","short_description":"Whether urban or rural, Moroccan ceramics reflect the country’s ethnic diversity. The city of Fez in northern Morocco was the most important centre for the production of 'urban' ceramics. Most of the objects produced are functional and for everyday use, especially kitchenware. Fez is particularly renowned for its cobalt blue and white glazed ceramic ware. The pottery was wheel-made and produced exclusively by male specialists.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Weltmuseum Wien","dates":"Before 1910","location":"Vienna","dimensions":"Inkstand: L: 20cm, W: 6.5cm, H: 18.5cm","method_for_datation":"Entry in the general inventory and archival documents.","method_for_provenance":"Entry in the general inventory book.","provenance":"Morocco, Fès","obtention":"Catalog entry: \"Donated by the imperial and royal Secretary of Legation Dr. Michael Count Bukuwky [von Bukuwka], 1910.\"","materials":["Ceramic"]},"d8e83cc2-fed3-5eb6-acf4-5914da8fc9a0":{"name":"Ewer.","description":"A ceramic ewer of rectangular shape, with four feet and sloping shoulders. The original spout and handle have broken off and been replaced, probably in the 19th century, with metal mounts of European origin. The ewer is decorated with underglaze painting in white on a blue ground. The wide sides are decorated with white cloud-bands in a spiralling arabesque framework, reflected in a looser form (without the cloud-bands) on the ewer's sloping shoulders, while the narrow sides feature linked flower motifs. The ewer's feet have been left white. This is one of a group of ceramic objects which represent the waning of the so-called 'Baba Naqqash' style. The scrolling arabesques and stylised cloud-bands recall earlier ornament, but the design has become more open and free, looking forward to the classical Iznik style.","short_description":"A ceramic ewer of rectangular shape, with four feet and a sloping shoulder. The decoration in blue and white features both traditional and innovative elements. The original spout and handle have broken off and been replaced, probably in the 19th century, with silver mounts of European origin.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, glazed painting","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum.","dates":"About hegira 925 / AD 1520.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 22.3 cm, width 15.5 cm (including spout), depth 11 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stylistic comparison (see description).","method_for_provenance":"Iznik was the centre of quality ceramic production in this period.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey (the mounts European).","obtention":"Bequest of George Salting, 1910.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, Istanbul/London, 1989, p.95 and p.96, fig. 97.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Barry Wood","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["floral decoration"],"materials":["Painted and glazed ceramic","the mounts silver."]},"d971e2da-ec43-53d8-9ea9-f48cb8b3eeee":{"name":"Turkish jugs","description":"Bought at the 1873 World's Fair in Vienna. The black and white illustration was included in the book edited by C. Lützow: *Kunst und Kunstgewerbe auf der Wiener Weltausstellung 1873*, 1875, S 251.","type":"Print; Ceramics","holder":"MAK – Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art","dates":"3rd quarter of the 19th century","location":"Vienna","provenance":"Turkey, Çanakkale","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega"},"d9965187-6fce-52dd-9948-49959f6e177c":{"name":"Bowl with stylised bird","short_description":"This flat bowl with a ring base shows a bird with stylised plumage on its head. Painted on white engobe (slip), the outline of the bird is painted in black, its body, wings and tail filled with olive green, black, and red. Around the bird, the bowl is decorated with a floral and vine motif and the rim is decorated with black dots. It was presumably produced in either Nishapur or Amol.","type":"Bowl","holder":"MKG Museum for Applied Arts","dates":"Hegira 4th century / AD 10th century","location":"Hamburg","dimensions":"Height: 7.4cm, Diameter: 22cm; Diameter of the foot: 10.2cm","method_for_datation":"The decoration and technique refer to Sari ware.","method_for_provenance":"Auction Hauswedel.","provenance":"Iran, Nishapur or Amol (Mazandaran Province)","obtention":"Purchased in 1958.","bibliography":"Haase, C.-P., Kröger, J. and Lienert, U., *Oriental Splendour: Islamic Art from German Collections*, Hamburg: Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, 1993.  \nJakobsen, K., *Islamische Keramik*, Hamburg: Bilderhefte des Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, 1959.","copy_editor":"Caitlin Link","keywords":["ceramics"],"materials":["Earthenware with coloured slip painting"]},"d9c388f4-ae74-56f2-b3d4-341eda234a0f":{"name":"Panel with a large bouquet","description":"This polychromatic panel is decorated with an image of a bowl filled with pears, apples and other fruits, topped by a small vase with flowers such as carnations, tulips, sunflowers and daisies coming out of it, which are interlaced with a rinceau pattern of palmettes, half-palmettes and vine leaves. The main colours are blue, green and brown. The decorative style, colour palette and manufacture all indicate a typical Tunisian ceramic, containing a mix of Andalusian and Ottoman influences.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Musée National du Bardo","dates":"19th century","location":"Le Bardo, Tunis","provenance":"Qallaline","translator":"Flaminia Baldwin"},"d9cffa1d-0e9d-59ee-a8f9-0f2a12a3c7dd":{"name":"Dish serving for dried fruits or nuts","description":"Sultan Abdülhamid II founded in 1891 the *Yıldız Çini Fabrika-i Hümâyûnu* (Yıldız Royal Tile Factory) in the garden of Yıldız Palace in order to revive Turkish tile art and give it a new direction and momentum. Vases, hanging wall plates and many sorts of daily-use wares were produced in the factory, including writing and dinner table utensils, card plates, lidded bowls, pans, *aşure* (a kind of dessert) trays, sugar bowls, tea and coffee cups. Many native and foreign artists have worked in the tile factory of Yıldız. One of them, Halid Naci received training in tile painting in Sevres, France after his education at the *Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi* (School of Fine Arts) and he was assigned to be head painter of the tile factories after his return.","type":"Ceramic plate","holder":"Yıldız Palace Museum","location":"Istanbul","provenance":"Istanbul","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega"},"d9d1975c-a93a-56fc-b9e6-09cc24d00116":{"name":"Dish","short_description":"Among the most noteworthy pieces of the museum collection of Iznik pottery is a dish with a “bush” composition in the central field and a ribbon that meanders on the edge. This plate dates to the AD early 17th century and gives a refined example of painting in the so-called “*saz*” style based on a key motif of a large serrated leaf of a specific shape. The dish is distinguished by a masterly drawing on a perfectly white surface, achieved by applying on the body a high quality white engobe. The artist used liquid paints that contained various metal oxides that gave different colours in the firing. To prevent blurring of pigments, the motifs were outlined with a thin black line in “*cuerda seca*” technique. Application of a transparent lead glaze created on the surface of the dish a dense smoothly glittering layer without cracks. In addition to its decorative merits, the dish attracts attention by a peculiar artistic decision of featuring a broken flower stem that subtly balances the asymmetrical design.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"The Khanenko Museum","dates":"AD early 17th century","location":"Kyiv","dimensions":"Height: 5.6cm, Diameter: 29.1cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis by Yu. Miller (publication, 1961, date, origin).","method_for_provenance":"According to the entry in the old Museum Inventory Register (1925-1946).","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey","obtention":"Purchased by Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko. Donated by Varvara Khanenko in 1918, nationalized by Bolshevik regime in 1919.","bibliography":"Bilenko, H. and Rudyck (Rudyk), H., *Oriental Collection*, guidebook, Kyiv: The Khanenko Museum, 2005.  \nCarswell, J., *Iznik Pottery*, London: British Museum Press, 1998.  \nDenny, W. B., *Iznik: the Artistry of Ottoman Ceramics*, London: Thames and Hudson, 2004.  \nMiller, Yu, *Art of Turkish Ceramics*, Leningrad: Aurora Publishing House, 1972.  \nVyazmitina, M. (ed), *Mystetstvo krain islamu (Art from Islamic Countries)*, catalogue, VUAN Museum of Art, Kyiv: All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, 1930.","author":"Antonina Makarevych","copy_editor":"Janice Medina","keywords":["ceramics","Iznik","Ottoman","stonepaste","Turkey"],"materials":["polychrome painted under transparent glaze","Stonepaste"]},"d9ffdbec-54c1-5b8a-83b7-801a93de7321":{"name":"Lid","short_description":"The Bumiller Collection holds a row of jug lids with moulded zoomorphic or figurative motifs on one side. A part of this one is broken off, but the scene and the remaining part of the circular hole for attaching the lid to the handle of a jug is clearly visible. The upper side shows a mounted falconer, holding a falcon on his right hand behind his back. The falconer on horseback is a standardized and popular motif in all groups of materials and can be found on all kinds of metalwork, ceramics, ivory, textiles, glass flasks and beakers, from the 9th century CE on. Originally meant as an emblem of royal power or nobility, it may just fulfil a reminiscent purpose on this rather modest artefact of daily use.","type":"Earthenware","holder":"University Museum of Islamic Art | The Bumiller Collection","dates":"Hegira 5-6th century / AD 11-12th century","location":"Bamberg","dimensions":"Height: 1.2cm, Diameter: 7.7cm, Weight: 0.31kg","method_for_datation":"Lids were found in archaeological excavations in Iran (Susa) and Uzbekistan. A set was found in a workshop in Pajkent that according to radiocarbon dating was active form the 9th to 12th century. The falconer on horseback is a motif still popular in the 12th century.","provenance":"Afghanistan Northern Iran or Central Asia","obtention":"Former Luschey Collection 2009","bibliography":"Simeon, Pierre, *From Ordinary to Luxury. Islamic Ceramics from Iran, Central Asia and Afghanistan. Studies on the Bumiller Collection I*, edited by Verena Daiber, Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2020: 27-29.","author":"Verena Daiber","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega","keywords":["earthenware","Falcon","Falconer","Lid","stamp"],"materials":["Unglazed earthenware with stamped motif"]},"da5156d7-a825-5d2f-bce3-fb298aee2108":{"name":"Blue dish","short_description":"This unusually large dish reflects the Chinese influence that was found in by far the majority of Persian blue and white ceramics after c. 1400. But there are differences. The nervous peony, whose petals almost look like Chinese cloud ornaments, is of Far Eastern origin, while the rim’s split-leaf ornamentation, in contrast, is purely Islamic.","type":"Blue dish, fritware","holder":"The David Collection","dates":"Hegira 11th century / AD 17th century","location":"Copenhagen","provenance":"Iran, Kerman?","keywords":["Blue dish","China","Fritware"],"materials":["Fritware","with decoration cut through a blue slip under a transparent glaze"]},"db0e000c-19a2-52b9-a53e-eab344b9164a":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"Abbasid ceramic production in Iraq indicates the significant impact of Chinese porcelain, found in numerous fragments throughout Mesopotamia. The plain elegance of this production is embodied in this small bowl, whose surface, entirely coated in white opaque glaze, is decorated simply by the phrase \"work of Khalid\" traced in elegant *kufic* characters with cobalt blue, painted directly over the glazing.","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 3rd century / AD 9th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Diameter 22 cm","provenance":"Iraq","keywords":["Abbasid","ceramic","cobalt blue","pottery"],"materials":["blue decoration","Earthenware","opaque white glaze"]},"db82ea3b-e453-5b5e-88c6-45d371143686":{"name":"Jar","short_description":"Fritware jar covered with transparent cobalt blue glaze, painted in monochrome luster and decorated with *kufic*\\-pseudo incriptions.","type":"Vessels & receptacles, fritware ceramic","holder":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah","dates":"Hegira mid 7th century / AD mid 13th century","location":"Kuwait City","provenance":"Syria, Damascus","keywords":["Glaze","kufic","Luster","pseudo inscriptions","vase"]},"dba3961b-be9c-5aa5-b797-ef6ba17346fe":{"name":"Jug.","description":"A medium-sized filter jug with one handle that is glazed light-green on top of dark-red ware. It has a simple rim, a flaring neck, a high, loop handle and a round body; the jug has a filter in the neck and a disc base. The body is divided into three bands by horizontal lines that begin at the rim, with one on the neck and another mid-way down the body. The decoration contains 'V'-shaped imbrications especially on the neck and the bottom half of the body, while the upper half of the body is decorated by small 'cactus'-stem shapes. The inside of the neck is also decorated by use of vertical lines of light-green glaze.","short_description":"A medium-sized filter jug with one handle that is glazed light-green on top of dark-red ware. The body is divided into three bands by horizontal lines, and the inside of the neck is also decorated by use of vertical lines of light-green glaze.","type":"Jug, ceramic","holder":"Al-Saraya Museum.","dates":"Hegira 6th-7th century / AD 12th-13th century.","location":"Irbid","dimensions":"Height 17 cm, diameter (of rim) 8.5 cm, diameter (of base) 4.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"The jug was dated by stylistic analysis and by comparison with similar vessels.","method_for_provenance":"The provenance is unknown.","provenance":"Unknown.","obtention":"The object was purchased from an antiquities dealer in 1980.","bibliography":"n/a.","author":"Aida Naghawy","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["geometric decoration","Glaze"],"materials":["Glazed ceramic."]},"dbe5d877-10e6-5723-8ea6-cd192909e5b0":{"name":"Tile panel in the form of a fireplace surround","short_description":"Islamic art may often operate on two visual levels: surface impressions and detailed study. A quick peruser may find pleasure from a work of art's bold colors and designs, but those who take the time to look more closely will be amply rewarded. In this tile, shaped to surround a small fireplace, dancing and acrobatic female entertainers, kings in repose who drink wine from small glasses, quietly seated aged advisors, thoughtful soldiers, and busy musicians fill the composition.","type":"Islamic, Indian & Southeast Asian works of art; Tilework; ceramic","holder":"Shangri La, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira 13th century / AD 19th century","location":"Honolulu, Hawai'i","dimensions":"Overall: 208.3 x 329.6 cm","provenance":"Iran","keywords":["architectural decoration","court life","fireplace surround","Iran","music","musician","Qajar","stonepaste","Tile panel","tilework","underglaze-painted"],"materials":["Stonepaste","underglaze-painted"]},"dc123c01-a94a-53ca-b79e-5fb7aeb83571":{"name":"Vat","description":"Globular vat with a conical base, a flaring neck, a flanged rim and winged handles. The paste is whitish and unglazed. Its decoration consists of a stamped, alternating series of lozenges and eulogetic epigraphy arranged in perimeter friezes.  \n  \nA common feature of Andalusian homes, these large earthenware vats were strategically placed in the courtyards or in interior rooms to preserve goods such as oil, cereals, or water, as well as to store domestic objects. In this case, the porous nature of the unglazed clay suggests that this example functioned specifically as a water vat, as it would have filtered and cooled the water, keeping it clean and fresh.  \n  \nBeyond their practical function, some vats had also an aesthetic value, as can be seen in the stamped decoration or glazing. Decorations included epigraphic motifs invoked to protect the vats' contents. The production and use of these vats continued after the Castilian conquest.","type":"Vat","holder":"National Archaeological Museum","initial_owner":"Unknown","dates":"Hegira 7th century / AD 13th century","location":"Madrid","dimensions":"Height: 68cm, maximum diameter: 203cm, mouth diameter: 34cm, base diameter: 18cm","place_of_production":"Al-Andalus","method_for_datation":"Archaeological and art-historical studies have established certain formal features that allow us to date the piece to the 7th–8th century Hegira / 13th–14th century AD. The globular body and stamped decoration are particularly present in the Almohad world, evolving towards more stylised forms, with more pronounced winged handles.","provenance":"Seville","obtention":"In the Museum's collection before 1980.","bibliography":"Aguado Villalba, J., *Tinajas medievales españolas: islámicas y mudéjares*, Toledo: Instituto Provincial de Investigaciones y Estudios Toledanos. Provincial council, 1991: 48, fig. 23.  \n  \nFernández López, M. Á., “El ajuar cerámico andalusí de almacenamiento de agua en la región de Murcia”, in L. Cara Barrionuevo (ed), *El agua en zonas áridas. Arqueología e historia. Hidráulica tradicional de la provincia de Almería*, Instituto de Estudios Almerienses, 1989: 199-225.  \n  \nFranco Mata, M. Á., “Antigüedades cristianas de los siglos VIII al XV», in L. Balmaseda et al. (eds), *Edad Media: salas XXIV-XXXV*, general guide. Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Madrid: Ministerio de Cultura, 1992: 75-111.  \n  \nNavarro Palazón, J. (ed.), *Casas y palacios en Al-Andalus: siglos XII-XIII*, Madrid: Lunweg, 1995.","author":"Helena Lahoz Kopiske","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","keywords":["Conservation","Household goods","Prophylactic practices","Technology","water"],"materials":["Ceramic","firing","modelling","stamping"]},"dd39d739-7c94-5fca-8bd3-91cc2964d480":{"name":"Dish","short_description":"In the late fifteenth century, Iznik potters developed a distinct ceramic tradition known as Iznik ware, in which a stonepaste vessel was coated in a slip (thinned siliceous clay), painted in polychromatic glazes and additional slips, and covered with a transparent glaze. The entire surface of this Iznik vessel is covered in a fish-scale pattern; the rim features a wave and rock pattern inspired by Chinese models. The reverse is plain with a short, white glazed foot.","type":"Islamic, Indian & Southeast Asian works of art; ceramic","holder":"Shangri La, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira c. 987–994 / AD 1580–1585","location":"Honolulu, Hawai'i","dimensions":"Diameter: 26.7 cm","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","keywords":["arabesque","ceramic","Dish","Iznik","Ottoman","stonepaste","underglaze-painted"],"materials":["Stonepaste","underglaze-painted under a slip coating"]},"dd477064-8dcc-5912-86cc-4b16275db787":{"name":"Dish","short_description":"The high point of Ottoman ceramics can be distinguished by brilliant polychrome finish and the richness of the floral and plant compositions (carnations, peonies and *saz* leaves).","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira second half of the 10th century / AD second half of the 16th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Diameter max 29.8 cm","provenance":"Turkey (Iznik)","keywords":["ceramic","Iznik","Ottoman"],"materials":["Frit body","underglaze polychrome painting"]},"de834889-8d91-5a45-91c0-917eb5e7de6f":{"name":"Ceramic panel with eight azulejos [tiles] (from the Odescalchi collection)","alternate_name":"Pannello ceramico con otto azulejos (dalla collezione Odescalchi)","description":"The Museum of Industrial Arts (M.A.I.) was established in 1872 in Rome as a collection of manufacts (glasses, majolica, sculptures, materials, photographs, metals, casts and other) from antiquity to 19th century, and as a training school for specialising artisans, as part of the process of revaluation of the so-called \"minor arts\". The collections of the M.A.I. included large samples of pottery, wooden objects, fabric, bronzes and ivories dating to Roman, Renaissance and Baroque times. The best part of this collection is on display at the National Gallery of Palazzo Barberini in Rome, while other pieces are housed in Castel Sant'Angelo and Palazzo Venezia. Within the series of the Hispanic-Moorish ceramics are some pottery with azulejos, bought by Prince Baldassarre Ladislao Odescalchi in 1880. The panel with eight azulejos dates from 15th and 16th centuries. It shows both geometric and floral decorations.","type":"Tile panels","holder":"Museo Artistico Industriale, National Gallery of Ancient Art in Palazzo Barberini","dates":"Beginning of the 15th century","location":"Rome","provenance":"Spain (Andalusia)","author":"Marina Minozzi","copy_editor":"Anne Dowell"},"decb15bf-1760-5bb0-a74f-093a8ac27e5f":{"name":"Large plate with floral decoration.","description":"This large plate with a flat rim is decorated with a variety of colours and black contour lines. Three composite flowers, lilies and hyacinths, grow, almost straight, out of a blossoming plant, on gently swaying stems. The large composite flowers have been creatively interpreted from elements of the blossoms of palms, lotus and marrow, all brought together to form a whole. This has been referred to as ‘botanical art’. This floral-design repertoire is part of the so-called ‘quatre fleurs’ (four flowers) style that is composed of four garden flowers – rose, carnation, tulip and hyacinth – and which, from around AH 945 / AD 1540, represented the main motifs of Turkish ceramics.  \nAcross the gently inward tilting rim is a Chinese-based rock-and-wave motif, composed of white waves rolling towards rocks drawn as spirals. This motif is derived from 15th-century Chinese porcelain painting. The Ottoman Court collected Chinese porcelain and used it as tableware, and the porcelain remains to this day in the safekeeping of the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul.  \nOn the outside are depicted three pairs of tulips and, repeated three times, the three-sphere or *chintamani* motif, which was a symbol of luck that originated from Buddhism. This motif consisted of three circles, each with a dot at the centre, placed in a pyramid formation, linked together with tiger stripes.  \nThe plate is a typical example of the so-called Ottoman Court-style that was developed in the *naqqash-hane* (writing-house). It was here that the designs for book decoration, textile patterns, embroidery, metalwork and ceramics were developed. Many potters from Iznik worked directly alongside the Court artists from the Topkapı Palace. Craftsmen from the art workshops of the Court in Istanbul travelled to Iznik in order to exchange ideas with the ceramic master craftsmen there. Ottoman ceramics were greatly valued in many European countries, from the AH 10th / AD 16th century onwards, proof of which can be found in Turkish and Western sources, which described Iznik ceramics as being as beautiful if not better than the imperial porcelain of China.","short_description":"The potteries in Iznik made numerous flower plates in different styles. This one is from the middle of the 16th century. On a white ground, sprays of composite flowers and hyacinths are symmetrically arranged using a subdued colour scheme of black, celadon-green and shades of blue.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art at the Pergamon Museum","owner":"Museum of Arts and Crafts, Berlin.","dates":"Around Hegira 957–63 / AD 1550–5.","location":"Berlin","dimensions":"Height 6.5 cm diameter 37.7 cm.","method_for_datation":"The plate can be dated to around 957–63 / 1550–5, because of the particularity of its painted decoration and because of the existence of similar pieces from the period.","method_for_provenance":"The shape and particularity of the painted decoration testify to this plate being a product of the workshops of the Ottoman town of Iznik.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Acquired from Durlacher, London, by the Arts and Crafts Museum, Berlin, in 1898. Transferred to the Museum of Islamic Art as a long-term loan.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N. and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989, no. 354, pp.90–4.  \nHagedorn, A., *Auf der Suche nach dem Neuen Stil,* Berlin, 1998, pp.30–8, p.72, no. 66.  \nKühnel, E., *Islamische Kleinkunst,* Braunschweig, 1963, pp.158–60, plate 31.  \n*Museum für Islamische Kunst*, Catalogue, Berlin, 1979, no. 577.  \n*Museum für Islamische Kunst Berlin*, Catalogue,Stuttgart; Zürich, 1980, no. 41.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Annette Hagedorn","translator":"Maria Vlotides","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["hyacinths","Iznik","Ottoman","quartz fritware pottery","quatre fleurs style","Turkey","underglaze painting"],"materials":["Quartz fritware pottery with underglaze painting."]},"df8f866f-d263-5658-a871-7c8e7f067012":{"name":"Tile fragment","short_description":"The ancient city of Qalhat, known as the Twin of Hormuz, was the main port of northern Oman from the 7th to 9th centuries AH / 13th to 15th centuries AD. The Great Mosque, where this tile fragment was recovered, was its most famous edifice. The mosque was built around 699 AH / 1300 AD by Bibi Maryam, the wife of Bahauddin Ayaz, King of Hormuz and Ruler of Qalhat. The Moroccan geographer Ibn Battuta visited Qalhat during his travels in the 8th century AH / 14th century CE and wrote a vivid description of the Great Mosque shortly after its completion:  \n  \n\"Qalhat has fine bazaars and an exceedingly beautiful mosque, the walls of which are decorated with elaborate tile work.\"  \n  \nAt Qalhat, stratified fragments of *lajvardina* (lapis lazuli) tiles have been found in the vicinity of the qiblah wall of the mosque.  \nIn addition to lustre-painted tiles, the potters of Kashan produced tiles covered with a blue glaze known as *‘lajvardina’* (lapis lazuli). *Lajvardina* (lapis lazuli) tiles similar to those shown here were arranged in friezes and moulded inscriptions with red and white over-glaze enamels and gold leaf.","type":"Architectural Artefact; Tiles","holder":"National Museum Oman","dates":"7th–8th century AH / 13th–14th century AD","location":"Muscat","dimensions":"Length: 17cm, Width:16.8cm, Thickness: 1.1cm","provenance":"The Great Mosque, Qalhat (Oman). Origin: Kashan, Persia (Iran)","obtention":"Ministry of Heritage and Culture Collection","copy_editor":"Valerie Pulsifer","keywords":["Hurmuz","Lajvardina","Lapis Lazuli","Mosque","Qalhat","tiles"],"materials":["Glazed earthenware"]},"e01c5dee-ecbd-5793-a4c3-93b23100ee13":{"name":"Bowl.","description":"A large conical bowl with an upturned rim that is made of tin-glazed earthenware and decorated with lustre. The exterior of the bowl is ornamented with abstract tree-like motifs, while the interior features a spectacular image of a large sailing ship that is complete with multiple masts and riggings, fore and aft decks, flags, and a rudder. Below the ship, four large fish swim back and forth; around it, tightly wound curlicues and other abstract motifs fill the surface of the bowl. The ship’s sail bears a motif which has been interpreted as the arms of Portugal, possibly indicating that the bowl was commissioned by a wealthy Portuguese merchant. This, plus the fact that the most important centre of Spanish lustre production in the 9th / 15th century was Christian Valencia, initially led scholars to believe that this bowl was Valencian ware. However, scientific tests in 1983 showed the presence of mineral deposits in the bowl which come not from Valencia, but from Málaga. This city, one of the most important port cities of the medieval western Mediterranean, had been the premiere centre of lustre production in Spain until it was eclipsed by Valencia in the early 9th / 15th century; production there appears to have ceased a few decades later. This bowl, then, is spectacular proof that the potteries of Málaga continued to create first-class lustre ceramics right up until the end.  \n  \nThe fish beneath the ship, as well as the tree-like motifs on the exterior of the bowl, are strikingly similar to Fatimid work of centuries before, and remind us that the lustre industry in Islamic Spain was born precisely when Fatimid workers brought the technique from Egypt.","short_description":"A large bowl with lustre-painted decoration that includes a representation of a ship at sea. The ship’s sail bears a coat of arms which has been interpreted as that of Portugal; thus this bowl may have been commissioned by a wealthy Portuguese merchant.","type":"Glazed and painted ceramic","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum.","dates":"Second quarter of the hegira 9th / AD 15th century.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 20.1 cm, diameter 51.2 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stylistic grounds; the large tree-like motifs on the exterior of the bowl, in particular, are characteristically Nasrid.","method_for_provenance":"In 1983 scholars established that the bowl was produced in Málaga, once the centre of lustre production in Spain until it was eclipsed by Valencia in the early 9th / 15th century (see description above).","provenance":"Málaga, Spain.","obtention":"Purchased by the Museum in 1864.","bibliography":"*Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain* (ed. J. Dodds), New York, 1992, p.361, cat. no. 114.  \nCaiger-Smith, A., *Lustre Pottery: Technique, Tradition and Innovation in Islam and the Western World,* London, 1985, pp.94–6.  \nFrothingham, A., *Lustreware of Spain,* New York, 1951, pp.91–3.  \nSoustiel, J., *La céramique islamique,* Fribourg, 1985, p.187, plate 223.  \nStanley, T., with Rosser-Owen, M. and Vernoit, S., *Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Middle East,* London, 2004, p.120.","author":"Barry Wood","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["coat of arms","tree"],"materials":["Glazed and painted ceramic."]},"e0d16aa5-ba9f-5a87-9eda-9fb21d5d5304":{"name":"Plate.","description":"Many types of glazed pottery were produced during the Islamic period, one of which was a glazed ceramic painted in monochrome. This type was created by coating the fired pottery in molten coloured glass, usually dark-blue, burgundy, or green.  \nThis dark-blue ceramic plate is decorated inside with the word “al-Mulk” (power, sovereignty, or ownership). This word was carved into the bottom of the plate before the glaze was applied, which meant that the cobalt-blue gathered in the grooves, making the low points darker and the high points lighter, intensifying the effect of the decoration. The overall surface of the vessel, however, was uniform and smooth by the end of the glazing process.  \nThis method of decoration is similar to that used on *laqabi* wares produced in Syria and Iran, although pieces of this type are usually polychrome.  \n“al-Mulk” is written in foliated *kufic* script, in which each letter ends with a sprout or bud decoration. The writing is surrounded by an interior band in the form of a group of small rectangles and an outer band decorated with ornamental elements, each of them in the form of a sequence of three circles connected at their tangents.","short_description":"This large monochrome dish glazed in an intense cobalt-blue and boldly decorated with floriate *kufic* calligraphy inscribing the word '*al-Mulk*' (sovereignty) is executed using the *laqabi* technique.","type":"Plate, earthenware","holder":"National Museum of Damascus","dates":"Around hegira 6th century / AD 12th century.","location":"Damascus","dimensions":"Height 7.5 cm, width 32.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"This kind of earthenware was regularly produced in Jazira during the Atabeg period (6th / 12th century). Production of ceramics in the region was interrupted by the Mongol invasion in the 7th / 13th centuries (1269).","method_for_provenance":"This piece was found in Raqqa, in the Jazira region. Ceramics with monochrome glazes and decoration cut into the base were known to have been produced in Jazira at this time, and many have emerged during archaeological excavations.","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.","obtention":"Purchased in 1932.","bibliography":"Abu al-Faraj al-Ush, M., *A Concise Guide to the National Museum of Damascus,* Damascus, 1969, p.229.  \nDelpont, E. (ed), *L'Orient de Saladin: l'art des Ayyoubides*, Paris, 2001, p.156.  \nPorter, V., *Medieval Syrian Pottery*, Oxford, 1981.  \nPorter, V., and Watson, O., “'Tel Minis' Wares”, in *Syria and Iran: Three Studies in Medieval Ceramics*, Oxford, 1987, pp.173–248.  \nSoustiel, J., and Kiefer, C., *La céramique islamique*, Fribourg, 1985, p.134; fig. 158.","author":"Mona al-Moadin","translator":"Hilary Kalmbach (from the Arabic)","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["blue","ceramics","earthenware","foliated kufic script","Glazed","Jazira","laqabi ware","monochrome","Raqqa"],"materials":["Earthenware","with monochrome glaze."]},"e0f5275e-821c-5cc3-a635-77aec649ddfd":{"name":"Zoomorphic figurine","short_description":"Free standing earthenware horse figurine was probably a toy. It's covered with a cream coloured engobe and painted in a brownish black slip under a transparent colourless glaze.","type":"Toy, earthenware, ceramic","holder":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah","dates":"Hegira 4th century / AD 10th century","location":"Kuwait City","provenance":"East Iranian World","keywords":["earthenware","Engobe","Glaze","horse","horsemanship","slip"]},"e1bda161-d9ba-562d-9078-9d5793a2b451":{"name":"Bowl.","description":"The interior of this bowl is divided by bold black and white stripes into eight panels; four large and four small. Each of the four large panels are filled with a stylised tree placed under a poly-lobed arch; the trunk, adorned with small leaves on each side of a vertical axis, and topped by a bulbous leaf, branches out into scrolled and trilobed leaves. Two of the smaller triangles contain scrolled trilobed leaves, while the other two are filled with a repeated single word, possibly a benediction, rendered in a cursive (*naskhi*) script. This underglaze painted bowl epitomises the rich artistic creativity of the Mamluk period.","short_description":"An underglaze painted ceramic bowl of Syrian manufacture. The interior is divided by bold black and white stripes into eight panels filled with stylised flora and architecture, as well as a repeated single word in *naskhi* script, possibly a benediction.","type":"Bowl, ceramic","holder":"Jordan Archaeological Museum.","dates":"Hegira 8–9th century / AD 14–15th century.","location":"Amman","dimensions":"Height 11.1 cm, diameter 25 cm.","method_for_datation":"The bowl was dated by stylistic analysis and comparison to similar Syrian bowls discovered in Damascus, Raqqa and Hama, and which are now on display at Damascus National Museum and in the British Museum in London.","method_for_provenance":"The provenance of this bowl is unknown, but according to the dealer from whom it was purchased it is from Rabba, south Jordan.","provenance":"Unknown, probably Syria.","obtention":"The bowl was purchased from an antiquities dealer in 1956, who claimed that the bowl originated in Rabba, near Karak.","bibliography":"ساري. صالح، الفخار الأيوبي و المملوكي في بلاد الشام 567-923 ه/1171 – 1575 م، رسالة ماجستير، الجامعة الأردنية، 1979، ص 156-157، شكل 57.  \n  \nBienkowski, P. (ed.), *Treasures from an Ancient Land: The Art of Jordan*, Glasgow, 1991, p.84, cat. no. 98.  \n  \nHobson, R. L., *A Guide to the Islamic Pottery of the Near East*, London, 1932, p.60, plate XXI, fig. 75.  \n  \nLane, A., *Later Islamic Pottery: Persia, Syria, Egypt, Turkey*, London, 2nd edition, 1971, p.17, plate 12.A.  \n  \n*La voie royale: 9000 ans d'art au royaume de Jordanie*, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1986, p.284, cat. no. 388.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_EG_EN_001","author":"Aida Naghawy","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["floral decoration","naskhi script."],"materials":["Ceramic painted black and blue under a transparent glaze"]},"e1e46fb9-2121-5c71-8ee2-be38a8978bc0":{"name":"Footed dish or *tazze*.","description":"A magnificent circular stone-paste (fritware) dish of the *tondino* form that is characterised by a very shallow wide well and a broad and flat horizontal rim. This shape is derived from early 16th-century, Italian *maiolica* (tin-glazed earthenware) dishes a style that was imitated by the Ottoman ceramicists. The plate rests on a wide and very low, circular foot-ring. Both the inside and the underside of the dish are decorated extensively.  \nThe well has a naturalistically drawn flower arrangement of carnations, tulips, prunus blossoms and stylised roses, rising from a tuft of green grass. The wide rim displays a fluid band of alternating roses and serrated leaves flowing in an anti-clockwise direction. Small floral and vegetal motifs are set in between the main composition. The underside of the dish is enhanced by 14 flower heads with green centres that alternate with pairs of blue tulips. All the motifs are enhanced by black outlines.","short_description":"This magnificent Iznik plate with its small, deep, concave well and a very wide, flat horizontal rim imitates the *tondino,* an Italian shape popular since the early AH 10th / AD 16th century. Its decoration assigns it to the second half of the 10th / 16th century, the peak of naturalism on Iznik wares.","type":"Ottoman ceramic, stone paste","holder":"National Museums of Scotland (NMS).","dates":"Hegira late 10th century / AD late 16th century.","location":"Edinburgh, Scotland","dimensions":"Diameter 46.4 cm.","method_for_datation":"The decorative style adopted on this plate assigns this plate to the second half of the 10th / 16th century, when the naturalistic rendition of flower sprays reached its height on Iznik wares.","method_for_provenance":"This plate belongs to a group of Iznik dishes fashioned after the *tondino*, a shape popular in Italy from the early 16th century.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Purchased from the Irvine Smith Collection in 1910.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989, p.227, figs. 397–9.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Ulrike Al-Khamis","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["stone-paste (fritware)","Tondino"],"materials":["Blue","green","over which a clear glaze.","red and black underglaze","Stone-paste (fritware)"]},"e25630b9-4eae-5a54-82aa-8350634cc2c3":{"name":"Pot.","description":"Globular vessel with a foot-ring at the base and with a semi-circular cross-section and slightly everted rim. The paste is orange and the surfaces are glazed in a honey colour. On the exterior surface is a plant-form decoration in columns around the whole body, bordered with dark brown to black manganese.  \nThis type of decoration emerged in Silves in items dating from the AH 5th / AD 11th century, although they became more frequent in the AH 6th / AD 12th century.  \nThey are thought to be everyday ceramics. The shape suggests that they were used as receptacles for holding oil or other domestic liquids such as water. Smaller versions of this pot may have been used for cosmetics or simply as decorative objects.  \nThe characteristics of the piece are similar to those with a metallic lustre decoration from Egypt and Iran, dating from the AH 3rd and 4th / AD 9th and 10th centuries. The use of decorative motifs with borders in manganese, but enamelled, dates back to the previous period and may have originated in the East. The decoration of this piece, in spite of its stylistic similarities to oriental ceramics, is similar to other pieces found in Silves, so it may have been produced locally in the region of al-Gharb, and even in Silves itself, in imitation of oriental models.  \nCeramic objects of this kind were made in the region of Gharb al-Andalus throughout the Muslim period.","short_description":"Locally produced jar probably inspired by Iranian or Egyptian models. The outside is decorated with plant motifs that create columns around the entire body. The configuration of the piece suggests that it was used to store liquids.","holder":"Silves Municipal Archaeology Museum.","owner":"Silves Town Council.","dates":"Hegira 4th–5th century / AD 10th–11th century.","location":"Silves., Faro.","dimensions":"Height 19.6 cm, diameter 11.2 cm, diameter (of base) 10.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"From the archaeological and stratigraphic context in which it was found. A stylistic analysis has found comparisons with similar objects from the same period.","method_for_provenance":"An excavation carried out at Rua da Arrochela (the historic centre of Silves) directed by Rosa Varela Gomes. Excavation inventory number: AR Q5/E15/C2-1.","provenance":"Arrochela (historic centre of Silves).","obtention":"It has been housed in the museum since the excavations carried out in the 1990s.","bibliography":"Gomes, R. V., *Palácio Almóada da Alcáçova de Silves*, Lisbon, 2001, p.59.  \nGomes, R. V., *Silves (Xelb), Uma Cidade do Gharb Al-Andalus, Arqueologia e História (Séculos VIII–XIII)*, Lisbon, 1999.  \n*Portugal Islâmico: Os últimos Sinais do Mediterrâneo*, exhibition catalogue, Lisbon, 1998, p.158.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_PT_EN_001","author":"Maria da Conceição Amaral","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["cosmetic","water"],"materials":["Glazed ceramic with manganese decoration."]},"e27cfedb-4426-5918-bebf-2002418ec65c":{"name":"Storage vessels and two-part cooking pot","short_description":"The contrast between the public and private, male and female spheres offer the Berber women \"free space\" which allows them to express their own view of life. In the seclusion of the home they make the space of everyday life viable, and visibly materialise a particular life design, in that they symbolically reproduce their bodies: in the hand-built up pottery, repeating the image of \"body as vessel.\" In a world controlled by men, the women have developed a cultural model which is based on their corporeal experience.  \nIn art, the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze maintained, it is never to do with the reproduction of forms, but with the capturing of powers. Therefore, no art is ever just figurative: \"Art is the language of emotions (…). Art has no opinion.\" The women produced their pottery exclusively for personal use. Limits were only placed on their completely free artistic development by the social norms which applied in their environment and which govern the relationships between people.","type":"Ceramic; household item","holder":"Weltmuseum Wien","dates":"Before resp. ca. 1900","location":"Vienna","dimensions":"H: max. 42cm, Diameter: 52cm","method_for_datation":"Entry in the TMS digital collection database and archival documents, personal information from the collector.","method_for_provenance":"Entry in the general inventory book, personal information from the collector.","provenance":"Southern and central Tunisia; Berber people","obtention":"Purchased from the collector, Renate Anna Menzel, Vienna, 2005.","bibliography":"Steinmann, Axel, \"Psychological Profiles\", in Christian Schicklgruber (ed), *Weltmuseum Wien, exhibition catalogue*, Vienna: Weltmuseum Wien, 2017: 230-231.","materials":["bitumen","Clay","pigment","slip"]},"e2bffa11-ea9f-5947-ac9b-10e5f5a6b071":{"name":"Drinking vessel.","description":"This vessel, in the form of a small jar, is made of fine well-fired clay covered with engobe (slip). It would have been used as a drinking vessel. Its slightly ovoid belly is marked at the base by a lip protruding above a narrow and shallow foot, which gives it some stability. Its vertical neck ending in a large opening is flanked by two small round handles attached to the top of the belly. Traces from its manufacture appear in the form of horizontal rings marking the belly. The neck, handles and base of the belly are covered with brown manganese paint. A frieze of small excised circles, delimited by two lines, decorates the neck. The belly is painted with medallions filled with stylised plant motifs and separated by double horizontal and diagonal lines. They are framed by large rectilinear motifs imitating epigraphic decoration.  \nIts original shape and its decoration (painting and excision) make this recipient characteristic of earthenware common in the Almohad period.","short_description":"This small jar-shaped recipient would have been used as a drinking vessel. Made of fine, well-fired clay covered with engobe (slip) and decorated with paint and excisions, it is characteristic of ceramics common in the Almohad period for its original shape and decoration.","type":"Vessel, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Archaeology.","dates":"Hegira 7th / AD 13th century.","location":"Larache.","dimensions":"Height 18 cm, base diameter 5.6 cm, max. diameter 14.5 cm, opening diameter 11 cm","method_for_datation":"Found in the ruins of a medieval bourgeois house at the archaeological site of Lixus. The date has been confirmed by stylistic study and comparison with other reliably dated objects found in Murcia and Huelva in Spain from the first third of the 7th / 13th century.","method_for_provenance":"Excavated from the site at Lixus.","provenance":"Lixus, Morocco.","obtention":"Excavated.","bibliography":"Ataallah, M., “La céramique musulmane à paroi incisée ou peinte de Lixus”, *Bulletin d'archéologie marocaine* VII, 1967, pp.627–39.  \nBazzana, A., “La céramique médiévale'” in *Maroc, les trésors du royaume*, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1999.  \nNavarro Palazón, J., *La céramique hispano-arabe à décor esgrafié*, trans. Bazzana, Madrid, 1986.  \nPonsich, M., *Lixus, le quartier des Temples*, Études et travaux d'archéologie marocaine series, Vol. IX, Rabat, 1981, p.127.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_MA_EN_001","author":"Naima El Khatib-Boujibar","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["geometric decoration","pseudo-inscription","vegetal decoration"],"materials":["painted and excised.","Wheel-thrown ceramic"]},"e44f9b93-0fc9-58a0-8f0b-14d05df5157e":{"name":"Large dish with poly-lobed decoration.","description":"This dish is elegantly decorated with a large polylobed motif painted in black beneath a turquoise glaze.  \nThe side of the dish does not have the usual inscription of good omens, but a verse from the *Divan*of the Persian poet Hafez, which tells of the lament of an unhappy lover: \"I have washed \\[with tears\\] the courtyard of the home of my eyes, but why / since this house is not \\[even\\] worthy of imagining your form?\". The date is written at the end of the inscription: \"finished in the year 873\" (AD 1468).","short_description":"This dish belongs to a group of ceramics known as *kubachi* after the village in the Caucasus where they were found. They would have been hung on the walls of homes as decoration.","type":"Dish, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”","owner":"Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente (Is.IAO).","dates":"Hegira 873 / AD 1468–9.","location":"Rome","dimensions":"Diameter 35.86cm.","method_for_datation":"Inscription with date.","method_for_provenance":"This piece belongs to a specific group of ceramics known as *kubachi* from the name of the village in Daghestan in the Caucasus where they were found hung on walls for decoration. Ceramics of this type are of exceptional interest as they bear witness to the intense commercial exchanges between Persia and Kubachi, a place known for its production of steel weapons that were particularly sought after by the Iranian market and exchanged for a large quantity of Persian ceramics of unknown origin.","provenance":"Iran.","obtention":"Is.IAO deposit.","bibliography":"Folsach, K. von, *Islamic Art: The David Collection*, Copenhagen, 1990.  \n  \nGrube, E.J*.,* “Notes on the Decorative Arts of the Timurid Period”, *Gururajamanjarika, Studi in Onore di Giuseppe Tucci*, Naples, 1974, pp.233–77.  \n  \nGrube, E.J*., Islamic Pottery from the Eight to the Fifteenth Century in the Keir Collection*, London, 1976.  \n  \nLane, A., *Later Islamic Pottery*, London, 1957.  \n  \nTorre, P., *Le Mille e una Notte: Ceramiche Persiane, Turche e Ispano-Moresche*, Faenza, 1990.","author":"Paola Torre","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["calligraphy","plant decoration"],"materials":["Glazed ceramic."]},"e4f3e546-af0d-5ee4-ab98-5638548040e2":{"name":"Dish","short_description":"During the Safavid period fine white and blue pottery was made that was finished with clear glaze. The decoration was inspired by Chinese motifs.