Physical description
Bowl with a high cylindrical footring, convex sides and a slightly out-turned rim. It may be covered with a white slip under a transparent glaze, rather than a tin-opacified glaze. The decoration is painted in reddish-brown lustre, which varies slightly in tone across the bowl, probably as a result of uneven heat in the kiln. The lustre-painting is articulated by scratches through the pigment. Plain concentric bands around the rim frame the central figural decoration, which depicts a hooded man, probably a Coptic priest, carrying a large lamp or censer, while the space to his left is occupied by a cypress tree. The Arabic word Sa'd is written twice, back to front, on the exterior.
Place of Origin
Egypt (made)
Cairo (probably, made)
Date
1050-1100 (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown
Materials and Techniques
Fritware, with overglaze lustre decoration
Marks and inscriptions
Sa'd
happiness
Arabic; wirtten twice on the exterior, back-to-front; lustre-painted
Dimensions
Height: 10.4 cm, Diameter: 23.5 cm of mouth, Diameter: 10.2 cm of foot
Descriptive line
Lustre bowl with a priest, Egypt (probably Cairo), 1050-1100.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Jenkins, Marilyn, "Sa'd: Content and Context", in P. Soucek (ed.), Content and Context of the Visual Arts in the Islamic World (Pennsylvania and London, 1988): 67-75, fig. 6
Jenkins, M., Evans, H. and Wixon, W. (edd.), The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era AD 843-1261 (New York, 1997): cat.no.273, pl.417
Contadini, Anna, Fatimid Art at the Victoria & Albert Museum. London: V&A Publications, 1998. p.86, plates 34a and 34b
Soustiel, Jean. La céramique islamique. Le guide du connaisseur. Fribourg, Office du Livre, 1985. ISBN 2-8264-0002-9. Pl. 148, p. 133
Lane, Arthur. Early Islamic Pottery. London: Faber and Faber, 1947. 52p., ill.. pp. 21-2, plate 26A (ex Kelekian Collection).
p.118
Tim Stanley (ed.), with Mariam Rosser-Owen and Stephen Vernoit, Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Middle East, London, V&A Publications, 2004
[Tim Stanley], 'Bowl with an image of a Coptic priest', in Beyond Boundaries. Islamic Art Across Cultures, Doha: Museum of Islamic Art, 2008, pp. 26-7.
Boehm, B. D., and Holcomb, M. (eds.) Jerusalem 1000-1400: Every People Under Heaven (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) 2016. pp.91-92
Verdi, Richard. Saved!: 100 Years of the National Art Collections Fund London, Hayward Gallery and the National Gallery, 2003
Labels and date
Jameel Gallery
Bowl with Priest
Egypt, probably Cairo
1050-1100
By 1050 Egyptian potters were experimenting with a white body material called fritware. On this bowl a Coptic, or Egyptian Christian, priest holds a lamp. Beside him is a cypress tree. Its presence suggests he is standing in a monastery garden, a setting much-loved by Arab poets.
Fritware under a white slip, with lustre over the transparent glaze
Museum no. C.49-1952. Purchased with the assistance of the National Art Collections Fund and the Bryan Bequest. [Jameel Gallery]
BOWL
Fritware painted in gold lustre on a white glaze, depicting a Coptic priest holding a lamp. Signed by the potter Sa'd
EGYPTIAN (Fatimid, said to have been found near Luxor); first half of the 12th century [Used until 09/2000]
Production Note
said to have been found near Luxor
Materials
Fritware; Lustre
Techniques
Thrown; Slipped; Lustre-painted
Subjects depicted
Censer; Cypress tree; Lamp; Coptic priest
Categories
Islam; Christianity; Africa
Collection
Middle East Section