Well coping

This coping, which is a dated archetype for other examples, has an open, cylindrical shape covered in decorative panels arranged in such a way that the external revetment has an octagonal appearance. A large torus surrounds its base. The coping has an outcurving, octagonal rim that is flat on the upper surface.

This is typical of the shape of Andalusian wells in the Muslim and Mudejar contexts[1]. An equally common variety of this coping exists with a circular interior and polygonal rim. There are also stone copings, examples of which are held at the Archaeological Museum of Córdoba[2] and Toledo[3] or even in situ[4]. These copings were used both in public areas (within the walls of mosques and palaces) and private places (in the courtyards of houses). They were widely used in Morocco and Andalusian, then Christian Spain from the eleventh century to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

The main section of the object was probably assembled in clay coils, because its large dimensions would exclude the use of wheel turning. The decorations were stamped on wet clay, using an earthenware or wooden mould. The technique, which exists since classical antiquity, facilitates rapid execution of the work. It was often employed in the Muslim world in every era, as can be seen on a water jar produced in Ayubbid Syria[5]. Traces of the mould can still be seen on one of the panels of the upper frieze of arcatures.

The decorations are arranged in five superposed areas bordered by fine relief mouldings. The same mouldings run up and down each register, thereby creating decorations in little tables that probably match the surface of the mould. Polylobed arcatures can be observed on three levels, and are reminiscent of Almoravid[6] and Almohad[7] architecture, strongly influenced by Andalusian models. The upper band is surmounted with a frieze of polygonal stars, a motif that is superfluous in the Almohad decorative repertoire, known for its austerity and preference for geometric compositions (even if vegetal elements are sometimes reused). Other copings, even later ones, like that in the Museum of Córdoba, attest to the same Almohad influences.

A green copper oxide glaze was applied to the entire piece before firing, and this lined the interior, which rendered it waterproof. This green glaze was frequently used in the Almohad era[8] and was also used in the Spanish Christian world during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. However, this glaze seems to have more ancient temporal and geographical origins. It already existed in the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean basin (the Roman Empire), the Near East, and ancient Iran (Parthians, Sassanids) and was perpetuated by Muslim conquests to western regions of the Umayyad Empire. A jar in the National Museum of Damascus (inventory number 16476) attests to the early use of this decorative technique.

It is to be noted that some copings have other types of decoration: cuerda seca, a technique that probably existed since the tenth century in Al-Andalus, involved the application of a fatty substance mixed with manganese to define the coloured areas of the decorations[9].

This well coping, as part of the group it forms with numerous comparable objects of Muslim and Christian production in Morocco[10] or Andalusia[11], provides a good example of the cultural and aesthetic unity of the Almohad era.

[2] Carved stone coping, Archaeological Museum, Córdoba.

[3] Two examples from the Santa Cruz Museum in Toledo (inventory numbers 293 and 294) in carved marble were carried out on the orders of the sovereign dhū-l-nūnide Isma’īl (reigned 1028–1043) during the era of the Taifas Kingdoms.

[4] Coping from the Church of San Cristo de la Luz, Toledo, AD 999, formerly the mosque of Bāb al-Mardum.

[5] Twelfth-century water jar, Paris, museum of the Institut du monde arabe, inventory number AI 91–04.

[6] Great Mosque of Algiers, Algeria, AD 1096; mosque of Tlemcen, Algeria, AD 1136.

[7] Mosque of Tinmal, Morocco, AD 1153.

[8] Coping from the Archaeological Museum, Sevilla, twelfth to thirteenth century, inventory number R.O.D 3.515.

[9] Well coping from the second half of the twelfth century in clay ceramics partially decorated in cuerda seca (exterior) and green-glaze decorations (interior), Archaeological Museum, Córdoba, inventory No. 7.515.

[10] One of these copings was found at Sebta.

[11] Archaeological digs at Shaltishu revealed well copings comparable to the Moroccan pieces.