Publication Date
Second quarter of the ninth / fifteenth century
Publication Place
-
Victoria and Albert Museum
Subject
Colored and glazed ceramics.
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Physical Dimensions
الارتفاع: 20.1 سم؛ القطر: 51.2 سم
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Library Asset ID
486–1864
Record ID
object;ISL;uk;Mus02;7;ar
Library Location
Victoria and Albert Museum
Date
Second quarter of the ninth / fifteenth century
Notes
Large conical bowl with upturned lip made of luster porcelain glazed with tin compounds. The outside of the bowl is decorated with abstract tree-like patterns, while the inside shows a stunning drawing of a large sailing ship equipped with masts and sails, with a front and back deck, flags, and a rudder. Four large fish swim around the bottom of the ship, back and forth, and abstract and swirling patterns fill the surface of the bowl. The ship's sail bears a shape that has been interpreted as the coat of arms of Portugal, which may indicate that the bowl was made at the request of a wealthy Portuguese merchant. This observation, in addition to the fact that the most important center for the production of luster porcelain in Spain in the ninth / fifteenth century was Christian Valencia, led researchers to believe that this bowl belongs to Valencian porcelain. However, the experiments of scientists in 1983 showed the presence of salt deposits in the bowl indicating that it was not from Valencia but from Malaga, the latter of which was considered the most important port city in the western Mediterranean in the medieval period, and was considered the most important center for the production of luster porcelain in Spain. Until it declined before Valencia at the beginning of the ninth / fifteenth century, it seems that production there stopped after several decades. This bowl is interesting evidence that the Malaga ceramics industry continued to produce metallic luster porcelain from the first to the last. The fish on the bottom of the ship and the tree-like patterns on the outside of the bowl closely resemble Fatimid work dating back to previous centuries, and it is recalled that the luster porcelain industry in Islamic Spain arose just after Fatimid craftsmen carried over the technique from Egypt.
Sample Text
Barry Wood "Bowl" inDiscover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;uk;Mus02;7;ar
