Bowl thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 143, The Timothy Sainsbury Gallery

Bowl

1180-1220 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This bowl is made from fritware (also called stone paste and quartz paste), an artificial ceramic body developed by Middle Eastern potters around the middle of the 11th century to imitate the hard, bright white body of imported Chinese porcelains. The main ingredient in fritware was fine quartz powder made by grinding sand or pebbles. Small quantities of white clay and a glassy substance known as frit were added – the clay to give plasticity, the frit to bind the body after firing. In the 12th and early 13th centuries, fritware was used in Kashan and other pottery centres in Iran to produce fine wares decorated in an astonishing range of styles.

The decoration of this bowl is painted in lustre, an overglaze technique using metallic pigments derived from silver and copper, first invented in Iraq in the early 9th century. The palmette scrolls have been painted under the glaze in cobalt blue pigment during a first production stage, and the lustre decoration has been painted on in a second phase. The flying ducks and fleshy palmettes are characteristic of the motifs used to decorate Kashan ceramics. Inside the footring is written in lustre an illegible Persian word, which may be the potter’s name.

This vessel was part of a hoard that was deliberately buried by its owner, probably a merchant who lived in Jurjan in north-east Iran, or who was passing through the city. In 1220, Jurjan was threatened by a Mongol invasion. The merchant packed the vessels in sand inside large storage jars and buried them for safekeeping. Soon afterwards, Jurjan was completely destroyed by the Mongols, and the owner never returned to recover the hoard.

As a result, the vessels in this hoard survived together for almost 800 years, and in relatively good condition. The probable date of their burial also gives us a good indication of when the vessels in the hoard were made, as well as showing the wide variety of types of decoration that were used to make Iranian pottery at this time.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
fritware with opaque cobalt-blue glaze and lustre-painted decoration
Brief description
Ceramic; Fritware bowl decorated with palmette scrolls in cobalt blue under the glaze, and flying birds in lustre over the glaze, surrounded by bands of cursive inscriptions around the rim. Found at Jurjan. Iran, probably Kashan, before 1220.
Physical description
Fritware bowl decorated with palmette scrolls in cobalt blue under the glaze, and flying birds in lustre over the glaze, surrounded by bands of cursive inscriptions around the rim.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 22cm
  • Height: 10.2cm
Style
Credit line
Given by Mr C N Ades MBE in memory of his wife Andrée Ades
Object history
This vessel was part of a hoard that was deliberately buried by its owner, probably a merchant who lived in Jurjan in north-east Iran, or who was passing through the city. In 1220, Jurjan was threatened by a Mongol invasion. The merchant packed the vessels in sand inside large storage jars and buried them for safekeeping. Soon afterwards, Jurjan was completely destroyed by the Mongols, and the owner never returned to recover the hoard.As a result, the vessels in this hoard survived together for almost 800 years, and in relatively good condition.The probable date of their burial also gives us a good indication of when the vessels in the hoard were made, as well as showing the wide variety of types of decoration that were used to make Iranian pottery at this time.

Clement Ades gave a large number of objects found in the Jurjan hoard to the Victoria and Albert Museum at different times. Their object numbers are C.152 to 171-1977, and C.35 to 49-1978.
Production
probably Kashan
Summary
This bowl is made from fritware (also called stone paste and quartz paste), an artificial ceramic body developed by Middle Eastern potters around the middle of the 11th century to imitate the hard, bright white body of imported Chinese porcelains. The main ingredient in fritware was fine quartz powder made by grinding sand or pebbles. Small quantities of white clay and a glassy substance known as frit were added – the clay to give plasticity, the frit to bind the body after firing. In the 12th and early 13th centuries, fritware was used in Kashan and other pottery centres in Iran to produce fine wares decorated in an astonishing range of styles.

The decoration of this bowl is painted in lustre, an overglaze technique using metallic pigments derived from silver and copper, first invented in Iraq in the early 9th century. The palmette scrolls have been painted under the glaze in cobalt blue pigment during a first production stage, and the lustre decoration has been painted on in a second phase. The flying ducks and fleshy palmettes are characteristic of the motifs used to decorate Kashan ceramics. Inside the footring is written in lustre an illegible Persian word, which may be the potter’s name.

This vessel was part of a hoard that was deliberately buried by its owner, probably a merchant who lived in Jurjan in north-east Iran, or who was passing through the city. In 1220, Jurjan was threatened by a Mongol invasion. The merchant packed the vessels in sand inside large storage jars and buried them for safekeeping. Soon afterwards, Jurjan was completely destroyed by the Mongols, and the owner never returned to recover the hoard.

As a result, the vessels in this hoard survived together for almost 800 years, and in relatively good condition. The probable date of their burial also gives us a good indication of when the vessels in the hoard were made, as well as showing the wide variety of types of decoration that were used to make Iranian pottery at this time.
Bibliographic references
  • The Gurgan Finds (London: Bluett and Sons Limited, 1976)
  • Oliver Watson, "Persian Wares", Connoisseur (January 1979), pp.13-19
  • Oliver Watson, Persian Lustre Ware (London: Faber and Faber, 1985)
Collection
Accession number
C.46-1978

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Record createdSeptember 10, 2008
Record URL
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