Bottle decorated with Christian scenes

The body of the bottle displays a narrative sequence containing four farming scenes and four religious buildings animated with figures. A church is recognisable amongst the buildings. The porch is open revealing jars wrapped in cloth. A variety of agricultural activities are taking place: novices, supervised by monks, are gathering dates onto a blanket; further on, a vine is being harvested; an ass is laden with fruit and a labourer is driving his plough. A thin blue ribbon decorated with foliage and animals underlines the image. Above is a wider blue ribbon, with interlace and quatrefoil motifs with fleur-de-lis. The neck is filled with representations of religious figures.

This precious object was possibly intended for a dignitary, either Christian or Muslim, who had monasteries in his protection. Its iconography exalts the life of Christian communities, which were numerous at this period in the north of Syria and Iraq. Only three extant examples of Ayyubid glasswork present Christian subjects: two goblets in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, with decoration narrating the entry of Christ into Jerusalem and a receptacle in the form of a horn with representations of monks (the Hermitage Museum). Nevertheless, numerous architectural decorative fragments from buildings occupied by clergy have been discovered and this theme is not exceptional[1]. Bucolic imagery appears on other media of the decorative arts.

Agricultural scenes very similar to those on the bottle can be found on Ayyubid inlaid metalwork, including, works signed by Ahmad al-Dhaki al-Mawsili; and also on the Boston candlestick, the ‘Homberg’ ewer and the Cleveland ewer, dated 1223, which displays medallions showing scenes of harvesting, ploughing and gardening. David Storm Rice concluded in his essay published in 1957 that the copper workshops of northern Iraq surpassed their Syrian counterparts in the development of pastoral themes and given them an incomparable charm, in a style recalling medieval French art[2].

Other influences from the art of miniatures are apparent, both Iraqi and Syrian, religious and secular.  The animals and trees recall an illustration of the Book of Medicinals by pseudo-Galen, realised in 1199, showing the apothecary, Andromachos, supervising the labours of his peasants[3] and the delightful images of the Maqamat, illustrated in 1237 in Baghdad by al-Wasiti[4]. Architectural studies and religious figures are depicted in the Entry of Christ into Jerusalem, an illuminated manuscript from the Jacobite Syrian lectionary which was copied in 1220[5].

It is tempting to associate the decoration of the bottle to the iconography of the four seasons thereby connecting it to a theme very popular in Western Christian art, often translated into sculptures on cathedral portals where it takes on a cosmic dimension.

Nevertheless, in Islamic civilisations, the theme of the four seasons was particularly popular in Persia and the Caucasus where the seasons were more varied. Furthermore, in Islamic decoration, summer is represented by hunting scenes, winter by interiors, and spring by outdoor concerts. The imagery on this bottle emphasises autumn fruits and autumnal products: wine, oil and beer. Thus the decoration may have been connected to the possible contents of the bottle itself.

Nevertheless, the imagery belongs to a wider iconography. Harvesting, sowing, wine and oil are connected to the economy of monasteries and the church. They are also images of abundance, blessing and felicity. In the Judaeo-Christian culture, the famous psalm reads: ‘Thou preparest a table before me/…Thou anointest my head with oil/ My cup runneth over…’ (Psalm 23:5). In the Arabic culture, an ancient pre-Islamic poetic tradition considered the Christian monastery as a place of safety and comfort in the desert and ‘the handsome deacon’ filling cups, a cupbearer for the elect. The decoration of the bottle, detailing the activities of a monastic community, evokes an image of daily life familiar and agreeable to all.

[2] David Storm Rice, ‘Inlaid Brasses from the Workshop of Ahmad al-Dhaki al-Mawsili’, Ars Orientalis, Vol. 2, Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1957, pp. 283. Cf. fig. p. 295, n°8 and fig. p. 323.

[3] Paris, BNF, Ms. Arabe 2964, p. 22.

[4] Paris, BN, Ms Arabe 5847. Cf., in particular, ‘the Eastern Isle’ thirty-ninth scene, folio 121b.

[5] Apostolic Library, Vatican, Ms. Syriaco 559, folio 105b.