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 10th century / AD 16th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Diameter 32 cm","provenance":"Iran","keywords":["blue and white","ceramic","Safawid"],"materials":["blue decoration under glaze","Frit body"]},"e58c69db-bd74-5185-a678-96228b8d0ba3":{"name":"Water seller's jar","alternate_name":"Water jar","short_description":"The egg-shaped jar has a narrow neck the top of which is covered by a dome-shaped lid. There is a curved handle on each side of the neck base and a long, straight spout. The lower part of the jar is made of unglazed and undecorated earthenware, a common material for water vessels that enables water evaporation thus keeping the water inside cool. The upper part is made of copper alloy, engraved with decorative bands of intertwined floral motifs; knot work patterns; stylised four-legged animals amongst a vegetal design; and two calligraphic bands. The jar sits in a knotted rope net with handle for carriage on the water seller’s back.","type":"Jar","holder":"Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization","dates":"13th century AH / 19th century AD","location":"Sharjah","dimensions":"Height: 87.4cm, Diameter: 29cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis","method_for_provenance":"Stylistic analysis","provenance":"Egypt","obtention":"Purchased","author":"Hazelle Page","keywords":["Egypt","Everyday life","Water jar","Water seller"],"materials":["Ceramic","Copper alloy","rope"]},"e6164946-a5d8-552b-9b6b-c87c10d33682":{"name":"Oil lamp.","description":"A lamp made of red earthenware, coloured with slip (diluted clays with a variety of mineral contents that produce natural pigments). The lamp is formed of a round base and pedestal that holds a multiple lamp structure of five cups, these cups hold the oil and wicks. The body has a painted geometric decoration of red, white and black-earth pigments, coated with a resin-varnish, which gives the lamp an overall yellowish hue.  \n  \nThis type of pottery is considered to be the only indigenous type of ceramic in Algeria, which has survived since Roman times. The Berber women in the Kabylie area still make such pottery to the present day, and although the shape and decoration have changed over time, the method of production has not changed much since pre-Islamic times. The pigments are made from natural sources such as clay, rocks, and plants. Being the women's speciality, these ceramics reflect the needs and tastes of the women who produce them. The decorative elements are inspired by their surroundings, and some have protective and talismanic symbolisms. The items that are produced surplus to the domestic needs of the family are sold by the women in the local market to supplement the family's income.","short_description":"This type of handmade earthenware was the speciality of Berber women from the Kabylie region in Algeria. This pottery, still made today, reflects the needs and tastes of its makers, with some of the decorative elements consisting of talismanic symbols. Surplus vessels are sold to supplement the family income.","type":"Earthenware","holder":"Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira 13th century / AD 19th century.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 36 cm, width (max) 22 cm, diameter (of base) 17 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis: unique to the Kabylie region, this particular oil lamp can be compared to other similar lamps of the 19th century.","method_for_provenance":"Stylistic analysis: this style of lamp is unique to the Kabylie region in north-east Algeria.","provenance":"Kabylie, north-east Algeria.","obtention":"Donated to the Museum in 1878.","bibliography":"Vincentelli, M., 'Women Potters of Kabylie', *Ceramic Review*, no. 91, 1985.  \n  \nPhillips, T., *Africa: The Art of a Continent*, New York, 1995.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["domestic pottery","geometric decoration","Women potters"],"materials":["and painted with coloured slips.","Earthenware","shaped and moulded by hand"]},"e6457ad1-6126-508a-9c14-e66c394d18f0":{"name":"Lamp and base.","description":"An oval-shaped pottery lamp made using two moulds; one for the upper half and another for the lower, the two halves being joined together by a ridge.  \n  \nThe lamp is decorated with multiple motifs such as small circles within half volutes, wavy and straight lines on both sides of the filling hole, as well as birds and palm branches. The sides of the lower part are decorated with alternate circles and palm branches. The handle is tall and curved, terminating in a crude animal head. The base is a pointed oval, decorated with a chalice within which is a sequence of fish. Similar lamps bear Greek and Arabic inscriptions and are sometimes decorated with crosses.","short_description":"A pottery lamp from Jarash made using two moulds, one for the top and the other for the base, which is decorated with a chalice within which is a sequence of fish. Similar lamps bear Greek and Arabic inscriptions and are at times decorated with crosses.","type":"Lamp, base, ceramic","holder":"Jordan Archaeological Museum.","dates":"Hegira 1st–2nd century / AD 7th–8th century.","location":"Amman","dimensions":"Height: 4.2 cm, length 11 cm.","method_for_datation":"The lamp was dated according to stratigraphic context and associated Umayyad pottery vessels.","method_for_provenance":"The lamp was found at Jerash during an archaeological excavation.","provenance":"Jarash, Jordan.","obtention":"The lamp was recovered in 1968 during the course of an excavation carried out at Jarash by the Jordan Department of Antiquities.","bibliography":"دعنا.سليمان، \"حفرية الفسيفساء – الاستراحة- جرش، 1968\"، حولية دائرة الآثار الأردنية، المجلد الرابع عشر، 1969، ص58-60، اللوح 22.  \n  \nBisheh, G., *The Second Season of Excavations at Hallabat, 1980*, Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, Vol. XXVI, 1982, pp.134–5, plate 37, 1-3.  \n  \n**La voie royale: 9000 ans d'art au royaume de Jordanie**, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1986, p.272.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_JO_EN_001","author":"Aida Naghawy","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Arabic inscription","floral decoration","geometric decoration","Greek inscription","Lamp","mould."],"materials":["Moulded ceramic."]},"e6753434-4415-5658-ba03-7a1cf0ec79f4":{"name":"Ceramic tile panel.","description":"A ceramic tile panel composed of square tiles depicting the *Ka'ba* covered by the black *kiswa*. Architectural components in the Ottoman style are also depicted including doors, domed buildings, minarets, and arches with suspended lamps hanging from them. In the bottom right-hand corner of the panel is the date of production AH 1087 (AD 1676). This date is also written in Arabic letters on the panel reading 'bidars Sulayman'. Traditionally one way for writing dates would be in letter-form in a sort of cipher named *hisab al-gummal (Calculation of total numbers)*, each letter being equivalent to a certain numerical figure, for example the Arabic letter ( **ر** ) is equivalent to 200. This tile panel closely resembles another tile piece in the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo (reg. no. 860) which bears the signature of the craftsman who made it, Muhammad al-Shami, and the date AH 1139 (AD 1726), it also has similarities to a frontispiece panel of a Qur'an that dates to the Ottoman period and which also bears a depiction of the Holy *Ka'ba* of Mecca.","short_description":"Muslim artisans did their best to depict the Ka'ba, the holy Islamic sanctuary, on their products. This panel bears the name of the sultan, the date of production and its maker's signature.","type":"Ottoman ceramics","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira 1087 / AD 1676.","location":"Cairo","dimensions":"Height 240 cm, width 144 cm.","method_for_datation":"This piece was dated based on the date recorded on it.","method_for_provenance":"It is strongly believed that this tile panel was made in Istanbul where such panels were produced centrally.","obtention":"The piece was donated to the Museum in November 1915 by Prince Yusuf Kamal, who was one of the princes of the family of Muhammad 'Ali and a delaer in antiques. He donated a large collection of his acquisitions to the museum especially jewellery, textiles, ceramic and wooden pieces.","bibliography":"Arseven, G. E., *L'Art turc depuis son origine jusqu'à nos jours*, Istanbul, 1935.  \nAslanapa, O., *Turkish Art and Architecture,* London, 1970.  \nAtasoy, N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989.  \nDenny, W. B., “Ceramics” in *Turkish Art,* (ed. E. Atil), Washington D. C., 1980.  \nMaher, Su'ad M., *al-Khazaf al-Turki \\[Turkish Ceramics\\],* Cairo, 1960.  \nMostafa, M., “Khazaf al-Anadol al-Mumawah bi al-Mina \\[Enamelled Ceramics of Anatolia\\]” in Al-*Mar'a al-Jadida \\[New Woman Magazine\\]*, No. 2, Cairo, 1947.  \nPorter, V., *Islamic Tiles*, New York, 1995.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Muhammad Abbas Muhammad Selim","copy_editor":"Majd Musa","translator":"Amal Sachedina (from the Arabic).","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Ceramic tile panel","ceramics","hajj","Ka’ba","tilework"],"materials":["Ceramic tiles with painted underglaze decoration","transparent glaze overall."]},"e6931138-cb42-5f87-97c8-30bcf8d0bd8a":{"name":"Bottle","short_description":"This bottle was formed in two parts, then joined and refinished on the potter’s wheel leaving a clean horizontal band. The lower part includes the base and the upper part is completed with a wheel-thrown neck. The lower part is decorated with a row of epigraphic medallions followed by one medallion showing two quadruped animals on both sides of a central lam-alif ligature. The medallion is stamped three times on top of each other which makes it illegible, but it could be a patron’s name. The row of stylized ibexes, a common motif on moulded pottery from Lashkari Bazar, on the upper part contrasts with the precision of the epigraphic medallions on the lower part of the bottle’s body.  \nBottles of similar grey fabric, size and design – especially the stylized ibex – were found at Merv and date to the 12th to 13th centuries. Apart from that, moulded bottles and jugs were found in nearly all excavated cities in Central Asia, Iran and Afghanistan in levels dating to the 11th to 13th centuries. The most important archaeological trove for moulded jugs is from Lashkari Bazar. The widely distributed production of this type of earthenware in more than 40 workshops within Central Asia so far shows its popularity among the different techniques of ceramic production.","type":"Earthenware","holder":"University Museum of Islamic Art | The Bumiller Collection","dates":"Hegira 6-7th century / AD 12th-13th century","location":"Bamberg","dimensions":"Height: 24cm, Diameter: 15cm","method_for_datation":"By stylistic analysis and comparison with material found in excavations","provenance":"Northeastern Iran or Turkmenistan","obtention":"Purchased from Ibrahimi, Hamburg in 1988","bibliography":"Simeon, Pierre, *From Ordinary to Luxury. Islamic Ceramics from Iran, Central Asia and Afghanistan. Studies on the Bumiller Collection I*, edited by Verena Daiber, Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2020.","author":"Verena Daiber","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega","keywords":["bottle","earthenware","moulded decoration"],"materials":["Moulded earthenware","unglazed"]},"e705767c-f39f-5e1f-b8fc-8f075dc24a4f":{"name":"Sphinx","description":"This sphinx was found in Rafiqa, Raqqa’s twin city, in AH 1343 / AD 1924 together with the cock (Isl 57) and the figure of a horseman in Syria’s National Museum. As ceramic sculptures, they are unique not only in Syria, but also in the rest of the Islamic world.  \n  \nThey are fountain figures, and all have pipes to carry water up to the figures’ heads. The North African historian al-Maqqari wrote that the Iberian Umayyad caliph Abd al-Rahman III had a fountain made with 12 figures: a lion with a gazelle, a crocodile, a serpent, an eagle, an elephant, a dove, a falcon, a peacock, a hen, a cock, a hawk and a vulture.","type":"Sculpture","holder":"The David Collection","owner":"The David Collection","dates":"AH 2nd half of the 6th / AD 2nd half of 12th century","location":"Copenhagen","dimensions":"Height: 37cm","place_of_production":"Raqqa (Syria)","bibliography":"Folsach, K., *et al.*, *Sultan, Shah and Great Mughal: the history and culture of the Islamic world*, Copenhagen: The National Museum, 1996: cat. no. 204.  \n  \nDaneshvari, A., *Of serpents and dragons in Islamic art: an iconographical study*, California: Mazda Publishers, 2011: 172, 110.  \n  \nFolsach, K., “Paradise on earth: water and the Islamic garden” in John Kuhlmann Madsen et al. (eds), *Water of life: essays from a symposium held on the occasion of Peder Mortensen's 80th birthday*, Copenhagen: Forlaget Orbis, 2016: 191, fig. 5.  \n  \nCanby, S., *et al.*, *Court and cosmos: the great age of the Seljuqs*, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016: fig. 98, 243.  \n  \nEastmond, A., *Tamta's world: the life and encounters of a medieval noblewoman from the Middle East to Mongolia*, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017: 256, fig. 87.","copy_editor":"Zeina Al Amad","keywords":["Ayyubids","ceramics","Fritware","sculpture","Sphinx","water","zangids"],"materials":["and manganese under a transparent glaze","cast","modeled and carved fritware","painted in blue","turquoise"]},"e71fe850-fa1a-5797-b0c5-b50e5f9a25ed":{"name":"Dish.","description":"Ceramics with metallic highlights were exceptionally successful in the late Middle Ages, and were sought after by the finest European courts. The coats of arms of royalty and nobility, in particular Italians such as the Tedaldi or Nasi families, are commonly depicted. These ceramics, so colourful and elegant, are reminiscent of Gothic painting. The manufacturing and decorating processes were complex, as the pieces required several firings to obtain the different colours. This dish was turned on a potter's wheel. Its surface is covered with a white or cream tin glaze. The sides are concave and the brim slightly inclined. The topside is decorated in gold and deep blue. The central, golden coat of arms, inscribed in a toothed blue border, shows an eagle with outstretched wings. It is possible that it belonged to the Despujols family, and it is repeated in other pieces. The coat of arms is surrounded by a thin strip of fringes and spirals and tiny fern leaves. Near the edge, there is a wide band with large gilt pinecones in reserve, alternating with large deep-blue flowers. The remaining spaces are filled with arabesque leaves. On the underside there is another eagle in the same position as the first, covering the entire area, and fern leaves in the empty spaces. The heraldic coats of arms, as well as telling us about the tastes of high society, are useful for determining when the pieces were manufactured, as they include data on family history.","short_description":"Dish decorated in a manner typical of AH 9th-/ AD 15th-century Mudéjar ceramics, with Nasrid-style motifs such as the gold and blue motifs on the front combined with the coat-of-arms of the family that commissioned the piece. In this case, an eagle appears on both sides of the dish.","type":"Dish, clay, ceramic","holder":"National Archaeological Museum.","dates":"Second half of the 15th century.","location":"Madrid","dimensions":"Height 9 cm, diameter 45 cm, diameter of base 14.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"From its style and from comparison with other similar dishes. In this case, the coat of arms that decorates it serves as a historical reference.","method_for_provenance":"From its formal and stylistic characteristics, from the archaeological digs that have been carried out and from the extensive documentation that is available.","provenance":"Manises or Paterna, Valencia, Spain.","obtention":"The piece was purchased for the National Archaeological Museum from Vicente Juan y Amat on 27 June 1872.","bibliography":"Camps Cazorla, E., *Catálogo Sumario del Museo Arqueológico Nacional. Cerámica Española (Nuevas Instalaciones)*, Madrid, 1936, p.31, plate III.  \nFranco Mata, á., Balmaseda Muncharaz, L., Arias Sánchez, I. and Papí Rodes, C., “La Documentación de las Cerámicas Valencianas Medievales en el Museo Arqueológico Nacional”, in *La Cerámica de Paterna. Reflejos del Mediterráneo*, Exhibition catalogue, Valencia, 2002, pp.106–18.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_ES_EN_001","author":"Ángela Franco","copy_editor":"Rosalía Aller","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["clay","coat of arms","Dish","firing","Glazed","gold highlight","kaolin","Manises","Mudéjar","Paterna","Valencia"],"materials":["Clay","firing","Glazing","gold highlights.","kaolin"]},"e78eac4c-6c8e-50e5-a207-fa39bdf93414":{"name":"Small table.","description":"A small table, rectangular in shape and on four legs, which consists of a tray clad with Delft earthenware tiles that feature floral decoration and are surrounded by an openwork band.  \nFour sides of this small table are covered by sculpted, turned and openwork panels featuring floral or vegetal motifs. In the corners, along the extension of the legs with which they form part, vertical cartouches feature inscriptions in cursive lettering; one of these reveals the name of the craftsman and the location of the object's manufacture through the phrase 'made by Ibn Hadj-la-B'lade al-Djazaïri'.  \nThe item of furniture is painted in a variety of colours, notably green, orange and gold.","short_description":"Rectangular four-legged table consisting of a top covered with Delft earthenware tiles with floral decoration surrounded by an openwork railing. There are carved panels on all four sides, and inscriptions in cursive characters on each of the corners. The piece is painted green and orange, and gilded.","type":"Woodwork, ceramic tile, furniture","holder":"National Museum of Antiquities and Islamic Arts","dates":"Hegira 925–1245 / AD 1519–1830.","location":"Algiers","dimensions":"Height 63 cm, length 83 cm.","method_for_datation":"From the style of manufacture and the decoration, as well as from the earthenware tiles of Delft, which were imported from Holland during the Ottoman era.","provenance":"Algiers.","bibliography":"Institut du Monde Arabe, *L'Algérie en héritage, art et histoire*, catalogue, Paris, 2003.  \nMarçais, G., *Le musée Stéphane Gsell, musée des antiquités et d'art musulman d'Alger*, Algiers, 1950.  \nMarye, G., *Catalogue du Musée national des antiquités algériennes*, Part 2, Algiers, 1899.","author":"Leila Merabet","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"Maria Vlotides","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["cursive characters","floral decoration","furnishing","inscription","Ottoman","vegetal decoration"],"materials":["Cut out pieces of wood","earthenware tiles.","ornamented with openwork and painted"]},"e7f93cdc-ceb9-526b-ad8c-e090abeaf98e":{"name":"Large cooking pot","description":"This large ceramic pot was used for cooking, specifically baking. Trapezoidal in shape, it has a completely rounded base with no foot. The rim is widely everted and was used to hold a lid. The wall is decorated with a serrated cord. This vessel was made in Saudi Arabia and found at Al Huwaila baking. Trapezoidal in shape, it has a completely rounded base with no foot. The rim is widely everted and was used to hold a lid. The wall is decorated with a serrated cord. This vessel was made in Saudi Arabia and found at Al Huwaila.","type":"Container","holder":"National Museum of Qatar","owner":"National Museum of Qatar","initial_owner":"Qatar Museums","dates":"AH 12th–13th century / AD 18th–19th century","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Height: 19.4cm, base diameter: 23.8cm, rim diameter: 1.6cm","place_of_production":"Arabian Peninsula","method_for_datation":"Stratigraphy/scientific analysis.","method_for_provenance":"Stratigraphy/scientific and laboratory analysis.","provenance":"Al Zubarah, Qatar","obtention":"Archaeological excavation.","bibliography":"Hansman, J.,*Julfar: an Arabian port : its settlement and Far Eastern ceramic trade from the 14th to the 18th centuries*., London: Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1985.  \n  \nKennet, D.,*Sasanian and Islamic Pottery from Ras al-Khaimah.: Classification, chronology and analysis of trade in the Western Indian Ocean*., BAR International Series, Oxford: Archaeopress, 2004  \n  \nQIAH, University of Copenhagen, Unpublished report Qatar Museums, 2013–2014.","author":"Alexandrine Guerin","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","keywords":["Basin","earthenware","kitchenware"],"materials":["Earthenware"]},"e80c1234-42a0-5c12-9754-82402e1fca45":{"name":"Umbonate plate","alternate_name":"Piatto umbunato","description":"The Museum of Industrial Arts (M.A.I.) was established in 1872 in Rome as a collection of manufacts (glasses, majolica, sculptures, materials, photographs, metals, casts and other) from antiquity to 19th century, and as a training school for specialising artisans, as part of the process of revaluation of the so-called \"minor arts\". The collections included large samples of pottery, wooden objects, fabric, bronzes and ivories dating to Roman, Renaissance and Baroque times. The best part of this collection is on display at the National Gallery of Palazzo Barberini in Rome, while other pieces are housed in Castel Sant'Angelo and Palazzo Venezia. The series of the Hispanic-Moorish ceramics, bought by Prince Baldassarre Ladislao Odescalchi in 1880, were among the models often reproduced by the training school inside the M.A.I. The umbonate plate (inv.n. 2828) is an aragonese manufacture dating from the first half of 16th century. It shows concentric strips with blue and red tones.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museo Artistico Industriale, National Gallery of Ancient Art in Palazzo Barberini","dates":"First half of the 16th century","location":"Rome","provenance":"Spain","author":"Marina Minozzi","copy_editor":"Anne Dowell"},"e8b0644e-e003-52a3-99a3-463ef49e34cd":{"name":"Panel of *azulejos* with a carpet composition","description":"The use of patterns in 17th-century Portuguese *azulejos* allowed a number of solutions for covering the architectural surfaces of palaces, convents and churches. Because the Portuguese used *azulejos* to cover surfaces in all areas, including vaults and ceilings, it was necessary to create larger modules for patterns otherwise people below would only be able to see smudges of colour instead of the motifs in the patterns.  \nThis panel of *azulejos* shows how the patterns were used with frames, which emphasise the proximity between them and the carpets that sometimes inspired them. However, in a panel like this one, we can see the advantage of *azulejos* over textiles: the bright reflection of its surface, the eternal shine of its colours that never fade and the clever solutions to adjusting to the architectural surfaces it was covering. The module of this pattern is a 4 x 4, which implies that 16 *azulejos* are required in order to achieve a single motif that can be repeated to infinity. In this case, the decoration is composed of a four-lobe design motif with acanthus leaves at the corners, which allow a connection with the other *azulejos*. The frame of this composition is achieved by two different solutions: a half *azulejos*, in Portuguese known as a *friso* or frieze, with a “saw’s teeth” motif, positioned in the extremities of the frame. The second element is a double *azulejos* element, known in Portuguese as a *barra* or stripe, with the decoration known as “hammers”, which composes the larger area of the frame and gives a dynamic structure to the panel.","type":"Tile; *azulejo*","holder":"National Tile Museum","dates":"1660‒1670","location":"Lisbon","dimensions":"H: 203cm, L: 147cm, W: 1.4cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis: in 17th-century production of *azulejos* in northern Portugal, the colours tend to be denser, with harsh greyish blues and a less bright yellow with an orange hue.","method_for_provenance":"The National Tile Museum holds a large number of *azulejos* of unknown origin, many gathered during the period of the destruction of the convents and palaces in the late 19th century, in the aftermath of the abolition of the religious orders in 1834.","provenance":"Portugal, unknown location","obtention":"Probably salvaged during demolition of an unknown building where they had once been applied","bibliography":"Matos, Maria Antónia Pinto (ed.), *Um gosto português, O uso do azulejo no século XVII*, exhib. cat., Lisbon: Museu Nacional do Azulejo/Athena, 2012.  \nMeco, José, *O Azulejo em Portugal*, Lisbon: Publicações Alfa, 1989.  \nSimões, João Miguel dos Santos, *Azulejaria em Portugal no século XVII*, 2 vols, Lisbon: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 1971.","workshop":"Oporto (?), Portgual","author":"Alexandre Pais","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["17th century","azulejos","Faience","pattern"],"materials":["Ceramic: faience"]},"e9100be3-069e-5d04-b867-dbfe67ede897":{"name":"Bowl with calligraphic and splashed decoration","short_description":"This earthenware dish was covered with an opaque white slip before receiving its ornamentation. Three sets of five or – once – four short brush strokes executed in green glaze highlight the edge of the dish. The centre shows an as yet unread manganese inscription and a green glaze dot. The dish was influenced by both Abbasid and Chinese luxury wares.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation","dates":"Hegira 3rd – 4th century / AD 9th – 10th century","location":"Sharjah","provenance":"Eastern Iran, probably Nishapur","keywords":["bowl","calligraphy","Chinese influence","earthenware","Glazed","inscription"]},"ea02005f-0faa-53dc-be44-7a3aab60817e":{"name":"Dish with Foliated Rim and Design of Cypress Tree with Flowering Plants","short_description":"An Iznik dish of glazed white ground ceramic has a scalloped edge and a broad rim with stylized rock and wave pattern decoration; cloud-shaped areas of white glaze alternate with clusters of royal blue glaze circles filled with thin, dark spiral designs. There are also evenly-spaced wing-like decorations in turquoise glaze. The main ground of the bowl is glazed with a \"cypress tree\" motif. A tall, vertical cypress in gray-green glaze is surrounded by winding leafy stems bearing dark blue blossoms, rust-collared carnations, and long sprays of blue blossoms. The exterior of the dish, also in white glaze, is decorated with alternating pairs of blue tulips and blue rosettes with turquoise centers.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Saint Louis Art Museum","dates":"Hegira Mid 10th to early 11th century / AD second half 16th century","location":"Saint Louis","dimensions":"Height: 7.6cm; Diameter of mouth: 36.2cm; Diameter of foot: 19.4cm","method_for_datation":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","method_for_provenance":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","provenance":"Iznik, Anatolia, Turkey, Asia","obtention":"Museum Purchase, 1951","bibliography":"Atasoy, Nurhan and Raby, Julian, *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London: The Alexandria Press, 1999.","keywords":["Anatolia","Asia","ceramics","decoration","Fritware","Glazed","Iznik","Ottoman","painted","Plate","slip","Turkey","underglaze"],"materials":["Glazed fritware with underglaze slip and painted decoration"]},"ea0a795b-de8c-505a-962f-be5084c447db":{"name":"Dish","short_description":"A few types of the AD 17th century Persian ceramic ware, painted in a free expressive style and covered with cracks, were traditionally known as “*Kubachi*” ceramics. This conventional name came from a village in Daghestan, where in the 19th century huge amounts of Iranian Safavid pottery were concentrated. However, the Iranian production centres of \"*Kubachi*\" wares are still to be defined.  \nCeramic ware painted in black under transparent turquoise glaze belongs to a distinctive and possibly the earliest type of the “*Kubachi*” group. Turquoise has a special benevolent semantics in Persian culture due of the homonymy of Persian words *firuza* – turquoise (gemstone) and *firuzi* - victory, prosperity.  \nThe decorative idea of the combination of black and turquoise originated in Iranian pottery in the late 12th century. The Timurid black-on-turquoise ware of the 15th century was the development of the tradition. In the 17th century, the style of black painting became noticeably lighter and freer. The very movement of the artist’s hand revealed the experience of a calligrapher.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"The Khanenko Museum","dates":"AD 17th century","location":"Kyiv","dimensions":"Height: 5.8cm, Diameter: 34.3cm","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis by I. Rapoport (examination, 1963, date, origin), H. Rudyk (publication, 2017, origin specified).","method_for_provenance":"According to the entry in the old Museum Inventory Register (1925-1946).","provenance":"Iran, probably Isfahan or Tebriz","obtention":"Purchased by Bohdan and Varvara Khanenkos. Donated by Varvara Khanenko in 1918, nationalized by Bolshevik regime in 1919.","bibliography":"Bilenko, Halyna and Vyshnevetska, Mariya, et al., *State Collections of Ukraine*, album, The Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts, 2009.  \nGolombek, L. and Mason, R. B., et al., *Persian Pottery in the First Global Age: The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries*, Leiden: Brill, 2013.  \nRudyk, H. (ed), *Charisma of Iran. Persian art of 12th–19th centuries from museum collections of Ukraine*, Kyiv: The Khanenko Museum, 2017.","author":"Antonina Makarevych","copy_editor":"Janice Medina","keywords":["ceramics","Iran","Safavid","stonepaste"],"materials":["painted with black under a transparent turquoise glaze","Stonepaste"]},"ea21ed66-10ce-5ed1-b13b-1adba67cd058":{"name":"Dish depicting two birds among flowering plants","short_description":"This type of underglaze-painted pottery was produced in Iznik, an important centre of Ottoman ceramic production. The Rhodian type constitutes the third and final phase of Iznik ceramics, lasting from c. 1570 to 1700. These objects are characterized by the use of a thickly applied \"sealing-wax\" red glaze that stands out in relief. This plate features two birds resting on gently swaying plants bearing carnations, tulips, and hyacinths. Although the motif of flowering plants is pervasive in Iznik pottery of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, depictions of birds and animals are rare. A highly conventionalized wave-and-rock pattern circumscribes the broad foliate rim of this plate. Such designs, which were inspired by fifteenth-century Chinese Ming ceramics, enjoyed much popularity in this phase of Iznik production.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"The Metropolitan Museum of Art","dates":"Hegira c. 982–99 / AD c. 1575–90","location":"New York","dimensions":"H: 6cm, Diameter of rim: 28.4cm","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey","obtention":"Gift of James J. Rorimer in appreciation of Maurice Dimand's curatorship, 1933–1959, 1959  \nVendor: Brimo de Laroussilhe, Paris  \nFund: James J. Rorimer  \nFormer owner \\[dealer\\]: \\[Brimo de Laroussilhe, Paris, until 1959; sold to MMA\\]","bibliography":"Atasoy, Nurhan, Raby, Julian and Petsopoulos, Yanni (ed), *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London: Thames and Hudson, 1989: 245-246, no. 484, ill. (b/w).  \nAtil, Esin, *The Age of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent*, Washington DC: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1987: 272-274, no. 199, ill. pl. 199 (colour).  \nDenny, Walter B., *Iznik: the Artistry of Ottoman Ceramics*, London and New York: Thames and Hudson, 2004: 173–97.  \nEkhtiar, Maryam, Canby, Shelia R., Haidar, Navina and Soucek, Priscilla P. (eds), *Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art*, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011: 287, 305-306, no. 214, ill. 305 (colour).","copyright":"The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of James J. Rorimer in appreciation of Maurice Dimand's curatorship, 1933–1959, 1959","keywords":["Anatolia","bird","ceramic","Chinese influence","Chinese motifs","Dish","floral decoration","Fritware","hyacinth","Iznik","Iznik pottery","Ottoman","Ottoman ceramic","plant decoration","pottery","saz leaf","stone-paste","tulip","Turkey"],"materials":["polychrome painted under transparent glaze","Stonepaste"]},"ea2bfceb-f646-51a6-bd3b-36884a93128f":{"name":"Water pipe (*qalyan*)","short_description":"The ceramic body, with two openings, recalls the shape of the so-called *kendis* (Chinese pouring vessels with a long neck and a spout), exported ever since the beginning of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), and which were briefly copied by Persian potters. It was probably in the nineteenth century that this *kendi* was fitted with a silver mount and turned into a water pipe (Pers. *qalyan*), thus making its thorough examination impossible. However, the visible areas provide relevant information which allows for a pertinent stylistic assessment and a meaningful comparison with similar examples. The Chinese-style underglaze decoration, painted in two shades of blue and outlined in black, is placed in five compartments, four of which feature animals and birds against a lush vegetal background. The Chinese-type mark painted on the base is reminiscent of other marks used on Persian *kendis*.","type":"Ceramics and metalwork","holder":"The National Museum of Art of Romania","dates":"Hegira first half of the 11th century / AD first half of the 17th century (ceramic body); Hegira 13th century / AD 19th century (?) (silver mount)","location":"Bucharest","dimensions":"Height: 47.5cm","method_for_datation":"Based on two examples in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London: inv. no. 592-1889, dated AH 1051 (AD 1641), and inv. no. 460-1888, dated AH 1037 (AD 1627).","method_for_provenance":"Comparison with related works","provenance":"Iran","obtention":"Transferred in 1948 from the National Museum Carol I in Bucharest.","bibliography":"Crowe, Y., *Persia and China: Safavid Blue and White Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1501-1738*, London: Thames & Hudson, 2002.  \nDunca, M., “Persian Art in Romania before World War I”, in Y. Kadoi and I. Szántó (eds), *The Shaping of Persian Art: Collections and Interpretations of the Art of Islamic Iran and Central Asia*, Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013: 38, fig. 1.4., no 47.  \nDunca, M., *Islamic Art at the National Museum of Art of Romania*, Bucharest: National Museum of Art of Romania, 2015: 88, no. 37.","author":"Mircea Dunca","keywords":["Qalyan"],"materials":["engraved","Fritware","openwork decoration","silver mount","underglaze painting"]},"eae5c274-7b09-5dc1-a70e-37e8ae1488d8":{"name":"Vase neck","description":"Neck belonging to a vase of the type known as ‘Alhambra’. It has the typical flared shape of the necks of these vases, with a polygonal structure that opens upwards. The lip is thick and ends in a series of outward scrolls. The body is divided into alternating vertical bands of blue and light cream, the latter being approximately twice as thick, which have probably lost their original golden sheen. The lower part has two horizontal grooves that run around the entire perimeter of the piece. There is loss of enamel across the entire surface.  \n  \nRepresentative of Nasrid luxury, these vases are a very specific type of container, of which few examples remain. They are notable not only for their rich and luxurious decoration, but also for their monumental size, measuring around 130 cm in height and 60–70 cm in diameter. Given these characteristics, it is difficult to imagine that their function was primarily practical, despite the fact that some of these vases feature epigraphic decorations referring to water, as in the case of the Jarrón de Hornos, also in the National Archaeological Museum (Spain). One possibility that has been suggested is that they contained perfumed water or water to be distributed at certain ceremonies.","type":"Vessel (fragment)","holder":"National Archaeological Museum","owner":"Spanish State","initial_owner":"Private collection","dates":"AH Second half of the 8th century / AD second half of 14th century","location":"Madrid","dimensions":"Height: 39.5cm, base diameter: 23.5cm, top diameter: 36cm","place_of_production":"Al-Andalus","method_for_datation":"Acquisition report. Comparative study with other similar works.","method_for_provenance":"Acquisition report. Formal parallels, historical-artistic study.","provenance":"Realejo, Granada","obtention":"Acquired in 1871 by Manuel de Góngora y Martínez.","bibliography":"FRANCO MATA, A. ‘Un gollete de jarrón nazarí en el Museo Arqueológico Nacional’, en *El Punto de las Artes*. Madrid: Arte y Patrimonio, 2007: 15, 856.  \n  \nVVAA;, *Los jarrones de la Alhambra: simbología y poder*, Granada: Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife, 2006: 208-209.","workshop":"Unknown","author":"Paula Pagés Alonso","translator":"Dept. of Medieval Antiquities of the MAN","translation_copy_editor":"Judy Harter","keywords":["Alhambra","lustre","neck","vase"],"materials":["Clay","glaze. Modelling","Glazing","Lustre","pigments"]},"eb8d46f9-8d3e-500c-a2cd-e6d2491218a5":{"name":"Elephant aquamanile","short_description":"The large aquamanile in the form of an elephant carries a *mahout* seated in front of a finely decorated *howdah* in which are a dancer and two musicians. Round shields cover the elephant’s ears and the bosses on its body are probably meant to indicate defensive cladding. The details are accurately moulded and are often highlighted with coloured glazes.  \nThe vessel is filled through a hole in the back, while the trunk serves as a spout. *Laqabi* figurines are exceptionally rare, and only three others are known, the most famous of which is the ‘Raqqa rider’, a horseman in mortal combat with a monstrous snake (in the National Museum in Damascus). The horseman is also hollow but is larger, and a socket for a pole in the horse’s stomach suggests it may have been carried as a standard.","type":"Aquamanile; moulded stonepaste; *laqabi* ware","holder":"Khalili Family Trust – Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art","dates":"AD 12th or early 13th century","location":"London","dimensions":"29.5 x 20.5 x 13cm","method_for_datation":"Date and provenance are based on stylistic and technical grounds.","provenance":"Syria","obtention":"Christie’s, London, sale of 11 October 1988, lot 354.","bibliography":"Grube, E.J., *et al.*, *Cobalt and Lustre. The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery*, London: The Nasser D Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, volume 9, 1994: cat.286, pp.250–51.  \nRogers, J.M., *The Arts of Islam. Masterpieces from the Khalili Collection*, London: Thames & Hudson, 2010: no.133, p.116.","keywords":["Aquamanile","Ayyubid","Elephant","laqabi ware","musician","stone-paste","Syria"],"materials":["covered with a slightly opacified white glaze","Moulded stonepaste","with turquoise and cobalt-blue in-glaze staining (laqabi ware)"]},"ec2c57d8-01b2-5a85-a6b0-e8cf22d03e9a":{"name":"*Albarello*\\-shaped *tarro* (jar).","description":"An albarello-shaped tarro (jar) with cylindrical body, made of earthenware with white glaze, decorated in brown lustre and blue. High and slightly projecting shoulders slope to the neck that has an almost vertical profile. The broader lower section sits on a circular convex foot. The body is painted with a tree-of-life motif, repeated eight times; four springing from the base-line and four inverted trees springing from the neck. The upright trees alternating with inverted trees form a bold symmetrical design. Framing the foliage of the trees are diagonal lines of pseudo-script on a white background painted in gold. The tree trunks are composed of a row of heart-shapes with gold outline and blue body. The upper part of the tree is also outlined in gold. On the sloping shoulder of the jar is an inscription in naskhi script: 'felicity and prosperity', a typical refrain found in Islamic pottery. A narrow frieze, in blue and gold, decorates the neck. This elegant tarro with its well-proportioned shape and design suggests the work of one of the sovereign's potters. Indeed, the tree-of-life motif appears in wooden decoration in the Alhambra Palace. Given this stylistic connection, as well as the fine-quality lustre painting, this tarro may have been amongst the sovereign's own tableware.","short_description":"An *albarello*, or jar, decorated with a tree-of-life motif. The elegant shape and striking decoration suggest that this jar was made for the Nasrid court. The tree-of-life motif appears on the ceiling of the Alhambra Palace, the Nasrid royal court in Granada.","type":"Earthenware","holder":"The British Museum.","dates":"Hegira 8th / AD 14th century.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 28 cm, diameter 9.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"This albarello-shaped tarro has been connected by both its form and decoration to the end of the reign of Yusuf I or slightly later (r. 753–64 / 1353-63); the tree-of-life motif appears on the ceiling of the Salon de Comares in the Alhambra Palace, Granada.","method_for_provenance":"The style, shape and technique of this *tarro* indicate that it was produced under the Nasrids in Andalucia, southern Spain. More specifically the decoration recalls the ceiling design in the Salon de Comares in the Alhambra Palace, Granada.","provenance":"Andalucia, southern Spain.","obtention":"Part of the Godman Bequest to the British Museum in 1983.","bibliography":"Fernández-Puertas, A., \"Cuatro Tarros Nazaríes\", Miscelanea de Estudios Arabes y Hebreos, 49, Granada, 2000, pp.371–94.  \n  \nRay, A., Spanish Pottery 1248–1898, London, 2000.","author":"Emily Shovelton","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["calligraphy","lustre ceramics"],"materials":["White-glazed and blue and brown lustre-painted earthenware."]},"ecbdd816-e352-54a9-ad37-0a37230b8df0":{"name":"Tell Minis bowl","short_description":"Like its Fatimid, Egyptian models, Syrian Tell Minis pottery was experimental. It comprised tin-glazed earthenware, fritware with an opaque, white glaze, and fritware under a clear glaze that let the ware’s pale-pink color shine through.  \nThe frontally positioned Mediterranean figure and splendid palmettes also point the way to Fatimid lusterware.","type":"Bowl, fritware","holder":"The David Collection","dates":"Hegira c. 545 / AD c. 1150","location":"Copenhagen","provenance":"Syria","keywords":["bowl","Fritware","Syria"],"materials":["decorated with luster over an opaque","Fritware","white glaze. Tell Minis type"]},"ecc253f4-eace-5315-af2c-f64f071f89e0":{"name":"Flask","description":"Reddish clay vessel, flattened spherical in shape. It has two ribbon handles that extend from the middle of the vessel to its upper part. The two flattened sides are asymmetrical, one inverted truncated cone-shaped and the other convex with an incised decoration of several small concentric circles inserted in turn within a larger circle. The neck is not too high, cylindrical and slightly flared. The entire body is decorated with a schematic red design consisting of thick parallel brushstrokes in groups of three. The entire piece is fractured.  \n  \nHistorically, this type of container was very common not only during the medieval Islamic period, but also in different eras and cultures, even today. Its function, carrying small amounts of water for consumption, is essential for everyday work in rural areas. In addition, the use of unglazed pottery allows the flask to breathe, keeping the water cool. Even today, cork stoppers and ropes tied to the handles are generally used for transport.","type":"Vessel","holder":"National Archaeological Museum","owner":"Spanish State","initial_owner":"Private collection","dates":"AD 4th / AH10th century","location":"Madrid","dimensions":"Height: 21.5cm, depth: 17cm, diameter: 20cm","place_of_production":"Al-Andalus","method_for_datation":"Comparative study with other similar pieces.","method_for_provenance":"Formal parallels, historical-artistic study.","provenance":"Madinat al–Zahra, Córdoba, Spain","obtention":"Acquired in 1973 by the family of Julio Martínez Santa Olalla.","bibliography":"ROSELLÓ BORDOY, G., *El nombre de las cosas en Al-Andalus : una propuesta de terminología cerámica*, Palma de Mallorca: Museo de Mallorca, 1991: 87.  \n  \nVVAA, *Arte Islámico en Granada. Propuesta para un Museo de la Alhambra*, Granada: Comares, 1995.","workshop":"Unknown","author":"Paula Pagés Alonso","translator":"Dept. of Medieval Antiquities of the MAN","translation_copy_editor":"Judy Harter","keywords":["caliphate","Cordoba","water flask"],"materials":["ceramics","firing","hand painting","incision","pigments / moulding"]},"ece5f0c8-d2d1-5924-bc14-94c826dc2171":{"name":"Bowl fragment.","description":"A fragment from a stone-paste (fritware) bowl decorated in cobalt-blue and black under a transparent colourless glaze. This fragment, from the centre of the dish, is decorated with a roundel within which is Arabic calligraphy intertwined with organic stems and leaves. A band of black and white decoration surrounds the roundel. The design and technique of this bowl was common in both Syria and Egypt, making identification of the place of production very difficult. The difficulty lies in the fact that the potters of both Mamluk Egypt and Syria migrated in search of work between the cities of the two regions. The fashion for painting in black and blue under a transparent glaze started in Iran during the late AH 7th / AD 13th century, and spread quickly to Syria and Egypt. The main distinguishing features between wares made in Iran, Syria or Egypt are the different shapes and sizes of the pieces.","short_description":"Arabic calligraphy was employed to decorate a wide variety of surfaces. Although not enough of the text survives to be deciphered, proverbs, poetic verses and prayers were frequently used. The strong vertical lines of the *naskhi*\\-style script dominate the centre of the cobalt-blue and black bowl.","type":"Fritware, stonepaste, ceramic","holder":"Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira 7th–8th century / AD 13th–14th century.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 4.5 cm (max), width 10.5 cm (max).","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis: the material composition, glaze and decoration of this fragment are typical of ceramics made in the potteries of Syria. Several similar examples have been found in Fustat indicating that ceramics from the Middle East were brought to trade in Egypt.","provenance":"Produced in Damascus, Syria; found at Fustat, Egypt.","obtention":"Donated to the Museum in 1944.","bibliography":"Grube, E. J., *Cobalt and Lustre: The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery*, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, Vol.9, London, 1994.  \n  \nLane, A., *Later Islamic Pottery: Persia, Syria, Egypt, Turkey*, London, 1971.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_EG_EN_001","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["calligraphy","Commerce"],"materials":["colourless glaze.","Stone-paste (fritware) with black and cobalt-blue decoration under a transparent"]},"ecf2b49c-b70f-51b8-8c61-216edf4189e1":{"name":"Plate","short_description":"This elegant plate was crafted in Guangzhou (formerly Canton) in AH 1309 / AD 1891-1892, exemplifying the refined artistry of Chinese export porcelain during the late Qing Dynasty. The intricate design showcases scenes of daily life, featuring pagoda-style architecture and traditional Chinese elements, capturing the cultural essence of the period.  \n  \nA particularly intriguing feature of this piece is its inscription. Written in Arabic-Persian script, it bears the phrase هو الباقي (He \\[Allah\\] is the Everlasting), emphasising divine permanence. Additionally, the inscription includes the word فرمايش (ordered), indicating that the plate was specially commissioned for Mohamed Sadiq Khan, who is most likely Sarwar al-Malak, a renowned musician from the courts of Shah Naser al-Din and Shah Muzaffar al-Din. This suggests that the plate may have been part of the Persian royal court’s cultural or artistic exchanges.  \n  \nAt the lower part of the plate, we can also notice the marking \"ص 92\". While its exact meaning remains uncertain, it may indicate the production year (1892) or serve as a workshop code or inventory mark.  \n  \nThis plate stands as a remarkable testament to the artistic and cultural exchanges between China and the Persian-speaking world, seamlessly blending Chinese craftsmanship with Persian artistic and literary influences.","type":"Domestic tools","holder":"FBQ Museum","owner":"Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani","dates":"1891","location":"Shahaniya","dimensions":"Diameter: 41cm, Height: 7cm","method_for_datation":"The date and origin were established in research-based comparison from an examination of material, painting, and style.","method_for_provenance":"The date and origin were established in research-based comparison from an examination of material, painting, and style.","provenance":"China","obtention":"Purchase","bibliography":"Bosworth, C. E., *The New Islamic Dynasties*, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1996.  \nMedley, M., \"Islam, Chinese Porcelain and Ardabīl,\" *Iran*, 13 : 1 (1975): 31–37.  \nOtte, J., & Floor, W., \"English Ceramics in Iran 1810–1910\", *NCS Journal*, 20 (2020): 117–143.","author":"Mahmoud Saber","keywords":["China","Farsi","Iran","Persian","Plate","Porcelain"],"materials":["Porcelain"]},"ed2b34d8-0b3b-5e62-9f3b-c352b83a9b49":{"name":"Tile Cup","description":"The drinking vessel is composed of a white clay and slip with polychrome decoration beneath a transparent colourless glaze. The composition features a series of tulips and stylised carnation branches of varying sizes rising vertically from separate roots on a white ground. The red, green and blue motifs are outlined in black. Beginning in the second half of the 16th century, it appears that the emerald green glaze, which was used extensively, would run during the firing process. It is posited that the quality of ceramics began to decline in tandem with the deterioration of the economy. Examples from the 16th century demonstrate that the naturalistic floral motifs, which were widely employed in Classical Ottoman style, were still being used during this period.","type":"Utensil","holder":"Istanbul Archaeological Museums (The Tiled Kiosk)","dates":"Hegira late 10th century / AD late 16th century","location":"Istanbul","dimensions":"Diameter: 9.4cm, height: 17cm","place_of_production":"İznik/Bursa","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","materials":["Glazed terracotta/Tile"]},"eda86be4-4148-5a1b-b8a5-daa18a385ef8":{"name":"Tile panel","short_description":"Changes were made in the decoration on Iznik ceramics in around 1540. The very dense patterns of the *Baba Nakkas* and *tughrakes* styles were replaced by a style in which plants dominated. The palette was also expanded with moss green and manganese.  \nThese tiles with hyacinths, tulips, and cherry branches were designed so that at least two are needed for the motif to be complete.","type":"Fritware, Ottoman ceramics","holder":"The David Collection","dates":"Hegira c. 950 / AD c. 1540","location":"Copenhagen","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","keywords":["16th Century Iznik ceramics","Baba Nakkas style","floral motifs","hyacinths","Tugrakesh style"],"materials":["and moss green under a transparent glaze","Fritware","painted in blue","turquoise"]},"edab323b-dc63-5faf-a178-579bc04253cd":{"name":"Pitcher","description":"Kütahya was the second most important ceramic production centre after İznik due to the rich clay deposits in the area. Although there was a decline in ceramic production at the beginning of the 19th century, in the last quarter of that same century production was revived and new designs inspired by İznik ceramics were produced.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Pera Museum","dates":"Late 19th – early 20th century","location":"Istanbul","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega"},"ede6db87-1998-5d51-a8e0-97a1ffe99c48":{"name":"Jug","description":"A ceramic jug with one handle, the body is decorated with diamond-shaped panels, in white and turquoise with a single white flower, superimposed on a blue ground.","type":"Jug","holder":"Benaki Museum","dates":"AH 957 / c. AD 1550","location":"Athens","dimensions":"Diameter of body 13.6 cm, height 18.6 cm","place_of_production":"Iznik","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis","provenance":"Turkey","obtention":"Donation","bibliography":"Carswell, J., Gibson, M. (ed.), and Moraitou , M., *Iznik Ceramics at the Benaki Museum*, London: Gingko, and Athens: Benaki Museum, 2023: cat. no. 5, p. 58.","author":"Mina Moraitou","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","materials":["Glazed ceramic"]},"ee06519d-540a-50a3-b86f-2f9b5d337adf":{"name":"Footed dish or *tazze*.","description":"A large circular stone-paste (fritware) dish that has shallow curved walls (*cavetto*), a wide everted rim with a scalloped edge and which rests on a low, circular foot-ring. The centre of the bowl is decorated with a dense, naturalistic flower arrangement rising from a central, five-petalled tuft below. Despite the optical illusion that the flowers – roses, hyacinths, tulips, prunus blossoms and other floral stalks rendered in bole-red, blue, green and black – are growing freely and as nature intended, the composition is in fact characterised by an underlying symmetry with the flowers on the left and those on the right being disposed on either side of an imaginary vertical axis at the centre, with those closest to the centre – carnations and roses – crossing near the top. Apart from the central carnation that bends downwards, its red flower-head skillfully balancing the other red and blue flower-heads, the flower stalks rise from the well, within the *cavetto*, and towards the rim, lending this apparently regular composition vitality and surprise. The rim is enhanced by a debased wave border, a common feature in Iznik wares since the AH 950s / AD 1550s. The outside of the dish is enhanced by individual flower heads with green centres and black outlines, which alternate with groups of three tied tulips rendered in blue with black outlines. There are 12 floral motifs in all.","short_description":"Ottoman Iznik was famous for the production of polychrome wares with exuberant, naturalistic flower arrangements. The Ottoman court and upper classes as well as an increasing European market vied for plates like this one as well as jugs and bowls decorated with roses, hyacinths, tulips and carnations.","type":"Ottoman ceramic, stone paste","holder":"National Museums of Scotland (NMS).","dates":"Hegira late 10th century / AD mid- to late 16th century.","location":"Edinburgh, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 7.6 cm, diameter 33 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stylistically this dish belongs to a group of Iznik wares datable to the late 10th / mid- to late 16th century.","method_for_provenance":"This dish belongs to a well-known group of ceramic wares made in Iznik, Turkey between the late 10th / mid- to late 16th century.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Bought from J. M. Whitehead, London, in 1883.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989, pp.224–8 (for a discussion on related pieces).","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Ulrike Al-Khamis","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["hacynths","Iznik","stone-paste (fritware)"],"materials":["over which a clear glaze.","Stone-paste (fritware) with polychrome-painted underglaze"]},"ee73445a-e5ee-54cc-824e-0a5b9e9f4fed":{"name":"Tile","short_description":"Composite-bodied rectangular ceramic tile from a large composition of vines, leaves and bunches of grapes. It was moulded, painted in under-glaze slip and stains, and transparent colourless glaze.","type":"Architectural, Ottoman ceramic","holder":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah","dates":"Hegira 10th century / AD late 16th century","location":"Kuwait City","provenance":"Turkey, Iznik","keywords":["architectural element","floral motifs","grape design","Iznik ceramics"]},"eefabf6a-3ca7-5c93-ade3-a4e5bbb13859":{"name":"Glazed bowl.","description":"Glazed bowl with bevelled rounded rim, circular mouth, semi-oval body with gentle carination towards the bottom and convex base with a diagonal foot-ring. The exterior of the piece is glazed in honey-coloured monochrome, while the interior is decorated entirely using the *cuerda seca* technique in which the white, green and honey colours of the glaze are separated by lines of manganese. The central ornamental theme, enclosed in a circle, consists of a deer or antelope in a static pose, with its head raised in an alert posture, ready to flee. Indeterminate plant motifs fill the empty spaces, and seem to suggest the landscape around the animal. Around this, on the wall of the bowl, the composition is completed with a frieze of palmettes made by finger impressions. The object has been restored.","short_description":"Bowl made entirely using *cuerda seca*. The central motif of the piece, enclosed by a circle, is a deer or antelope in a static pose with its head raised, alert and preparing to flee. The empty space is filled with plant motifs, which represent the landscape around the animal.","type":"Bowl, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Mértola.","dates":"Hejira 6th century / AD 12th century.","location":"Mértola., Beja.","dimensions":"Height 8 cm, diameter (of mouth) 25.5cm, diameter (of base) 10.6 cm.","method_for_datation":"The stratigraphic context in which the object was found was very disordered, which led to its being dated to the 6th / 12th century on the basis of comparison with objects of similar form and decorative technique from Málaga and Almería.","method_for_provenance":"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 localities.","provenance":"Almería or Málaga (Spain).","obtention":"Found in the archaeological excavations carried out by the Campo Arqueológico de Mértola in the citadel of the Castle of Mértola.","bibliography":"Gómez Martínez, S., *A Cerâmica em Corda Seca de Mértola*, Mértola, 2002.  \nTorres, C., “Um Lote Cerâmico da Mértola Islâmica”, in *I Congreso de Arqueología Medieval Española. Huesca, 1985*, vol. IV, Saragossa, 1986, pp.193–228.  \nTorres, C. and Gómez, S., “Le Vert et Brun au Portugal”, in *Le Vert et le Brun de Kairouan à Avignon: Céramiques du Xe au XVe Siècle*.exhibition catalogue, Marseilles, 1995, pp.98–102.  \nTorres, C. and Macias, S. (eds.), *O Portugal Islâmico*, Lisbon, 1998, p.100.","author":"Susana Gómez Martínez","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","cuerda seca","trade"],"materials":["fired in an oxidising atmosphere and decorated with the cuerda seca technique throughout.","Glazed ceramic made with porous pink straw and paste mix","modelled on a wheel"]},"f02afe0c-f6ec-51aa-8c81-d0230b93ff9f":{"name":"Animal-head ewer","description":"The Kashan turquoise ceramic animal-head ewer is a stunning example of Persian ceramics from the 12th century. This vessel showcases a vibrant turquoise blue glaze with a top in the likeness of a horned animal head, complete with a spout resembling a long open beak. It stands on a short foot, with a globular body transitioning into a slender neck. A partly curved handle, like a rope, extends from the head to the body. At the top, two curved horns and an upward-pointing finial enhance its overall elegance.  \nThe exquisite craftsmanship of this ewer highlights the skill and creativity of Persian artisans. This ewer originated in Kashan, renowned for its pottery tradition. The turquoise glaze adds to its allure and symbolises prosperity and protection. The animal motif holds various symbolic meanings, representing virtues and beliefs deeply ingrained in Persian customs and rituals. Used in ceremonial contexts, such as feasts or religious rituals, the ewer reflects ancient Persian traditions and cultural practices.  \nHighly prized by collectors and enthusiasts alike, this Persian Kashan turquoise ceramic animal-head ewer serves as a timeless reminder of the beauty and sophistication of Persian craftsmanship. Its rich cultural heritage and artistic significance make it a cherished artefact, showcasing the legacy of Persian artisans.  \nThe ewer is crafted using traditional ceramic techniques prevalent in Kashan during the 12th century. Skilled artisans shaped the vessel by hand. The firing process ensured the durability of the vessel while bringing out the brilliance of the turquoise glaze, resulting in a masterpiece of Persian ceramics.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum","owner":"His Excellency Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani","dates":"Hegira 6th century / AD 12th century","location":"Doha, Qatar","dimensions":"Height: 31cm, length:14 cm","place_of_production":"Iran, Kashan","method_for_datation":"The date and origin were established in research-based comparison from an examination of material, techniques, style and analogies.","method_for_provenance":"Provenance was established in research-based comparison from an examination of material, techniques, style and analogies.","provenance":"Iran, Kashan","obtention":"Purchased","author":"Mahmoud Saber","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","keywords":["animal","ceramic","drinking","ewer","Glaze","Iran","Kashan","Persian","pottery","turquoise"],"materials":["Glazed","Pottery"]},"f03adf8f-d5b8-514b-88b4-1fa35cd992e2":{"name":"Plate.","description":"Chinese earthenware ceramics with a dichromatic decorative scheme of white and blue were very popular and widely admired in the Islamic world. Their export to the eastern Mediterranean began as early as the AH 2nd / AD 8th century. This type of vessel with its bright whiteness and extensive blue decoration was the most popular export ware during the Chinese reigns of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. They exported profusely, both by land and sea, especially during the AH 8th / AD 14th century.  \nArtisans in the Islamic world imitated these Chinese ceramics because of its popularity and because they were not always readily available. Thus imitative Chinese ceramics were themselves a valuable commodity.  \nThis plate is decorated with a bouquet of flowers that incorporates gracefully sweeping stems bound with a ribbon. A decorative band of stylised vegetal motifs surround the bouquet, and a band of stylised geometric motifs articulates the rim of the plate. The decoration is executed in various shades of blue on a white base.","short_description":"This ceramic dish was found in the Citadel of Hama and it clearly indicates the intercultural influence of exported Chinese blue-and-white porcelain on Syrian and Egyptian Mamluk pottery.","type":"Plate, earthenware","holder":"National Museum of Damascus","dates":"Hegira 8th century / AD 14th century.","location":"Damascus","dimensions":"Height 5.5 cm, diameter 35 cm.","method_for_datation":"The Danish excavations revealed objects that have been dated to the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods, primarily from the 7th–8th / 13th–14th centuries. However, since this piece is influenced by Chinese ceramics, especially in the use of blue and white, and since such ceramics were exported to the Islamic world beginning in the 8th / 14th century, it is believed that the object belongs to this later period.","method_for_provenance":"This object was found in Hama, known as a production centre for this kind of ware. However, the underglaze painted wares found in Syria (Hama and Damascus) and Egypt (Fustat and Alexandria) are essentially identical, so it is difficult to assign a definitive provenance.","provenance":"Possibly Hama, Syria.","obtention":"The plate was found during archaeological excavations that took place in the Citadel of Hama between 1931 and 1938 by a Danish expedition under the direction of Harold Ing Holt. The piece was registered in the Museum in 1934.","bibliography":"Abu al-Faraj al-Ush, M., *A Concise Guide to the National Museum of Damascus,* Damascus, 1969, p.221.  \nPorter, V., *Medieval Syrian Pottery*, Oxford, 1981.  \nSoustiel, J., and Kiefer, C., *La céramique islamique*, Fribourg, 1985.  \nWatson, O., *Ceramics from Islamic Lands*, London, 2004.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_EG_EN_001","author":"Mona al-Moadin","translator":"Hilary Kalmbach (from the Arabic)","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["blue-and-white","ceramics","chinese","Chinese motifs","earthenware","Hama citadel","Harold Ing Holt","Plate"],"materials":["Earthenware with blue-and-white underglaze."]},"f182ff55-9430-5024-a039-37fa558855a8":{"name":"Large dish.","description":"A large dish with a surface edge that bends outward to a rim embellished by a consecutive series of triangles that resemble the jagged teeth of a saw. The interior of the dish is painted with a portrayal of a seated woman playing a stringed instrument that looks like a guitar. She wears a long garment with a V-shaped collar and wide sleeves, which is decorated with thick stripes and cross shapes. She wears a choker-type necklace, the V-shape of which sits inside the neck of her garment. The designs on her garment, in which the folds around the legs are embellished with decorations, are distinctive to Fatimid apparel. The musician's face is portrayed in profile. A toque, which resembles a turban, crowns her head and two locks of her hair appear from under the headdress on either side of her face along with a small tuft of hair behind her neck. The background around the figure is embellished with irregular surfaces demarcated by thin strokes filled with circles, dots and painted branches from which cone-shaped leaves grow. On the left-hand side of the woman is a delicately designed ewer surrounded by stylised vegetal-leaf designs; from the mouth of the ewer two flowering branches emerge. Below the rim of the dish underneath the painted serrated edge are a series of thick lines.","short_description":"Economic prosperity in the Fatimid period led to the flourishing of the lustre-ware ceramic industry. Such lustre-ware vessels, where the metallic lustre resembles gold, incorporate a variety of decorations including splendid scenes of Fatimid daily and social life.","type":"Dish, ceramics","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira 5th century / AD 11th century.","location":"Cairo","dimensions":"Diameter 40 cm.","method_for_datation":"The dish was dated based on the study of its painted female musician, and specifically the design and decoration of the clothing she wears. The figure reflects the distinguishing traits that mark the portrayal of people in Fatimid art, including circular moon-shaped faces and almond-shaped eyes. The turban seen on the heads of men, and the toques on the heads of women, are also indicative of the period. In addition, the decorations that are present on the dish are borrowed from the vegetal and non-vegetal decorative motifs seen most commonly on wood, ivory and metal objects of the Fatimid period. This date is further supported by a comparison between this dish and other similar examples that bear the signatures of potters who are associated with the period.","method_for_provenance":"The place of manufacture was narrowed down to Egypt in view of the fact that ceramic production and metallic lustre-ware products were renowned in Fatimid Egypt. This industry grew and flourished in Fustat where archaeological excavations have uncovered a large number of ceramic pieces similar to this dish.","provenance":"Egypt.","obtention":"The dish was bought in 1944 from a dealer of antiquities, Fuqyan Jaan.","bibliography":"\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_, *Trésors fatimides du Caire*, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1998.  \nHassan, Z. M., *Funun al-Islam (Arts of Islam),* Cairo, 1948.  \nJenkins, M., “Islamic Pottery: A Brief History”, *Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin,* Vol. 40 (4), spring, 1983.  \nKhadr, M. Y., *Tarikh al-Funun al-Islamiya \\[History of Islamic Art\\],* UAE, 2003.  \nPhilon, H., *Early Islamic Ceramics: Ninth to late Twelfth Centuries*, Athens,Vol. 1, London, 1980.","author":"Al-Sayyed Muhammad Khalifa Hammad","copy_editor":"Majd Musa","translator":"Amal Sachedina (from the Arabic).","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["ceramics","Dish","Female figure","figurative decoration","metallic lustre","music","musician","vegetal decoration"],"materials":["Ceramic with metallic lustre decoration over a glazed surface."]},"f21d4542-13e1-5350-b5fc-fb0fe10ff753":{"name":"Boccia Vase","short_description":"This Boccia vase embodies a crossover of cultures, decorated with floral patterns and Arabic calligraphy in bright colours. Mesmerized by the aesthetic of Arabic calligraphy, Christian artisans attempted to mimic the script to achieve a similar charm. While many ceramic-makers could not read Arabic, only a fragment of the script may be decoded as the Declaration of Islam. The vase is representative of Italy’s proximity to the Islamic world, incorporating elements of Islamic art into the pottery. Manufactured in Tuscany, the artisan drew inspiration from the Ottoman Empire and integrates recognizable characteristics from Hispano-Moresque pottery such as the whimsical shape and star-shaped handles. The picturesque appearance of Arabic calligraphy still enchants global audiences embellishing pottery, garments and jewellery.","type":"Domestic tools","holder":"FBQ Museum","owner":"Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani","dates":"Late 19th century","location":"Shahaniya","dimensions":"Length: 27cm, Width: 9cm","method_for_datation":"The date and origin were derived from an examination of material and technique in a research comparison with similar vases.","method_for_provenance":"The date and origin were derived from an examination of material and technique in a research comparison with similar vases.","provenance":"Italy, Florence","obtention":"Auction","bibliography":"Stasolla, M. G., \"The 'Orient' in Florence (19th Century). From Oriental Studies to the Collection of Islamic Art, from a Reconstruction of the 'Orient' to the Exotic Dream of the Rising Middle Class\", *Oriente Moderno*, 93 : 1 (2013): 3-31.  \nThornton, D., *Il Risorgimento della maiolica italiana : Ginori e Cantagalli / The Revival of Italian Maiolica : Ginori and Cantagalli/Cantagalli Pieces in the British Museum and the Fondo Cantagalli*, Florence: Edizioni Polistampa, 2011: 121-140.","workshop":"Manifattura Cantagalli","author":"Sarah Schroeder","copy_editor":"Valerie Pulsifer","keywords":["Boccia","ceramics","Hispano-Moresque","Italy","vase"],"materials":["Ceramic","Glazing"]},"f26b90aa-a82b-52f5-8ce6-f87882cade6c":{"name":"Lamp.","description":"A spherical object with a distinctive slightly convex base, a handle at the top that is oval in cross-section, a semi-circular front opening and a conical vertical spike inside. It has a decoration of finger impressions, wavy incised lines and traces of white paint on a reddish background.  \nThis unusual object was used as a lantern for lighting out of doors. Its closed form protected the flame from the wind and its large horizontal handle made it easy to carry. The object has been restored.","short_description":"Unusual object similar to a lamp that was used to light open spaces. The semi-circular front opening allowed the light to come out, while the closed shape protected the flame from the wind and the horizontal handle made it easy to carry. This piece of popular art dates to the Almohad era.","type":"Lamp, ceramic","holder":"Mértola Museum.","dates":"Early hegira 7th century / Early AD 13th century.","location":"Mértola., Beja.","dimensions":"Height 18.2 cm, width 16.2 cm, diameter (of base) 12.7 cm.","method_for_datation":"It was dated to the Almohad period on the basis of stratigraphy, since it was found in the abandoned levels of one of the houses of the citadel vacated after the Christian conquest of Mértola in AH 635–6 / AD 1238.","method_for_provenance":"The technical and formal characteristics of this piece are typical of items produced in Mértola, although many similar items are to be found in the Valencia region (Spain).","provenance":"Mértola.","obtention":"Found in the archaeological excavations carried out by the Campo Arqueológico de Mértola in the citadel of the Castle of Mértola.","bibliography":"Gómez Martínez, S., “Catálogo da Cerâmica”, in Museu de Mértola. Arte Islâmica, ed. S. Macias, Mértola, 2001, p.130.  \nGómez Martínez, S., “Contenedores de Fuego en el Garb al-Andalus”, in Actas do III Congresso de Arqueologia Peninsular. Vila Real de Trás-os-Montes, Setembro de 1999, Vol. VII: Arqueologia da Idade Média da Península Ibérica, Porto, 2000, pp.421–4.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_PT_EN_001","author":"Susana Gómez Martínez","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["Daily life","fire","lighting"],"materials":["Common ceramic made from fine reddish paste","modelled on a potter’s wheel and fired in an oxidising atmosphere."]},"f2c8cba4-0106-5aa6-880a-9d7bcd2e17ae":{"name":"Tile","short_description":"Decorated in the *cuerda seca* technique, this pair of tiles displays three riders on horseback in brilliant colours. *Cuerda seca* literally meaning dry cord, is a technique that used coloured glaze to produce a polychrome tile. During the process, thin outline bands made of greasy substance are applied to avoid a mixture of glaze while firing. This technique, which was popular among the Iranian potters was introduced in Turkey as early as the 14th century.