Bowl
9th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Glazed ceramics were not widely used in the pre-Islamic Middle East, but in the 8th and 9th centuries they began to assume the important role they have today.
High-fired ceramics from China, first brought to Iraq by sea in the 8th century, were one stimulus for this change. In the early 9th century Iraqi potters began to imitate elegant white bowls imported from China. They used the local yellow clay, which they masked with an opaque white glaze. Soon they began to add new forms and decoration of different types in blue, green and metallic lustre.
Once Iraqi potters could successfully imitate Chinese whitewares, they began to treat the white surface of their ceramics as a blank canvas. Splashed decoration in copper green and other colours, as seen on this bowl, was inspired by Chinese models.
High-fired ceramics from China, first brought to Iraq by sea in the 8th century, were one stimulus for this change. In the early 9th century Iraqi potters began to imitate elegant white bowls imported from China. They used the local yellow clay, which they masked with an opaque white glaze. Soon they began to add new forms and decoration of different types in blue, green and metallic lustre.
Once Iraqi potters could successfully imitate Chinese whitewares, they began to treat the white surface of their ceramics as a blank canvas. Splashed decoration in copper green and other colours, as seen on this bowl, was inspired by Chinese models.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Earthenware with white slip and stained lead glaze |
| Brief description | Earthenware bowl with splashed decoration in green, Iraq (probably Basra), 9th century. |
| Physical description | Deep bowl on a slightly spreading foot, the interior of the bowl quartered by bands of pale and dark brown decoration. The remainder of the bowl interior is infilled with radiating green bands, except the centre which is infilled with green dots. Some stripes of green have run over onto bowl exterior. |
| Dimensions |
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| Styles | |
| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | Given by Sir Frank Brangwyn R.A. |
| Summary | Glazed ceramics were not widely used in the pre-Islamic Middle East, but in the 8th and 9th centuries they began to assume the important role they have today. High-fired ceramics from China, first brought to Iraq by sea in the 8th century, were one stimulus for this change. In the early 9th century Iraqi potters began to imitate elegant white bowls imported from China. They used the local yellow clay, which they masked with an opaque white glaze. Soon they began to add new forms and decoration of different types in blue, green and metallic lustre. Once Iraqi potters could successfully imitate Chinese whitewares, they began to treat the white surface of their ceramics as a blank canvas. Splashed decoration in copper green and other colours, as seen on this bowl, was inspired by Chinese models. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | C.12-1947 |
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| Record created | May 5, 2000 |
| Record URL |
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