Bowl decorated with person drinking

The pottery workshops of al-Andaluz embodied the synthesis of Mediterranean tradition and Oriental techniques. This bowl is decorated with a motif painted in green and brown using copper and manganese oxide. The main workshops using this technique were situated in the Cordoba region with perhaps one exception at Madinat al-Zahra. Artefacts of this type have also been found in several regions of al-Andalus, for example in the area around Valencia. The origins of this particular piece are the subject of numerous hypotheses. Whilst it is true that this type of ceramic was manufactured principally in the Cordoba area, archaeological digs have shown the existence of local workshops at Denia, Valencia and Benetusser.

This bowl belongs to a find, which included both high quality ceramics as well as objects for everyday use. It was unearthed during digs in the church square at Benetusser in 1982. The object is a bowl with a circular base, concave sides and a curved rim[1]. Only the interior of the bowl is covered with a thin layer of tin glaze, which is unevenly applied. The outline of the motif was painted onto the glaze in brown and coloured in green.

In the centre of the bowl a woman is depicted, raising a pitcher to her lips in order to drink. Her face is in profile and above her eye we see a long arched eyebrow and her hair falling in a curl onto her cheek. No everyone agrees as to the gender of this figure. The edges of the bowl are decorated with discontinuous wavy lines. According to Jaime Coll[2], this style of figurative decoration typical of the aulic circles of Madinat al-Zahra or Madinat Ilbira, became rare after the fall of the caliphate. It is however to be found on Fatimid lusterware, where simple figures are seen drinking or playing music, in clear reference to the theme of a banquet. The figures used to decorate Fatimid ceramic ware are often wearing a turban, whereas this figure is bareheaded. In al-Andalusian art, it is common to see figures without head covering, such as those to be found on the bottle depicting musicians from Cordoba[3], on the Leyre ornamental chest[4] or on the al-Mughira pyxsis[5]… 

The posture of the figure is commonly seen on objects made of ivory (the Leyre ornamental chest, the Davillier box[6] and the chest from the Victoria and Albert Museum[7]) and is often interpreted as being associated with aulic festivals.

According to many researchers, this technique of painting in green and brown on glazing originates from Mesopotamia and Sassanid Persia. Others believe it comes from Byzantium where honey yellow was also part of the palette of colours used. Archaeological sites in Iran and Syria have also revealed objects in green and brown dating from the 9^th century. This piece may also be related to ceramic objects discovered at Nishapur, Suse and Sari, which are believed to date from the 9^th – 10^th centuries and also include the colour yellow.

[2] Director of the museum, where the object is conserved.

[3] Cordoba, inv. CE011282

[4] Leyre, Museum of Navarre, inv. s/n

[5] Paris, Louvre Museum, inv. OA 4068

[6] Louvre Museum, Department of Islamic Arts, inv. OA 2775

[7] Victoria and Albert Museum, inv. A. 580-191