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia","dates":"c. Hegira 1100 / c. AD 1700","location":"Kuala Lumpur","dimensions":"48.5 x 24.2 x 2.3cm","provenance":"Iran","bibliography":"Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, *IAMM Guide Book*, Kuala Lumpur: IAMM Publications, 2014: 22. *Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia*, Volume 2, Kuala Lumpur: IAMM Publications, 2009. 342.  \nIslamic Arts Museum Malaysia, *Symbols Of Power And Beauty : The collection of the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia*, Kuala Lumpur: IAMM Publications, 2015: 166.","materials":["Fritware with cuerda seca technique"]},"f3529449-1169-568c-8cd7-715fa25e50d1":{"name":"Wall tile.","description":"A tile which once formed a part of a continuous decorative scheme of cypress trees and vases of flowers. The Cypress tree is rendered with a spiky border and filled-in with a lighter coloured fish-scale pattern; vases with flowers are positioned between the trees. A similar, if not identical scheme of decorative tiles (dating to the AH 10th / AD 16th century), can be seen in the mausoleum of the famous Sufi Saint**,** Muhyi al-Din ibn Arabi (AH 560–637 / AD 1165–1240), located inside the Sultan Salim I Mosque in Damascus. The use of cypress trees is appropriate for such a monument, since the cypress is said to symbolise potential wholeness for, biologically, the tree holds both the masculine and feminine principles within it. It is known as the 'perfect Muslim' because of its submission 'Islam' to the wind: 'God's will'.","short_description":"This tile once formed part of a continuous decorative scheme of cypresses and flowers. The cypress tree here is rendered with a spiky border and filled in with a lighter-coloured fish-scale pattern. Similar ones still decorate the shrine of the Sufi saint Muhyi al-Din ibn Arabi in Damascus.","type":"Ottoman ceramic, earthenware","holder":"Burrell Collection, Glasgow Museums.","dates":"Hegira 10th–11th century / AD 16th–17th century.","location":"Glasgow, Scotland","dimensions":"Height 21.5 cm, width 19 cm.","method_for_datation":"Artistic analysis: several examples of this type of Ottoman tile survive, including those still on the walls of the Ibn Arabi Shrine in Damascus.","method_for_provenance":"Several examples of this type of Ottoman tile survive, including those still on the walls of the Ibn Arabi Shrine in Damascus, Syria.","provenance":"Damascus, Syria.","obtention":"Part of the collection given to the City of Glasgow by Sir William and Lady Burrell in 1944.","bibliography":"Porter, V., *Islamic Tiles*, London, 1995.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Noorah Al-Gailani","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["architectural element","floral decoration","religious art","symbol"],"materials":["black and manganese purple.","Earthenware","turquoise","underglaze painted in cobalt-blue"]},"f3b34c56-e46c-56c4-bfd0-edc48e7d30a2":{"name":"Bowl with fish","short_description":"The introduction of clay incorporating quartz – called frit or stonepaste – was a major innovation that allowed ceramists to create pottery and objects with thin walls that were still resistant.","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 6th–7th century / AD 12th–13th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Height 9 cm, diameter max 19 cm","provenance":"Iran","keywords":["ceramic","pottery","Seljuq"],"materials":["black decoration under turquoise glaze","Frit body"]},"f42153ad-bbe2-59c3-9421-b699313f7273":{"name":"Lustre vase with figural decoration","short_description":"This tall fritware vase with its facetted body, tapering neck and projecting lip most certainly copies a metal prototype. Its sides are covered by two horizontal registers above and below, with individual seated figures reserved against a solid lustre background. A band of abstract scrolling separates the registers around the middle.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation","dates":"Hegira late 6th century / AD late 12th century","location":"Sharjah","provenance":"Iran, Kashan","keywords":["ceramic","figurative decoration","Fritware","human representation","Seljuq","vase"]},"f4606868-6540-5152-bd07-486c73a7f541":{"name":"Jug","description":"Çanakkale was a pottery production centre between the end of 17th century and first quarter of the 20th century where pottery with interesting and original forms was produced. Mostly coarse red clay and occasionally beige-coloured paste was used. This vase has pear-like shape with a long neck. On its neck there are three horn-like projecting forms. On the sides and in the front there are embossed decorations.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Ethnography Museum","dates":"19th century","location":"Ankara","copy_editor":"Daniel de la Vega"},"f4aca485-b1db-583e-b83d-c9c533f030c1":{"name":"Jug with a monochrome yellow glaze and three handles","description":"Discovered in a house during the 1959 excavations in Murwab, northwest Qatar, this partially reconstructed jug must have had a striking and shiny appearance.  \n  \nIt originally had three rounded handles on the shoulder, two of which are preserved, and is entirely covered with a monochrome yellow glaze. The small size of this jug and its decoration make it a delicate piece of tableware. It could have been a 'table vinegar jar' used to hold sweet and sour sauces that were very popular in the 9th century, as shown in ancient","type":"Container","holder":"National Museum of Qatar","owner":"National Museum of Qatar","initial_owner":"Qatar Museums","dates":"AH late 2nd to late 3rd century / AD late 8th to late 9th century","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Height: 17.6cm, body diameter: 16.4cm, rim diameter: 8.2cm","place_of_production":"Basra, Iraq","method_for_datation":"Stratigraphy/scientific analysis.","method_for_provenance":"Stratigraphy/scientific and laboratory analysis.","provenance":"Murwab, Qatar","obtention":"Archaeological excavation.","bibliography":"Carvajal Lopez, J., Guerin, A., and Georgakopoulou, M., \"Petrographic analysis of ceramics of Murwab, an early islamic site in Qatar\", *Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies*, 51 (2022): 55–70.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Preliminary pottery study: Murwab horizon in progress, ninth century AD, Qatar\", in *Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies*, 40 (2010): 17–34.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Territory and settlement patterns during the Abbasid period (ninth century AD): the village of Murwab (Qatar)\", *Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies*, 39 (2009): 181–196.  \n  \nHardy-Guilbert, Cl., \"Fouilles archéologiques a Murwab, Qatar\", in R. Boucharlat et J.-F. Salles (eds.), *Arabie Orientale, Mésopotamie et Iran méridional: De l’Age du Fer au début de la période islamique*, Paris: ERC 37, 1984: 169–188.  \n  \nKnuth, E., \"An Early Islamic fort and settlement at Murwab”, in F. Hojlund (ed.), *Danish Archaeological Investigations in Qatar 1956–1974*, Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 97 (2017): 83–98.","author":"Alexandrine Guerin","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","keywords":["earthenware","Jar","storage","Transportation"],"materials":["Glazed earthenware"]},"f4b3d07d-c2d5-525a-b872-a65798f5a227":{"name":"Jug with spout.","description":"Earthenware ceramics with a dark-brown metallic lustre glaze were produced in the city of Raqqa during the AH 6th–first half of the 7th / AD 12th–first half of the 13th centuries. What distinguishes these ceramics from those made in other places and periods are the types of colours used, particularly distinctive is the dark-brown.  \nThis jug represents a ceramic of this type. It has a columnar base, a globe-shaped body and a long cylindrical neck with an outward flaying lip. It is outfitted with a long tubular spout and a handle that juts out parallel to the lip and which curves perpendicularly downward to attach at the periphery of the body.  \nThe jug is decorated with dark-brown lustre glaze from the top of the lip, spout, handle, and neck all the way down to the bulk of the globular body, applied in a series of horizontal bands portraying calligraphic, pseudo-calligraphic, stylised vegetal and geometric patterns. Contrasts in colour intensity and band width are also part of the decorative scheme. The transparent, dark-brown metallic lustre is covered with a layer of very light-green glaze.","short_description":"The region of Raqqa was a prolific producer of fine-quality underglazed lustre ceramics just before the Mongol invasion. The brown colour of this lustre is typical of Raqqa-ware.","type":"Jug, earthenware","holder":"National Museum of Damascus","dates":"Hegira 6th–first half of the 7th century / AD 12th–first half of the 13th century.","location":"Damascus","dimensions":"Height 25.5 cm, diameter (of mouth) 7.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"Lustre ware in this shade of dark-brown is known to have been produced in the 6th–first half of the 7th / 12th–first half of the 13th centuries in Raqqa. Production of ceramics ended after the Mongol invasion and destruction of the city in 656–7 / 1258–9.","method_for_provenance":"Wares with decorations of this type are known to have been produced in Raqqa, as evidenced by the studies of many Islamic scholars, including Oliver Watson.","provenance":"Raqqa, Syria.","obtention":"The piece was exchanged between the Damascus and Aleppo museums in 1931.","bibliography":"Abu al-Faraj al-Ush, M., *A Concise Guide to the National Museum of Damascus,* Damascus, 1969, pp.231–2.  \nCaiger-Smith, A., *Lustre Pottery: Technique, Tradition and Innovation in Islam and the Western World*, London, 1985.  \nPorter, V., *Medieval Syrian Pottery*, Oxford, 1981.  \nPorter, V., and Watson, O., “'Tel Minis' Wares”, in *Syria and Iran: Three Studies in Medieval Ceramics*, Oxford, 1987, pp.173–248.  \nWatson, O., *Ceramics from Islamic Lands*, London, 2004, pp.292–3.","author":"Mona al-Moadin","translator":"Hilary Kalmbach (from the Arabic)","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["ceramic","earthenware","Jug","metallic lustre","Raqqa"],"materials":["Earthenware decorated with metallic lustre glaze."]},"f4bcacb1-5ea8-5c29-af93-fd4527263356":{"name":"Spherical component of a mosque lamp","short_description":"Spherical component of a mosque lamp decorated with rosettes, cloud scrolls and arabesques. Stylistically, it is related to an inscribed mosque lamp that bears the signature of the artist Musli al-Din and the date 1549. It is quite possible that both items are works of the same artist, created on the occasion of the restoration of the Dome of the Rock at Jerusalem by Süleyman the Magnificent.","type":"Ottoman ceramic, fritware with polychrome underglaze decoration","holder":"Benaki Museum","dates":"Hegira 10th century / AD mid-16th century","location":"Athens","dimensions":"23 cm","provenance":"Turkey","keywords":["Mosque interior decoration","Mosque Lamp","Ottoman arabesque decoration"],"materials":["Frit ware with polychrome underglaze decoration"]},"f4d8be9c-5207-5d6b-9a80-d65d6b7fa366":{"name":"Glazed bowl.","description":"Glazed bowl with everted rim with small horizontal edge, circular mouth, hemispherical body and convex base with vertical foot-ring. The exterior is coated in an almost transparent whitish glaze. The interior is decorated with a polychrome glaze in white, green, purple and yellow, with an unusual schematic figurative style. The central motif consists of a lively hunting scene in which a hound and a bird (perhaps a hawk or eagle) are simultaneously attacking a gazelle. The bird carries in its mouth a spiral-shaped object which may be a snake or a branch. The rim has a scalloped pattern of black arcs filled with green glaze.  \nWhen it was in use, the object was repaired with clamps. There are also holes in the base which were probably used for hanging the bowl on the wall. The object has been restored.","short_description":"Bowl depicting a hunting scene in which a greyhound and a falcon attack a gazelle. There is a spiral-shaped object in the bird’s mouth. This piece, dated to the second half of the AH 5th / AD 11th century, is similar to others from the western Mediterranean and was imported from Kairouan (Tunisia).","type":"Bowl, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Mértola.","dates":"Hegira second half of 5th century / AD second half of 11th century.","location":"Mértola., Beja.","dimensions":"Height 13 cm, maximum diameter 39 cm, diameter (of base) 13.6 cm.","method_for_datation":"The stratigraphic context in which the object was found was very disordered, which led to its being dated by comparison with objects of similar form from Qal'a Banu Hammad (Algeria), Tunis and Kairouan (Tunisia), Denia and Cartagena (Spain), and Pisa (Italy).","method_for_provenance":"The provenance of this type of ceramic is currently disputed. The abundance of objects with this decorative style in Kairouan has led researchers to attribute it to this origin, but analyses of pastes carried out on the objects from Mértola and Pisa contradict this theory and suggest that they may in fact come from the south of the Iberian Peninsula.","provenance":"Kairouan, Tunisia (?).","obtention":"Found in the archaeological excavations carried out by the Campo Arqueológico de Mértola in the citadel of the Castle of Mértola.","bibliography":"Gómez Martínez, S., “Catálogo da Cerâmica”, in *Museu de Mértola. Arte Islâmica*, ed. S. Macias, Mértola, 2001, pp.108–9.  \nGómez Martínez, S., “La Cerámica de Verde y Morado de Mértola”, *Arqueologia Medieval*, no. 3, 1994, pp. 113–32.  \nGómez Martínez, S., “Producciones Cerámicas en la Mértola Islámica”, in *Actes du VIIeme Congrès International sur la Céramique Médiévale en Méditerranée. Thessaloniki, 11–16 Octobre 1999*, Athens, 2003, pp.653–8.  \nTorres, C. and Gómez, S., \"Le Vert et Brun au Portugal\", in *Le Vert et le Brun de Kairouan à Avignon: Céramiques du Xe au XVe Siècle*,exhibition catalogue, Marseilles, 1995, pp.98–102.  \nTorres, C. and Macias, S. (eds.), *O Portugal Islâmico*, Lisbon, 1998, p.100.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_PT_EN_001","author":"Susana Gómez Martínez","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["animal decoration","bird","ceramic","hunting","trade","zoomorphic imagery"],"materials":["fired in an oxidising atmosphere and decorated in green and purple.","Glazed ceramic made with coarse-grained straw and paste mix","modelled on a wheel"]},"f511489c-c7b5-5630-aeeb-24e9da8d840d":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"“He who believes in a reward \\[from God\\] is generous with gifts,” reads the Arab saying on this bowl.  \nIt is difficult to read the phrase, which begins with the four dots, because the exceedingly elegant *Kufi* calligraphy is interwoven and knotted and also embellished with a variety of palmettes.","type":"Bowl, earthenware","holder":"The David Collection","dates":"Hegira 4th century / AD 10th century","location":"Copenhagen","provenance":"Eastern Iran, Nishapur or Samarkand","keywords":["bowl","Earthware","kufic"],"materials":["covered with a white slip and painted in a brown and red slip under a transparent glaze","Earthenware"]},"f54ccda0-cd2f-59b9-b97e-ba28a8e6ef05":{"name":"Pedestal bowl or tazza","description":"A deep bowl, decorated in blue and white, with a sloping rim and supported on a pedestal base. The rim has been embellished with a pattern of rocks and waves, whilst the cavetto is decorated with floral sprays with a medallion surrounded by palmettes at the very centre. The base is also decorated with floral sprays.","type":"Bowl","holder":"Benaki Museum","dates":"AH 972 / c. AD 1565","location":"Athens","dimensions":"Diameter 28.2cm, height 15.8cm","place_of_production":"Iznk","method_for_datation":"Stylistic analysis","provenance":"Turkey","obtention":"Acquired in Greece","bibliography":"Carswell, J., Gibson, M. (ed.), and Moraitou , M., *Iznik Ceramics at the Benaki Museum*, London: Gingko, and Athens: Benaki Museum, 2023: cat. no. 49, p. 103.","author":"Mina Moraitou","copy_editor":"Judy Harter","materials":["Glazed ceramic"]},"f56a2d5c-e6e8-5033-bd68-1e28dd46edad":{"name":"Bowl with two facing peacocks","short_description":"Birds were a popular subject in the Abbasid period, as artists working in many media transformed the creatures’ beaks and wings into increasingly abstracted designs. The symmetrical pattern of two peacocks facing each other finds iconographic precedents in examples dating from the late antique and Byzantine periods, where it often carried paradisiacal connotations. Monochrome lustre examples such as this were characteristic of the second phase of Abbasid lustreware, which developed in centres in Iraq in the tenth century. The word blessing appears in Arabic on the glazed underside of this bowl.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"The Metropolitan Museum of Art","dates":"Hegira mid-4th century / AD second–third quarter 10th century","location":"New York","dimensions":"H: 9.5cm, Diameter: 30.5cm","provenance":"Probably Basra, Iraq","obtention":"Fletcher Fund, 1964  \nVendor: Khalil Rabenou, New York  \nFormer owner \\[dealer\\]: \\[Khalil Rabenou, New York, until 1964; sold to MMA\\]","bibliography":"Ekhtiar, Maryam, Canby, Sheila R., Haidar, Navina and Soucek, Priscilla P. (eds), *Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art*, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011: 35–36, no. 12, ill. 35 (colour).  \nGrube, Ernst J., \"The Art of Islamic Pottery\", *Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin*, 23/6 (February 1965): 211, ill. figs. 3–4 (b/w).  \nJenkins-Madina, Marilyn, \"Muslim: An Early Fatimid Ceramist\", *Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. New Series*, 26 (May 1968): 361, ill. fig. 4 (b/w).","copyright":"The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fletcher Fund, 1964","keywords":["Abbasid","Basra","bird","bowl","clay","earthenware","earthenware dish","Iraq","lustre","lustre-ware","peacock","pottery"],"materials":["Earthenware","lustre-painted on opaque white glaze"]},"f5b2109e-d0d5-5d0d-bfe9-a0c8b044bdd8":{"name":"Fragment of plate.","description":"Fragment of a ceramic plate, ornamented with an animal and epigraphic representation that has been traced out in brown with a paintbrush on a lead glaze. The circular band surrounding the animal decoration features an inscription in *kufic* characters, the contours of which are traced in brown. The space between these characters is also painted brown. The inscription consists of a word repeated twice, '*al-yumn*' (prosperity). The first word is preceded by the last letter of the word itself, and the second is followed by the first letter of this word, suggesting that the word was repeated around the entire circumference of the band. The animal decoration sits at the centre of the plate, surrounded by a circle, and consists of a fragmented lion represented by a head and a section of shoulder. The head is turned to the front, the eyes are wide open, and the mane is dense and wavy. The lower part of the face is missing, but the first photograph of this fragment, published by Golvin (see Bibliography), shows the missing part of the face: the muzzle, the 'moustache' and a part of the falling mane, giving the impression that the lion is in movement. The space between the lion and the circle is ornamented with two trefoil motifs, one complete and the other incomplete, which suggests that this motif was repeated right around the lion. A remaining section of the circular base can be seen at the back of the fragment. Two other fragments of the same plate are kept at the National Museum of Cirta. One of these features the outline that delineates the lion's back and snake-like tail, and the word '*al-yumn'* on the band.  \nThe use of brown is one of the characteristics of Hammadid ceramics. The thinness of the paste and the presence of painted motifs indicate that it forms part of an expensive piece of crockery in comparison to other shards found in the Qal'at Bani Hammad.","short_description":"Fragment of a dish decorated with the representation of a lion in the centre and an inscription brush-painted around the edge in brown, a colour common in Hammadid ceramics, on top of a lead glaze. The inscription in *kufic* characters repeats the word '*al-yumn*' (prosperity).","type":"Plate, ceramic","holder":"National Museum of Setif","dates":"Hegira 406–547 / AD 1015–1152.","location":"Setif","dimensions":"Height 9.50 cm, length 16 cm, diameter of the base 13 cm.","method_for_datation":"The fragment was found in the Qal'at Bani Hammad (5th–6th / 11th–12th). In addition, it features the formal characteristics of Hammadid ceramics and pottery.","method_for_provenance":"Document by L.Golvin, 1965.","provenance":"Qal’at Bani Hammad, Algeria.","obtention":"Archaeological repository (Golvin excavations, 1951).","bibliography":"Bourouiba, R., *Les H'ammadites*, Algiers, 1984.  \nGolvin, L., *Recherches archéologiques à la Qal'a des Banû Hammâd*, Paris, 1965.","author":"Houria Cherid","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"Maria Vlotides","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["animal decoration","brown","calligraphy","ceramic","crockery","cuisine","Dish","eat","epigraphic decoration","expensive piece of crockery","fasting","Feast","food","food habits","food sharing","gathering","Hammadid","kitchen","lion in movement","meal","painted motifs","Plate","pottery","social gathering","table","Tableware","Thin layer of glass"],"materials":["Turned ceramic with painted decoration on lead glaze."]},"f655d504-175d-5d78-8a32-37fc546a4cb2":{"name":"Dish","short_description":"The massive spread of the pottery made in Iznik had a clear influence on the so-called “Kubachi ceramic”, named after a small village in the Caucasus where countless pottery shards have been found. The dish shows a half-length figure with finely drawn face and vividly decorated garment and hat, set against coloured and varied vegetation.","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira second half of the 10th century / AD second half of the 16th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Height 6.8 cm, diameter 34.6 cm","provenance":"Iran (probably Tabriz)","keywords":["ceramic","frit","kubachi","Safawid"],"materials":["Frit body","underglaze polychrome painting"]},"f67cfcaf-ae72-562f-8eff-5a0f72c4615d":{"name":"Bowl with a lustreware decor","description":"This complete table bowl was discovered during the Murwab excavation by the Qatari-French Mission in 2009. This bowl has an open wall and was used to present food prepared at the table. It has a horizontal rim with a rounded end (16cm in diameter) and a flat annular base (8cm in diameter). The glaze is quite damaged and the painted decoration can only be seen in a few places with brown touches of lustreware.","type":"Container","holder":"National Museum of Qatar","owner":"National Museum of Qatar","initial_owner":"Qatar Museums","dates":"Hegira late 2nd to late 3rd century / AD late 8th to late 9th century","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Height: 3.1cm, diameter: 1.6cm","place_of_production":"Iraq or Iran","method_for_datation":"Stratigraphy/scientific analysis.","method_for_provenance":"Stratigraphy/scientific and laboratory analysis.","provenance":"Murwab, Qatar","obtention":"Archaeological excavation.","bibliography":"Carvajal Lopez, J., Guerin, A., and Georgakopoulou, M., \"Petrographic analysis of ceramics of Murwab, an early islamic site in Qatar\", Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 51 (2022): 55–70.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Preliminary pottery study: Murwab horizon in progress, ninth century AD, Qatar\", in Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 40 (2010): 17–34.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Territory and settlement patterns during the Abbasid period (ninth century AD): the village of Murwab (Qatar)\", Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 39 (2009): 181–196.  \n  \nHardy-Guilbert, Cl., \"Fouilles archéologiques a Murwab, Qatar\", in R. Boucharlat et J.-F. Salles (eds.), Arabie Orientale, Mésopotamie et Iran méridional: De l’Age du Fer au début de la période islamique, Paris: ERC 37, 1984: 169–188.  \n  \nKnuth, E., \"An Early Islamic fort and settlement at Murwab”, in F. Hojlund (ed.), Danish Archaeological Investigations in Qatar 1956–1974, Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 97 (2017): 83–98.","author":"Alexandrine Guerin","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","keywords":["bowl","earthenware","Glaze","Tableware"],"materials":["Glazed earthenware"]},"f68ad2e3-66ed-57d2-8adb-c0e1504537b3":{"name":"Glazed bowl.","description":"Glazed bowl with rounded everted rim, circular mouth, semi-oval body and flat base. The object has an exterior finish in honey-coloured monochrome glaze, and a polychrome glaze of white, green and purple in the interior, representing a plant motif consisting of a radial composition of eight lotus flowers topped by another set of eight oval lotus flowers. On the rim is a composition in four parts with alternating semi-circles and phytomorphic motifs. It has a defect at the bottom caused by the glaze coming into contact with another object in the kiln. The object has been restored.","short_description":"Glazed bowl with a plant motif consisting of a radial composition of eight triangular lotus flowers each topped with an oval lotus flower. This piece is similar to others found in Madinat al-Zahra and probably came from the Córdoba region.","type":"Bowl, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Mértola.","dates":"Hegira 339–90 / AD 950–1000.","location":"Mértola., Beja.","dimensions":"Height 6 cm, maximum diameter 29 cm, diameter (of base) 17 cm.","method_for_datation":"The stratigraphic context in which the object was found was very disordered, which led to its being dated to the second half of the 4th / 10th century, by comparison with objects of identical form found in Madinat al-Zahra (Córdoba, Spain).","method_for_provenance":"The shape, ornamental theme and type of paste used are very similar to ceramics from the Córdoba area.","provenance":"Probably Córdoba (Spain).","obtention":"Found in the archaeological excavations carried out by the Campo Arqueológico de Mértola in the citadel of the Castle of Mértola.","bibliography":"Gómez Martínez, S., “Catálogo da Cerâmica”, in *Museu de Mértola. Arte Islâmica*, ed. S. Macias, Mértola, 2001, p.111.  \nGómez Martínez, S., “La Cerámica de Verde y Morado de Mértola”, *Arqueologia Medieval*, no. 3, 1994, p.125.  \nTorres, C. and Gómez, S., “Le Vert et Brun au Portugal”, in *Le Vert et le Brun de Kairouan à Avignon: Céramiques du Xe au XVe Siècle*,exhibition catalogue, Marseilles, 1995, pp.98–102.  \nTorres, C. and Macias, S. (eds.), *O Portugal Islâmico*, Lisbon, 1998, p.97.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_PT_EN_001","author":"Susana Gómez Martínez","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["floral decoration","Tableware"],"materials":["fired in an oxidising atmosphere and decorated in green and purple.","Glazed ceramic made with compact pink paste","modelled on a wheel"]},"f7a106fc-4854-569f-bbae-0f22ab8f3514":{"name":"Jar.","description":"This two-handled globular jar with a long, narrow neck is marked along its body with numerous parallel furrows, made when it was turned, which come together towards the top. There are button-shaped grips on the top of the handles. It is decorated in white on a dark engobe (slip) with central horizontal lines alternating with pseudo-epigraphic motifs in *kufic* characters and oblique lines below. The double braid of linked hearts is a typical Islamic motif deriving from stylisation of the palm tree.  \nThe jar was found, together with other pieces, by the archaeologist Antonio Salinas in the space between the intrados of a vault and the floor of a room of the monastery attached to the Martorana Church built around 1193. The crack in the lower part of the amphora, caused by a firing defect, indicates that the piece, a kiln reject no longer usable as a container, was used to fill vaults in large residences in the first half of the 12th century.","short_description":"This jar was intended as a container for foodstuffs, but was actually used as a building material to fill a vault because it had a firing defect that made it unsuitable for use as a container.","type":"Jar, terra cotta","holder":"Zisa Museum","owner":"Sopraintendenza Beni Culturali e Ambientali, Palermo.","dates":"12th century.","location":"Palermo","dimensions":"Height 49 cm, diameter 34 cm.","method_for_datation":"The fact that the amphora was found in the vaults of the monastery of Martorana Church (built around 1193) suggests that it dates from the 12th century.","method_for_provenance":"As a kiln reject, the jar must have been produced locally.","provenance":"Church of Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio, known as the Martorana.","obtention":"Found.","bibliography":"D’Angelo F., “Ceramica d’Uso Domestico della Sicilia Medievale Proveniente dalla Zisa (Palermo XII Secolo)”, *Atti del IX Convegno Internazionale della Ceramica*, *Albisola 28–31 May 1976*, fig. 10.  \nGabrieli F. and Scerrato U., *Gli Arabi in Italia*, Milan, 1979, p.170, fig. 187.  \nRagona A., “La Ceramica della Sicilia Arabo-Normanna”, *Rassegna della Istruzione Artistica* I, no. 2, 1966.  \nRagona A., *La Maiolica Siciliana dalle Origini all’ Ottocento*, Palermo, 1975, fig. 4.  \nRusso Perez G., “Ancora delle Ceramiche Siculo-Normanne”, *L’Arte* 3, 1940, pp.119–27, fig. 9.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_IT_EN_001","author":"Maria Reginella","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["calligraphy","ceramic","Jar","kufic","Siculo-Norman"],"materials":["Terra cotta with engobe (slip)."]},"f7f52fd0-e0a1-5446-bcda-0a3eba10d5fd":{"name":"Bottle","short_description":"The bottle has a bulbous body and a long neck. The body shows a frieze of panels containing a roundel with a bird holding a floral motif. The ground is decorated with vine leaves.","type":"Ceramic; pottery","holder":"MAO Museum of Oriental Art","dates":"Hegira 7th century / AD 13th century","location":"Turin","dimensions":"Height 32 cm","provenance":"Iran","keywords":["ceramic","Ilkhanid","pottery"],"materials":["decoration in black under turquoise glaze","Frit body"]},"f837717d-83cb-539f-a08b-54027e48d0cc":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"This ceramic dish is decorated with polychrome, a rosette in the middle. Large spiral-shaped blue tendrils surround the rosette.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"MKG Museum for Applied Arts","dates":"Hegira 12th century / AD 18th century","location":"Hamburg","dimensions":"Diameter: 32.5cm","method_for_datation":"Work of the 19th century, information from arts dealer.","method_for_provenance":"Purchased from Tabbagh Frères, Paris.","provenance":"Uzbekistan, Buxoro","obtention":"Purchased in 1906.","copy_editor":"Caitlin Link","keywords":["bowl","Uzbekistan"],"materials":["Glazed ceramic"]},"f84583de-c1e4-56f1-9283-97d00c1e16ce":{"name":"Bottle","short_description":"Large fritware pear-shaped bottle with a low foot and tapers to a slender elongated neck at the base of which is a molding. The body is incised all over with a motif of rounded half palmettes.","type":"Vessels & receptacles, fritware ceramic","holder":"Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah","dates":"Hegira late 6th–early 7th century / AD late 12th–early 13th century","location":"Kuwait City","provenance":"Iranian World","keywords":["ceramic","Fritware","palmette"]},"f8bbc39a-7541-53c4-abb0-e71124f95b62":{"name":"Bowl.","description":"A large, footed bowl, decorated with underglaze painting in blue, white, and a dark cobalt-blue. The exterior features prominent cloud-bands and arabesques executed in white on a blue background. Both are characterised by the use of tight spirals, as for example in the cloud-bands and the floral motifs interspersed between them. The foot is encircled by a chain of floral motifs. The bowl's interior features a central medallion with a pattern of arabesques and floral stems. It sits at the centre of an eight-pointed star-shape formed by lines in dark cobalt on a white background sprinkled with dot-motifs. The points of the star, in turn, have pendants which are framed by a repeat pattern in blue containing arabesque patterns in an idiom similar to those in the bowl's centre. The extraordinary size of this bowl, as well as the skill with which it is decorated, suggests production for the highest levels of the Ottoman hierarchy, although direct evidence for this is lacking. A nearly identical bowl survives in the Louvre (inv. no. 7880–92), suggesting that a common mould and design model (probably a drawing) were used for both objects.  \n  \nThis bowl is one of a group of similar wares which have been attributed to a workshop whose chief designer has been dubbed 'Master of the Knots'. A favourite motif of this workshop is the use of interlacing lines to form elaborate knot-patterns, as seen in the interior of this bowl. Decorative knot-patterns were common not only in Ottoman art of the late AH 9th / AD 15th century, but in the wider Islamic world as well (compare, for example, the patterns on 'Veneto-Saracenic' metalwork).","short_description":"A very large footed bowl on a high foot, decorated with prominent cloud-bands and arabesques in white on a blue background. The size and quality of this bowl suggests that it was made for a high-ranking Ottoman official, possibly for washing the feet during ablutions.","type":"Ottoman ceramics, glazed painting","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum.","dates":"About hegira 914 / AD 1510.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 23.5 cm, diameter 43.2 cm.","method_for_datation":"Stylistic comparison (see description).","method_for_provenance":"Iznik was the centre of quality ceramic production in this period.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Bequest of George Salting in 1910.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N., and Raby, J., Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, Istanbul/London, 1989, p.93, fig. 95.  \n  \nLane, A., Later Islamic Pottery: Persia, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, London, 1957, p.45 and p.48.  \n  \nStanley, T., with Rosser-Owen, M., and Vernoit, S., Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Middle East, London, 2004, pp.102–3.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Barry Wood","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["geometric decoration"],"materials":["Painted and glazed ceramic."]},"f95147cd-064e-504e-9da8-bdc09cd25791":{"name":"Bowl","short_description":"A special variant of blue-and-white ceramic seems to have evolved in Kerman: frugal patterns were incised in sgraffito technique into a thickly coated blue glaze. The two medallions filled with Arabesques are the sole ornaments on the bowl, beautifully enhanced through the distinct colour contrast. The few preserved pieces of this ceramic group are remarkable for their precise form of decoration. It is also assumed that the blue background represents the sky.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"MAK – Museum of Applied Arts","dates":"Beginning of the 17th century","location":"Vienna","dimensions":"Height: 16.6cm, Diameter: 37.2cm","provenance":"Iran, Kerman","obtention":"Asssumption","bibliography":"*The Song of the World, The Art of Safavid Iran 1501-1736*, Paris: Musee du Louvre, 2007.","catalogue_holding_link":"https://sammlung.mak.at/sammlung_online?id=collect-46657","author":"Mio Wakita-Elis","keywords":["Arabesques","bowl","ceramic","Kerman","Safawid"],"materials":["Ceramic with cobalt blue glaze","decoration in sgraffito technique"]},"f99b0b36-e5fc-56c8-9a6f-400862cc44ab":{"name":"Glazed bowl with cobalt-blue decoration","description":"This large, straight-sided bowl has a continuous loop-and-circle design painted in cobalt blue on a white or cream opaque glaze. The shape and colour of the bowl are highly typical of early Abbasid decorated glazed wares and were originally inspired by AH 2nd-3d / AD 7th–8th-century Chinese ceramics.  \n  \nMuslim, Christian and Jewish merchants from the Gulf region, Iraq and Iran had trading posts in southern China and imported various products, including ceramics. These imported ceramics reached the great port of Basra (Iraq) by the middle of the 8th century. Famous potters' workshops in Susa (Iran) or Samarra (Iraq) produced their own designs for this type of ware. Their products were distributed throughout the Middle East and the Gulf, including Qatar.","type":"Container","holder":"National Museum of Qatar","owner":"National Museum of Qatar","initial_owner":"Qatar Museums","dates":"AH late 2nd to late 3rd century / AD late 8th to late 9th century","location":"Doha","dimensions":"Height: 14.2cm, body diameter: 16.6cm, base diameter: 15cm","place_of_production":"Iraq/Iran","method_for_datation":"Stratigraphy/scientific analysis.","method_for_provenance":"Stratigraphy/scientific and laboratory analysis.","provenance":"Murwab, Qatar","obtention":"Archaeological excavation.","bibliography":"Carvajal Lopez, J., Guerin, A., and Georgakopoulou, M., \"Petrographic analysis of ceramics of Murwab, an early islamic site in Qatar\", Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 51 (2022): 55–70.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Preliminary pottery study: Murwab horizon in progress, ninth century AD, Qatar\", in Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 40 (2010): 17–34.  \n  \nGuerin, A. and Na'imi, F., \"Territory and settlement patterns during the Abbasid period (ninth century AD): the village of Murwab (Qatar)\", Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 39 (2009): 181–196.  \n  \nHardy-Guilbert, Cl., \"Fouilles archéologiques a Murwab, Qatar\", in R. Boucharlat et J.-F. Salles (eds.), Arabie Orientale, Mésopotamie et Iran méridional: De l’Age du Fer au début de la période islamique, Paris: ERC 37, 1984: 169–188.  \n  \nKnuth, E., \"An Early Islamic fort and settlement at Murwab”, in F. Hojlund (ed.), Danish Archaeological Investigations in Qatar 1956–1974, Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 97 (2017): 83–98.","author":"Alexandrine Guerin","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","keywords":["blue cobalt glaze","bowl","earthenware","Tableware"],"materials":["Glazed earthenware"]},"f9bb568b-afa8-55b3-9d37-45f6a17b547a":{"name":"Dish","description":"Fez is an important centre for Moroccan pottery and is particularly associated with a distinctive form of blue and white ceramic ware which became popular in the late 19th century. This dish, or *tabsil*, was used to serve foods with a sauce. The dish was donated to the V&A by George Maw, founder of Maw & Co., a British manufacturer of ceramic tiles. The company won many medals and awards at the international exhibitions which were a feature of the late 19th century. This dish was displayed at the 1871 Annual International Exhibition held in London. A label on its base suggests that it was loaned to the exhibition by George Maw.","type":"Earthenware; ceramic","holder":"Victoria and Albert Museum","dates":"c. 1865","location":"London","provenance":"Morocco, Fez","author":"Victoria and Albert Museum"},"fa4916ad-b0f5-5f83-898a-6d97cf9229fd":{"name":"Vase with zoomorphic design","description":"This vase with zoomorphic decoration perpetuates the shape of ritual libation vases of Zoroastrianism, a religion originating in Iran in the first millennium BC. The pouring spout is topped by a bull’s head whose snout is hollow. Its decoration, in relief, is divided into separate concentric registers whose motifs are geometric and floral.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museum of the Arab World Institute","initial_owner":"Annie Kevorkian","dates":"Hegira 4th-6th century / AD 11th-12th century","location":"Paris","dimensions":"Height: 22.5cm, Base diameter: 6.2cm, Maximum diameter: 16cm","provenance":"Middle East","obtention":"Gift of Annie Kevorkian.","bibliography":"Delpont, E., et al., *Album du musée*, Paris: Somogy éditions d'art, 2012: 291.  \n  \nMoulierac, J, et al., *Céramiques du monde musulman: collections de l'Institut du monde arabe et de J.P. et F. Croisier* , Paris: Institut du monde arabe, 1999: 39.","translator":"Judy Harter","materials":["and carved decoration.","moulded","patterned","Unglazed clay"]},"fa4a9630-61c6-59d6-a7a1-86266fd00131":{"name":"Jar","description":"Bulbous, amber-colored glass jar with a thin neck and everted rim.  The center was crimped while the vessel was still soft to create a decorative central band.","type":"Containers, glassware","holder":"Saint Louis Art Museum","dates":"Hegira 1st–2nd century / AD 7th–8th century","location":"Saint Louis","dimensions":"Length: 7.9cm, width: 9.2cm","place_of_production":"Syria","method_for_datation":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","method_for_provenance":"Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.","provenance":"Syria","obtention":"Museum purchase.","copy_editor":"Alvaro Miranda","materials":["glass"]},"fa7b3b4f-6bf6-5a1a-84fd-8f70a066b1c8":{"name":"Fragment of a panel with ceramic inlay.","description":"Fragment of a panel for wall-facing in ceramic marquetry, consisting of blue-green enamelled eight-cornered stars that have been combined with lustre-painted crosses with a metallic sheen that feature geometric motifs and epigraphy traced out by paintbrush. Some of the crosses are adorned with circles that enclose a motif reminiscent of a fish or of a flower on its stem, created in white against a yellow background. These circles appear in twos along each of the branches of the crosses. Other crosses are embellished with white ova on an olive green background, which appear in groups of four on the four branches of the crosses. The inscription '*al-yumn*' (prosperity), executed in *kufic* characters in white against a yellow background, is repeated on each of branches of the crosses.  \nAccording to G. Marçais, 'this ceramic takes its inspiration from the 'Abbasid Orient, which itself borrowed from older Semitic or Byzantine civilisations'.  \nThese kinds of ceramic tile were reserved for wall-facing and were fixed onto the wall at a certain height above floor level. They thus covered the entire surrounding wall space within the rooms of the palace. The fact that they include an inscription confirms their purpose as facings for walls rather than for floors, contrary to what might have been supposed.","short_description":"Wall panel made of earthenware tiles decorated with eight-pointed stars in a blue glaze and crosses in a white glaze, as well as brush-painted motifs and inscriptions. It came from the Palace of the Sea (Dar al-Bahr) of Qal'at Bani Hammad.","type":"Panel, ceramic","holder":"National Museum of Antiquities and Islamic Arts","dates":"Hegira 406–547 / AD 1015–1152.","location":"Algiers","dimensions":"Length 96 cm, width 30.5 cm, diameter of the stars 21 cm, diameter of the crosses 21 cm.","method_for_datation":"Fragment found in the Dar al-Bahr of the Qal'at Bani Hammad, which dates from the 5th–6th /11th–12th centuries, according to Kitab al-Istibsar: 'The Banu Hammad built a number of important constructions in the *qal'a* … including \\[the palace\\] known as Dar al-Bahr, at the centre of which stood a vast fountain'.","method_for_provenance":"From the report of the De Beylié excavation, 1909; furthermore, the piece was discovered in Dar Bahr.","provenance":"Qal’at Bani Hammad, Algeria.","obtention":"Archaeological repository (De Beylié excavations, 1908).","bibliography":"Beylié, général de, *La Kalaa des Beni Hammad, une capitale berbère de l'Afrique du Nord au XIe siècle*, Paris, 1909.  \nGolvin, L., *Recherches archéologiques à la Qal'a des Banû Hammâd*, *(Algérie*), Paris, 1965.  \nMarçais, G., *L'architecture musulmane d'Occident*, Paris, 1954.","author":"Houria Cherid","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"Maria Vlotides","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["architectural decoration","ceramic marquetry","Cladding","Cross","Hammadid","inlay","metallic lustre","palatial architecture","star"],"materials":["enamelled and lustre-painted ceramic.","moulded"]},"fb026c57-4f54-5328-a2fb-ee50db163e3b":{"name":"Mosque lamp.","description":"This large mosque lamp is composed of a relatively stocky, globular body, over which sits an upper part that is shaped like a funnel. Three rounded handles, which are abstract renditions of snake-dragons, are fixed onto the lamp’s shoulder, and are used for the attachment of chains or cords from which to hang the light. These handles are decorated with floral motifs, as figurative decoration within mosques was prohibited. There is a hole in the middle of its arched, low ring-base, from which an ornamental tassel would have been hung.  \nEmpty white cartouches decorate part of the lamp’s body and neck. Its neck is also decorated with four blue geometric boxes of similar shape that are linked together by plaited knots, and which contain inscriptions denoting the names of Muhammad and Allah. The inscriptions themselves are interwoven with symbols of luck in the form of three spheres. More cartouches can be found on the decorative border along the lamp’s top edge. The ring-base is decorated with a plaited band. The cartouches on the body of the lamp, and the blue design across the transitional, narrowing space between body and neck, are embellished with a contour pattern of blossoms and leaves. Bands of plaited motifs adorn the space below the handles.  \nMosque lamps made in ceramic were produced in the manufacturing place of Iznik during the Ottoman period until the middle of the 16th century. In earlier centuries, mosque lamps were mainly made of glass and were produced in many regions and lands across the Islamic world. They are based on the so-called ‘Light Verse’ of the Qur’an (Sura 24, verse 35), which states: ‘Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth. His Light may be compared to a niche that enshrines a lamp’.  \nIznik Ottoman ceramic was as popular in Europe as it was in the Islamic world; so much so that Italian manufacturers in Padua, from the AD 17th century onwards, started imitating Turkish ceramics, in response to a ban at the time on private individuals buying Iznik ceramics manufactured in state workshops. The Iznik workshops went into decline from the AH mid-10th / AD mid-17th century onwards.","short_description":"Mosque lamps such as this ceramic one were intended for use in a mausoleum or a mosque. It is decorated with geometric and floral designs and its inscriptions invoke God and Muhammad. The lamp would hang from the ceiling and would hold an additional container for the oil and wick.","type":"Ceramics","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art at the Pergamon Museum","owner":"Museum of Arts and Crafts, Berlin.","dates":"Hegira beginning of 10th century / AD beginning of 16th century.","location":"Berlin","dimensions":"Height 30 cm, diameter 22.8 cm.","method_for_datation":"The mosque lamp belongs to a group of vessels, classified together because of their painted decoration, which are dated to the beginning of the 10th / 16th century.","method_for_provenance":"This mosque lamp could only have originated from the Ottoman workshops of the town of Iznik, given the markings on the ceramic and the style of the paint work.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Acquired in 1900 by the Arts and Crafts Museum, Berlin, and later transferred as a long-term loan to the Museum of Islamic Art.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N. and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989, pp.90–4.  \n*Museum für Islamische Kunst*, Catalogue, Berlin, 1979, no. 575.  \n*Museum für Islamische Kunst*, Guide, Mainz, 2001, p.183.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Annette Hagedorn","translator":"Maria Vlotides","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["Iznik pottery","Light verse from the Qur’an","Mosque interior decoration","Mosque Lamp","quartz fritware pottery","underglaze painting"],"materials":["Quartz fritware pottery with underglaze painting."]