Bowl
1217 (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 inscriptions are painted in two different calligraphic scripts, kufic in the broad band around the main part of the interior, and cursive at the centre and the rim. These inscriptions contain the verses of a Persian love poem, as well as a date: 614 in the Islamic (hijri) calendar, which is equivalent to 1217 AD. It is one of very few dated bowls discovered in the Jurjan hoard.
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.
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 inscriptions are painted in two different calligraphic scripts, kufic in the broad band around the main part of the interior, and cursive at the centre and the rim. These inscriptions contain the verses of a Persian love poem, as well as a date: 614 in the Islamic (hijri) calendar, which is equivalent to 1217 AD. It is one of very few dated bowls discovered in the Jurjan hoard.
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
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Fritware bowl with under the glaze with blue, and lustre over a transparent glaze |
| Brief description | CER; Fritware bowl decorated under the glaze with blue, and lustre over a transparent glaze. At the centre of the bowl are two birds, surrounded by bands of inscriptions, in both kufic and cursive scripts, which contain the verses of a Persian love poem, as well as the date 614 H / 1217 AD. Found at Jurjan. Iran, probably Kashan, before 1220. |
| Physical description | Fritware bowl decorated under the glaze with blue, and lustre over a transparent glaze. At the centre of the bowl are two birds, surrounded by bands of inscriptions, in both kufic and cursive scripts, which contain the verses of a Persian love poem, as well as the date 614 H / 1217 AD. |
| Dimensions |
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| 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 inscriptions are painted in two different calligraphic scripts, kufic in the broad band around the main part of the interior, and cursive at the centre and the rim. These inscriptions contain the verses of a Persian love poem, as well as a date: 614 in the Islamic (hijri) calendar, which is equivalent to 1217 AD. It is one of very few dated bowls discovered in the Jurjan hoard. 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 |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | C.160-1977 |
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| Record created | November 19, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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