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Ewer
unknown - Enlarge image
Ewer
- Place of origin:
Jurjan, Latvia (possibly, recovered)
Kashan, Iran (probably, made) - Date:
ca. 1220 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Moulded fritware with turquoise glaze
- Credit Line:
Ades Family Collection
- Museum number:
LOAN:ADES.1
- Gallery location:
Islamic Middle East, room 42, case 2W
The complex shape of this turquoise ewer shows how potters borrowed designs from contemporary Iranian metalwork. This piece is moulded fritware. Middle Eastern potters developed fritware in response to the challenge of the superior wares imported from China. In the 12th and early 13th centuries, potters in Kashan and other centres in Iran produced fine decorated fritwares in an astonishing range of styles.
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 gave plasticity. The frit helped to bind the body after firing. Unlike high-fired Chinese porcelain, low-fired fritware was soft and porous. Like porcelain it was white all the way through and could be used to make convincing substitutes.