},"fb5dd65d-0a8a-5813-b531-d008701b73be":{"name":"Set of ten inscription frieze tiles","short_description":"Ten luster tiles compose a frieze signed by Yusuf ibn 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Tahir, the son of the potter who made the DDFIA’s Veramin mihrab (48.327). The Abi Tahir family of Kashan, Iran, is famous for the production of exquisite tilework and ceramic vessels during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The inscription on this frieze is from the Qur’an’s well-known \"Throne Verse\" (2: 255). The final tile (lower left) is signed by Yusuf. Purchased in New York City, 1940.","type":"Islamic, Indian & Southeast Asian works of art; Tilework; ceramic","holder":"Shangri La, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira c. 709 / AD 1310","location":"Honolulu, Hawai'i","dimensions":"Each tile: 39.7 x 41.3 cm","provenance":"Iran, Kashan","keywords":["calligraphy","cobalt","Ilkhanid","inscription","Iran","Kashan","lustre","overglaze-painted","Qur'an","stonepaste","tilework","underglaze-painted","Yusuf ibn 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Tahir"],"materials":["overglaze-painted in luster","Stonepaste","underglaze-painted in cobalt"]},"fb606a6f-b8ec-56c9-b78e-78a4d174a94c":{"name":"Jar.","description":"A jar with blue and black underglaze painting of waterweed patterns and scrolling stems which decorate the sides of the jar. Both the colours of the glazes and the decoration recall Iranian designs, although the blue and black underglaze derived from Chinese wares and came via Iran to influence Syrian ceramics. The arrangement of alternating waterweed and scrolling stems are seen in contemporaneous tile panels in Damascus, where the impact of Chinese wares is witnessed still further in the use of such motifs such as willows, peonies and lotus blossoms. Jars of this shape were used for storage; this one perhaps held medicinal herbs.","short_description":"This glazed ceramic jar would have been used for storage, perhaps of medicinal herbs. The blue and black decoration was inspired by Iranian ceramics, in their turn influenced by Chinese wares.","type":"Ceramic, glazed pottery","holder":"The British Museum.","dates":"About hegira 833 / AD 1430.","location":"London, England","dimensions":"Height 32 cm.","method_for_datation":"The designs on this jar resemble a panel of hexagonal tiles in the complex of Ghars al-Din al-Khalil al-Tawrizi in Damascus, Syria, built just before his death in 833 / 1430.","method_for_provenance":"The designs on this jar resemble a panel of hexagonal tiles in the complex of Ghars al-Din al-Khalil al-Tawrizi in Damascus, Syria.","provenance":"Damascus, Syria.","obtention":"Purchased by the British Museum in 1987.","bibliography":"Atil, E., *Renaissance of Islam: Art of the Mamluks*, Washington, D.C., 1981, p.146–82 (for a discussion on Mamluk ceramics).","linkcatalogs":"IAM_EG_EN_001","author":"Emily Shovelton","copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["Chinese influence","floral decoration","Iranian influence","medical plant","medicine","science"],"materials":["Blue and black underglaze painted ceramic."]},"fbb80300-6593-572b-a139-40b31becb5db":{"name":"*Mina´i* bowl","short_description":"*Mina´i* means enamel in Persian, and the term refers to this type of pottery’s colorful decoration, which lies both in and over the glaze, here further enriched with gold. Like lusterware, it had to be fired twice and was consequently costly.  \nThe figures are the Turkish-Mongol type, found in all the Persian art of the day and reflected the ruling class’s ethnicity.","type":"Bowl, fritware, ceramic","holder":"The David Collection","dates":"Hegira c. 600 / AD c. 1200","location":"Copenhagen","provenance":"Iran, Kashan","keywords":["bowl","figural motifs","Fritware","Iran","Minai","Turkish-Mongol type"],"materials":["Fritware","white glaze. Mina'i type","with polychrome decoration and gold leaf in and over an opaque"]},"fbcc03c6-bc1c-58ea-b5ef-157f9009dc3c":{"name":"Dish with floral decoration.","description":"Large dish with a foot-ring, curved sides and a narrow slanting brim. The decoration, traced in black lines on a white background beneath a lead glaze with colour haloing, is painted in blue-violet, green and red lake in low relief. There are some remains of decoration in gold applied above the glaze. The dish shows a typical bush with leaves and flowers including tulips, hyacinths and carnations. The brim shows the customary painted and highly stylised ‘wave-and-rock’ motif. There are small floral elements, alternately in green and blue, along the outer side, with noticeable colour haloing.","short_description":"This plate, typically decorated with a leafy bush and various flowers, as well as the equally common ‘wave-and-rock’ motif on its brim, is an example of 17th-century late Iznik production.","type":"Ottoman ceramics","holder":"Museum of Civilisations | Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci”","dates":"Hegira 11th century / AD 17th century.","location":"Rome","dimensions":"Height 7.1 cm, diameter 30.2 cm.","method_for_provenance":"The dish is a typical example of late Iznik production (11th / 17th century) for its less precise design and use of colours.","provenance":"Iznik, Turkey.","obtention":"Purchase.","bibliography":"Atasoy, N. and Raby, J., *Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey*, London, 1989. Lane, A., *Later Islamic Pottery*, London, 1957. Petsopoulos, Y., *Tulips, Arabesques and Turbants: Decorative Arts from the Ottoman Empire*, London, 1982. Rogers, G. M., “The Wares of Sixteenth Century Ottoman Turkey”, in *Islamic Art and Design 1500–1700*, London, 1993, pp.93–120. Torre, P., *Le Mille e una Notte: Ceramiche Persiane, Turche e Ispano-Moresche*, Faenza, 1990.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_TR_EN_001","author":"Paola Torre","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","Dish","floral decoration","Glazed","hyacinths","Iznik"],"materials":["Glazed ceramic."]},"fcf42d5a-d05c-5ebc-88f3-195d584999e1":{"name":"Vase with curved handles","alternate_name":"Vaso biansato","description":"The Museum of Industrial Arts (M.A.I.) was established in 1872 in Rome as a collection of manufacts (glasses, majolica, sculptures, materials, photographs, metals, casts and other) from antiquity to 19th century, and as a training school for specialising artisans. The idea was part of the process of revaluation of the so-called \"minor arts\". Spanish and Arabian motifs became fashionable in the mid-19th century. The Spanish medieval pottery showed a very strong representation of Romantic Orientalism and inspired a beautiful production of \"winged vases\"(18th to 19th century). The majolica vase with curved handles is painted in blue and red-brown metallic lustre over a white background. It has a long neck, imitating the Hispanic-Moorish tradition, and its decoration shows a stylised floral motif. It can be dated around mid-19th century for its form and decoration technique.","type":"Vessel","holder":"Museo Artistico Industriale, National Gallery of Ancient Art in Palazzo Barberini","dates":"1848–1855","location":"Rome","author":"Marina Minozzi","copy_editor":"Anne Dowell"},"fd011d86-ad03-55b4-93a7-ea2962665bca":{"name":"Fragment from a container.","description":"This piece appears to be the bottom of a glazed pottery container, which is decorated on the interior by two polo-sticks, symbolising polo, a sport that the Mamluks were deeply interested in, especially during the period of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun who ruled three times: AH 693–4 / AD 1294–5; AH 698–708 / AD 1299–1309; AH 709–41 / AD 1309–40. Amongst the Mamluk officers, the master of the two polo-sticks blazon was called 'al-Jokandar', 'Jokan' meaning in Persian (Farsi) two polo-sticks, and 'dar' meaning bearer or master. This blazon appears on many Islamic objects made from ceramic, inlaid copper, glass or textiles as well as other mediums. The blazon was an emblem symbolising a specific office and had been used by *amirs* and sultans since the AH 6th / AD 12th century on their buildings, possessions and other objects as a means of indicating their ownership of them. The system of office blazons came to an end with the fall of the Mamluk dynasty in AH 923 / AD 1517.  \nGlazed pottery is considered to be the most prolific medium used to make objects for the residences of Mamluk *amir*s. This might be the reason for the abundant use of blazons – in addition to inscriptions which bear the titles of *amir*s and vegetal, animal and geometric motifs – in the decoration of such pieces as this.","short_description":"The blazon is the symbol which sultans and amirs put on their possessions and buildings to indicate their official posts. The blazon on this fragment from the bottom of a clay vessel glazed with a layer of enamel indicates that its owner was the master of the polo game ('al-Jokandar').","type":"Container, pottery","holder":"Museum of Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira 9th century / AD 15th century.","location":"Cairo","dimensions":"Diameter 12 cm.","method_for_datation":"The object is dated based on the technique of glazed-pottery production that was used on it, a method that was known in the late Mamluk period after a marked deterioration in the quality of ceramics had taken place. Studying the blazon ornamenting the bottom of the container also sheds light on the date.","method_for_provenance":"The piece was most probably produced in Egypt as excavations carried out at Fustat revealed that a cheaper kind of pottery was produced during the decline of the Mamluk Dynasty, replacing the high-quality ceramics produced in the early Mamluk period.","provenance":"Possibly Cairo, Egypt.","obtention":"The object was discovered during the course of archaeological excavations in Fustat in 1918.","bibliography":"Al-Pasha, H., al-*Funun, Al-Islamiya wa al-Wadha'if ala al-Athar al-Arabiya \\[Islamic Arts and Occupations on Arab Monuments\\],* Vol. 2, Cairo, 1966.  \nAtil, E., *Renaissance of Islam: Art of the Mamluks,* Washington D.C., 1981.  \n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_, *Ceramics from the World of Islam,* Washington D.C., 1973.  \nJenkins, M., Islamic Pottery: A Brief History, in *Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin,* Vol. 40 (4), Spring, 1983.  \n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_, Mamluk Underglaze Painted Pottery: Foundations for Further Study, *Muqarnas* 2, 1984, pp.95–114.  \nMustafa, M., *Dalil al-Mathaf al-Islami \\[Guide to the Islamic Museum\\],* Cairo, 1963.  \nScanlon, G., Mamluk Pottery: More Evidence from Fustat. *Muqarnas* 2, 1984, pp.115–26.  \nStierlin, H. and Stierlin, A., *Splendours of the Islamic World: Mamluk Art in Cairo (1250–1517),* London, New York, 1997.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_EG_EN_001","author":"Muhammad Abbas Muhammad Selim","copy_editor":"Majd Musa","translator":"Amal Sachedina (from the Arabic).","translation_copy_editor":"Mandi Gomez","keywords":["blazon","ceramic","container","Glaze","pottery"],"materials":["painted in white slip and glazed in brown.","Reddish pottery paste"]},"fd693de4-6eae-5786-94f7-4f1e23d9aedd":{"name":"*Zellij* panel.","description":"Panel of a wall covering from the Badi Palace consisting of a mosaic of glazed ceramic pieces or *zellij*. Its *testir* decoration is entirely geometric. Its design employs star shapes, squares and triangles, and its composition is radial.  \nThin knotwork lines alternating between blue and black spread from a centrepiece consisting of a 16-pointed star surrounded by a black fillet to form a large cross shape delimited by black knotwork, inside which there is a myriad of small white twinkling stars. Other yellow-ochre, blue and black knotwork lines branch out from this figure to make other larger compositions and star motifs that extend to the edges of the panel.  \nThis small sample of *zellij* facing is testimony to the finesse and magnificence of the famous panels with which the walls of the Badi Palace were covered, which its founder, the Sa'did monarch Mansur al-Dhahabi (the Doric) wanted to be more beautiful and larger than in the Alhambra in Granada. The coverings of its ceilings and walls were praised by both Moroccan chroniclers and foreign visitors who were received in the Badi Palace in its heyday, before it was entirely destroyed and pillaged at the beginning of the 'Alawid era.","short_description":"This *zellij* panel has a radiating composition and is decorated with star, square and triangle shapes. It is evidence of the finesse and magnificence of the wainscoting in the Badi Palace, whose founder wanted panelling more beautiful than that of the Alhambra.","type":"Panel, mosaic, earthenware","holder":"Batha Museum.","owner":"Historical Monuments Department.","initial_owner":"The State.","dates":"Hegira 986-1002 / AD 1578–93.","location":"Fez.","dimensions":"Height 76.5 cm, length 76.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"The construction of the monument from which it came would have begun in AH 986 / AD 1578 and would have been completed in AH 1002 / AD 1594.","method_for_provenance":"Object found during excavation of the monument.","provenance":"Badi Palace, Marrakesh, Morocco.","obtention":"Salvaged by the Historical Monuments Department after the site was excavated.","bibliography":"Deverdun, G., *Inscriptions arabes de Marrakech*, Rabat, 1956.  \nDeverdun, G., *Marrakech des origines à nos jours*, Rabat, 1959.  \nPaccard, A., *Le Maroc et l'artisanat traditionnel islamique dans l'architecture*, Vol. 1, Paris, 1979.","author":"Naima El Khatib-Boujibar","copy_editor":"Margot Cortez","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["geometric decoration","palatial architecture","tilework"],"materials":["Polychrome earthenware mosaic."]},"fd9231ec-9280-5e60-8248-b9d7c9cf8d62":{"name":"Cup with foot.","description":"A cup with a foot in ivory-white depicting a court scene in the centre. A young prince is seated on a throne with a tall back on which two falcons are perched. The prince is flanked by two courtiers and at his feet are two peacocks, symbols of royalty, facing each other. Around the central motif are painted pairs of sphinxes face to face, separated by small medallions. On the inside edge of the cup is a votive inscription in *kufic* script and on the outside an inscription in pseudo-*kufic* calligraphy between arabesques.","short_description":"Seljuq bowl with a court scene in the centre and facing sphinxes, separated by small medallions, painted around this central motif. The inner edge bears an inscription in *kufic* script, and there is a pseudo-*kufic* inscription surrounded by arabesques on the outside.","type":"Glazed ceramic, cup, earthenware","holder":"Calouste Gulbenkian Museum.","dates":"Hegira end of 6th or beginning of 7th century / AD end of 12th or beginning of 13th century.","location":"Lisbon.","dimensions":"Height 8 cm, diameter 20 cm.","method_for_datation":"By stylistic analysis methods and by comparison with pieces from the Seljuq period.","method_for_provenance":"By expert examination. In correspondence relating to the sale of the object, L.A. Raffy provides a 'guarantee of the authenticity of the ceramic from Persia'.","provenance":"Kashan, Persia.","obtention":"Purchased from L.A. Raffy in Paris on 23 June 1914.","bibliography":"*Islamic Art in the Calouste Gulbenkian Collection*, exhibition catalogue, Abu Dhabi, 2004.  \nMota, M. M., *Catálogo das Louças Islâmicas*, Vol. I: *Louças Seljúcidas*, Lisbon, 1988.  \n*Museu Calouste Gulbenkian*, Lisbon, 1st edition 2001, 2nd edition revised and updated 2002.","author":"Maria Queiroz Ribeiro","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["cup","Glaze","haftrang","Kashan","Minai","Seljuq"],"materials":["Earthenware made using the minai or haftrang technique (seven colours) with decoration painted both under and on top of the glaze."]},"feee4da0-04af-5864-b229-a94005de718d":{"name":"Glazed bowl.","description":"Glazed bowl with rounded rim, circular mouth, slightly carinate hemispherical body and convex base with diagonal foot-ring. The exterior is glazed in honey-coloured monochrome and the interior is decorated in the *cuerda seca* technique in which the white, green and honey colours of the glaze are separated by lines of manganese. The decorative theme is a large flower created by a radial geometric composition which occupies all of the decorated space and which may correspond to a lotus flower viewed from above. Examples identical to this object have been found in various parts of the western Mediterranean, in particular in the citadel of Málaga, in Cartagena, Palma de Mallorca (Spain), Pisa (Italy) and Ceuta (Morocco). The object has been restored.","short_description":"Bowl decorated entirely using *cuerda seca* and decorated with a large flower created by a geometric radial pattern that occupies all of the decorative space. The central motif is a lotus flower seen from above. Similar pieces have been found around the western Mediterranean.","type":"Bowl, ceramic","holder":"Museum of Mértola.","dates":"Hegira 6th century / AD 12th century.","location":"Mértola., Beja.","dimensions":"Height 8.5 cm, diameter (of mouth) 26 cm, diameter (of base) 10.5 cm.","method_for_datation":"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 similar shape and decorative technique from Málaga and Almería.","method_for_provenance":"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.","provenance":"Almería or Málaga, Spain.","obtention":"Found in the archaeological excavations carried out by the Campo Arqueológico de Mértola in the citadel of the Castle of Mértola.","bibliography":"Gómez Martínez, S., *A Cerâmica em Corda Seca de Mértola*, Mértola, 2002.  \nTorres, C., “Um Lote Cerâmico da Mértola Islâmica*”*, in *I Congreso de Arqueología Medieval Española. Huesca, 1985*, vol. IV, Saragossa, 1986, pp.193–228 .  \nTorres, C. and Gómez, S., “Le Vert et Brun au Portugal”, in *Le Vert et le Brun de Kairouan à Avignon: Céramiques du Xe au XVe Siècle*,exhibition catalogue, Marseilles, 1995, pp.98–102.  \nTorres, C. and Macias, S. (eds.), *O Portugal Islâmico*, Lisbon, 1998, p.92.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_PT_EN_001","author":"Susana Gómez Martínez","translator":"Gilla Evans","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["ceramic","cuerda seca","trade"],"materials":["Ceramic made from medium-grained orange-coloured paste","fired in an oxidising atmosphere and glazed using the cuerda seca technique throughout.","modelled on a potter’s wheel"]},"ff2095d9-b276-5a8d-8731-45db9248f0d8":{"name":"Jar.","description":"This two-handled globular jar with a long, narrow neck is marked along its body with numerous parallel furrows, made when it was turned, which come together towards the top. There are button-shaped grips on the top of the handles (one missing). It is decorated in white on a dark engobe (slip) with horizontal lines alternating with pseudo-epigraphic motifs in *kufic* characters.  \nThe jar was found, together with other pieces, by the archaeologist Antonio Salinas in the space between the intrados of a vault and the floor of a room of the monastery attached to the Martorana Church built around 1193. The crack in the lower part of the amphora, caused by a firing defect, indicates that the piece, a kiln reject no longer usable as a container, was used to fill vaults in the large residences in the first half of the 12th century.","short_description":"This jar was intended as a container for foodstuffs, but was actually used as a building material to fill a vault because it had a firing defect that made it unsuitable for use as a container.","type":"Jar, terra cotta","holder":"Zisa Museum","owner":"Sopraintendenza Beni Culturali e Ambientali, Palermo.","dates":"12th century.","location":"Palermo","dimensions":"Height 49 cm, diameter 34 cm.","method_for_datation":"The fact that the amphora was found in the vaults of the monastery of Martorana Church (built around 1193) suggests that it dates from the 12th century.","method_for_provenance":"As a kiln reject, the jar must have been produced locally.","provenance":"Church of Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio, known as Martorana.","obtention":"Found.","bibliography":"D’Angelo F., “Ceramica d’Uso Domestico della Sicilia Medievale Proveniente dalla Zisa (Palermo XII Secolo)”, *Atti del IX Convegno Internazionale della Ceramica*, *Albisola 28–31 May 1976*, fig. 10.  \nGabrieli F. and Scerrato U., *Gli Arabi in Italia*, Milan, 1979, p.170, fig. 187.  \nRagona A., “La Ceramica della Sicilia Arabo-Normanna”, *Rassegna della Istruzione Artistica* I, no. 2, 1966.  \nRagona A., *La Maiolica Siciliana dalle Origini all’ Ottocento*, Palermo, 1975, fig. 4.  \nRusso Perez G., “Ancora delle Ceramiche Siculo-Normanne”, *L’Arte* 3, 1940, pp.119–27, fig. 9.","linkcatalogs":"IAM_IT_EN_001","author":"Maria Reginella","copy_editor":"Pier Paolo Racioppi","translator":"Laurence Nunny","translation_copy_editor":"Monica Allen","keywords":["calligraphy","ceramic","Jar","kufic","Siculo-Norman"],"materials":["Terra cotta with engobe (slip)."]},"ff401773-95b4-5d80-9dca-780e741d09d7":{"name":"Tile panel","short_description":"This panel is composed of 236 rectangular tiles, which are joined in pairs to form one design unit. The majority of the paired tiles feature an octagonal coffer design with a blossom surrounded by rayed circles. Doris Duke purchased this group of tiles from the Hearst collection in 1941. Though their provenance is unknown prior to Hearst's acquisition, similar tiles are known to have come from the church at Santiago, Carmona, in Spain.","type":"Islamic, Indian & Southeast Asian works of art; tilework; earthenware","holder":"Shangri La, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art","dates":"Hegira 931–957 / AD 1525–1550","location":"Honolulu, Hawai'i","dimensions":"Each tile: 24.1 x 25.4 cm","provenance":"Spain, Seville","keywords":["earthenware","floral decoration","lustre","overglaze-painted","Spain","tilework","underglaze-painted","William Randolph Hearst"],"materials":["Earthenware","underglaze-painted in blue and overglaze-painted in luster"]},"ffd585a4-8d7b-569f-b9b6-1671b03cf69b":{"name":"Oil lamps","short_description":"In North Africa, urban ceramic production is strictly the domain of professional male potters. Their wheel-made and glazed vessels are produced in specialized workshops expressly for sale. In rural areas pottery is almost entirely made by women alongside their domestic work. They produce a wide range of utilitarian unglazed non-wheel-made earthenware, such as storage pots and containers for food and liquids. Village women produce their pottery primarily to fill their own family’s needs, or for local exchange, which permits them to acquire grain or other items of barter from their neighbours. They decorate their products with elaborate and intricate geometric patterns associated with fertility and abundance. Presently, throughout the Maghreb ceramics hand-made by the women are disappearing.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Weltmuseum Wien","dates":"Ca. 1890","location":"Vienna","dimensions":"H: 46cm, W: 40cm / H: 49cm, W: 43cm","method_for_datation":"Entry in the general inventory and archival documents.","method_for_provenance":"Entry in the general inventory book.","provenance":"Algeria, Greater Kabylia, Jurjura Mountains; Ait Aissi or Ouadhia (Iwadhiyen)","obtention":"Estate  Franz Xaver Ritter von Höhnel. Catalog entry: \"Purchased from Emil Benedik on behalf of Ms von Höhnel, 1929.\"","bibliography":"Janata, Alfred, \"Nordafrika, Vorder- und Zentralasien\", in Das Museum für Völkerkunde in Wien (ed), *Das Museum für Völkerkunde in Wien (Mit Beiträgen von Hans Manndorff, Christian F. Feest, Armand Duchâteau, Alfred Janata, Kurt Binder, Heide Theisen, Hanns Peter, Peter Kann)*, Salzburg and Vienna: Residenz Verlag, 1980: 70-93.  \nSteinmann, Axel, \"Der Entzauberte Wald. Nutzbäume. Der Ölbaum (Olea eurpaea). Das Licht des Lebens\", in Gerard van Bussel and Axel Steinmann (eds), *Wald / Baum / Mensch, exhibition catalogue*, Vienna: Museum für Völkerkunde, 2011: 196-197.","materials":["pigments","shellac","Terracotta"]},"ffff8d3d-ab9b-5733-9ca0-900b6b34002e":{"name":"*Ghotar* concave dish","description":"The radiant design is organised around the seal of Solomon, or eight-pointed star, that adorns the centre of the dish. The contour of the star is painted blue, and a flower with eight green petals is inside it. The star is on a white background with small yellow patterns outlined in black. Oval patterns extend from the points of the star. Decorated concentric bands complete the ornamentation of the piece.  \nThe decoration and form are characteristic of Moroccan ceramics between the 17th and 19th centuries. They are widespread in Morocco and Spain, and even in France. An Andalusian influence can be seen in certain features, such as the use of geometry. The piece reflects the polychrome earthenware made in Fes, but also in Safi, a production centre. In the 19th century, colours were more assertive, shapes heavier, and decorations less spontaneous than before. This piece is of high technical and aesthetic quality.","type":"Ceramic","holder":"Museum of the Arab World Institute","dates":"Hegira 13th century / AD 19th century","location":"Paris","dimensions":"Height: 11.5cm, Diameter: 34cm, Diameter base: 4cm","provenance":"Fes, Morocco","obtention":"Purchased at auction on advice from Ader-Picard-Tajan, 2002.","bibliography":"Delpont, E., *Album du musée*, Paris: Somogy éditions d'art, 2012: 294.","translator":"Judy Harter","materials":["Clay","design painted on opaque glaze under transparent glaze"]}}