Receptacle with lid

The object is unusual in that it still has its lid. The rounded and slightly flattened body of the pot sits on a small circular base; the lid, which is rounded and also slightly flattened, has a knob in the form of an inverted pyramid on top.

The decoration is in reserve (in silhouette) and lustre and is applied in superimposed layers: two narrow bands of geometrical motifs encircle the base, a lustre band unites the neck of the pot and the base of the lid. In the intermediate areas, pseudo inscriptions can be seen, in Nashkî script on the lid, in ornamental Kufic script around the body, interspersed by four medallions, made entirely from cobalt blue on the lid, outlined in blue and surrounding a palmette on the body of the pot. A lustre line, as broad as the upright strokes of the script, cuts the inscription in the upper part, appearing to form a new underscoring for another text, an arrangement used among other things on certain metal objects in the Irano-Turkish culture. Wand-like leaved stems, in reserve (silhouette) and rapidly sketched, can be seen between the strokes of the letters. Silhouetted borders outline the main elements of the decoration and the rest of the background is filled with delicate, tight scrolls. This practice is a survival from the Mesopotamian potteries of  the ninth century, perpetuated until the end of eleventh century in Egypt and eastern Iran. If in general, in Egypt and Mesopotamia, it is ocelli motifs that are found inside, in Iran it is more likely to be dots and vermiculated arabesques, and, in Al-Jazirah (Syria), tight scrolls. They are also used at this period on ceramics with under-painted glaze, as for example on a dish in the “Rusafa” series in the David Collection in Copenhagen[1]. They are found again in the fifteenth century in Iznik ware, known as “Millet produced” and in certain 16th century series.

It is difficult to determine exactly where the piece was produced. The custom had been in practice for a long time, for instance in Rakka, an important city, but whose potter’s quarter remains to be discovered. In the town of Balis-Meskene, also on the Euphrates like Rakka, destroyed around 1290 by the Mongols, a production area has been discovered with workshops and kilns, which was active between the tenth and thirteenth centuries. The type of decoration is typical of this region. Contrary to the production of most lusterware, the lustre was applied over a transparent and not an opaque glaze. It is often associated with cobalt blue and turquoise blue, used either separately or together, almost always in the form of circles or horizontal or vertical bands. The use of these two colours started long before the Ayyubid period. In Iran, many objects use these two colours. In Seljuk Anatolia, on certain cups from the Karatay Museum in Konya, which are decorated with large lozenges and blue lines, there can be seen traces of lustre decoration, worn away by time and the conditions of burial. In Spain, the blue and lustre decoration appeared from the twelfth century, and continued for many centuries.

Receptacles from the twelfth – fourteenth centuries with lids that have come down to us are relatively few in number. It is possible that certain Syrian round vases and certain metal chalices with a foot, like the famous Wade cup, originally had lids. A ceramic pot with a polychrome finish attributed to Rakka, from the Ayyubid period and housed in the Damascus National Museum[2] presents a similar form to the one in Lisbon. Another object from the museum in Damascus[3] in glass with inlaid wire and a gadrooned (decorated by convex curves) body, is also similar and resembles an example found by Danish archaeologists at Hama.  Still in glass, but with an enamelled and gilded decoration, two very beautiful, footed cups from the Mamluk[4] period, should also be mentioned. Two others in white bronze with a silver incrusted decoration, on small pedestals, are also to be noted: the famous Vaso Vescovali[5] and the Louvre Cup[6].

[2] N°A/9787, cf. L’Orient de Saladin, 2001, p.165 n°156.

[3] N°A/3887, A/601, cf. L’Orient de Saladin, p.185 n° 187. 

[4] Toledo Museum of Art,  n°1970 56 ab (cf. Glass of the Sultans, p. 268-269, n° 133) and Washington, Freer Gallery of Art , n°58.16 (cf. Atil, E., Art of Arab World, Washington, 1975, p. 134-135, n° 72).

[5] London, British Museum, decorated with signs of the zodiac and planets (cf. Rachel Ward, Islamic metalwork, London, 1993, fig. 10 et 57).  

[6] MAO 1220 (cf. Nouvelles acquisitions des arts de l’Islam, 1988-2001, Paris, 2002, p. 77-79, n° 42), to be compared with that in the district Museum of Art in Hiroshima (cf. Nouvelles acquisitions des arts de l’Islam, 1988-2001, Paris, 2002, p. 78, fig. 1).