Two goblets decorated with Christian scenes

These two goblets with flared edges are decorated with three bands. The upper bands are ornamented with gilded inscriptions (expressing good wishes) encircled with red on a blue background. Inscriptions and gilded vegetal tendrils on a red background, which are inside the goblets, also ornament the lower bands which are identical on both goblets, apart from the content of the inscriptions (wishes).

On goblet No. 4717, two people with halos, dressed in long, draping, striped garments, alternate with the representation of two buildings—a single- and two-storey building—with ribbed domes, protected by a wall. Faces and lamps can be seen through the arches and windows. On goblet No. 4718 the buildings are similar but are without an enclosure. A person on a donkey, and another standing dressed in a cape edged with fur and a small upright figure on a roof have been placed between these buildings, amongst the leafy stems and vegetal tendrils in the background.

Goblets were frequently made of enamelled and gilded glass in the Near East from the beginning of the thirteenth century. The slender profile and flared edges link these pieces with a group of goblets dating from the middle of the thirteenth century, one of which is in the Louvre Museum and is decorated with a horseman[1].

Some goblets have been discovered in sets[2]. Their dimensions, like those of the Baltimore goblets, may indicate that they were kept stacked on top of each other. They may have been used for ceremonial purposes. They can be found in depictions on ceramic objects, and objects in glass and inlaid with metal in banqueting scenes and princely pursuits[3], and also in Christian decorations, near liturgical accessories[4].

The rich decoration of gold and coloured enamels, applied on glass that has been fired, was fixed with a second firing. This technique, which is in some ways similar to the haftrang (seven colours) technique used in the Seljuk ceramics of Iran, developed in Syria from the end of the twelfth century. It led to the production of works that were admired, imitated by[5], and exported to the West. This continued until the fifteenth century, when the eastern workshops collapsed and were superseded by productions from Venice and Barcelona. There was then a reversal in trade—European glassware was exported to the East[6].

The iconography is clearly Christian. On goblet No. 4717 there are references to monastic communities, which were the hub of Christian life in the Islamic Near East. This type of scene is common on objects produced in the region during the Ayyūbid period and under the first Mamlūks[7]. Goblet No. 4718 shows Christ entering Jerusalem, an event that is described in the four Gospels[8], and which had largely been represented as Christian[9] since the Paleo-Christian period. It can be seen on various objects with Christian iconography made in Islamic countries[10], and in Syriac manuscripts from the scriptoria of Christian monasteries in the East[11].

The presence of inscriptions is characteristic of Islamic art. Arabic, the language in which the archangel Gabriel transmitted the divine message from the prophet Muhammad, has a holy significance. It therefore features extensively in Islamic art—in religious[12] and historical works, in documents, and for its aesthetic, and even symbolic qualities.

The style is characteristic of the period. The draping, striped garments[13], the buildings, and the plants[14], are frequently found on work—work produced by Christians and other communities—produced in the Near East during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

This symbiosis of styles shows that there was intense cultural and artistic interaction between the various sectors of society during that period.

[2] Three goblets, Syria or Egypt, thirteenth century, blown glass, gilded and enamelled decorations, London, Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, inv. GLS 578a, 578b, 578c.

[3] Bowl with drinker, Syria, beginning of the thirteenth century, stone-paste, polychrome painted decorations under glaze, national museum, Damascus, inv. A/4510/11890.

[4] Perfume-burner with Christian decorations, Syria or northern Mesopotamia, first half of the thirteenth century, moulded copper alloy inlaid with silver and gold, British Museum, London, inv. 1878 12-30 679.

[5] See the so-called ‘Aldrevandin’ set of Venetian goblets, amongst which is a goblet with a griffin, Venice, end of the thirteenth to the beginning of the fourteenth century, Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, inv. 6770.

[6] Mosque lamp, Venice, sixteenth century, blown glass with redeselli and gilded decorations, Topkapi Sarayi Müzesi, Istanbul,  inv. 34/468.  

[7] Bottle with Christian and pastoral scenes, Syria, mid thirteenth century, Furusiyya Arts Foundation Vaduz.

[8] Mt 21, 1-11, Mc 11, 1-11, Lc 19, 28-38, Jn 12, 12-16.

[9] Christ entering Jerusalem, twelfth century, mosaic, Palatine Chapel, Palermo.

[10] Gourd, Syria, around 1250, bronze inlaid with silver, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, inv. F1941.10.

[11] Christ entering Jerusalem, Jacobite lectionary, Mar Matti Monastery, Mosul, Iraq, 1220, gouache and ink on paper, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vatican, MS. Siriaco 559, f° 223 v°.

[12] Blue Qur’an, Tunisia, tenth century, vellum dyed indigo and illuminated with gold, Raqqada museum of Islamic art, Kairouan, inv. Rutbi 196.

[13] Bowl with engaged couple, Syria or Cyprus, thirteenth century, ceramic clay paste, engraved decorations on slip under a transparent glaze, embellished with coloured glaze, formerly part of the Croizier collection, repository in the Institut du monde arabe, Paris, France.

[14] The Book of Theriaca, Al-Jazira, 1199, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, Eastern manuscripts, Arabic 2964, ff. 5, 22, 55.