Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Ashmolean − Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Islamic Ceramics

A select catalogue of the Ashmolean's collection of ceramics from the Islamic world from the 9th to 18th century, by James Allen (published Oxford, 1991).

Islamic ceramics, by James W. Allan

Publications online: 46 objects

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Bowl with bird and peonies

  • Literature notes

    These two bowls [EA1956.114 & EA1978.1593] vividly illustrate the transition between the decorative styles and motifs of fourteenth century Persian ceramics and those current on ceramics produced under the Safavid dynasty in the sixteenth - seventeenth century. The traditional elements are most clearly seen on the second [EA1978.1593], where the design is of a six-pointed star within two other six-pointed stars, the whole framed by a (fragmentary) Persian inscription. The ‘fish-scale’ filler pattern and the trefoils appear to be based on fifteenth century metalwork. The shape, like the colour scheme, however, was introduced into the Islamic world from China in the late fourteenth century, and the decoration on the outside of the rim is a simplified version of a common fourteenth century Chinese border design.

    In the upper bowl [EA1956.114] the traditional elements are far fewer. The central phoenix continues the ‘Sultanabad’ style illustrated above (no. 19 [EA1956.59]), though even here of course there is a Far Eastern source for the creature. Traditionalism emerges too in the way the whole design forms a circle within a square within a cross-shape, the latter with very wide, round-ended arms: far more geometric in concept than contemporary Chinese designs. But the Chinese elements are otherwise very strong: the peonies, the border patterns, the band of lappets on the outside, the blue and white colour scheme and the shape, all derive from late fourteenth century imports. In Iran, from the fifteenth century onwards, the potters had great difficulty withstanding the impact of Chinese blue and white porcelains, though they never completely forgot their Islamic heritage, the latter tradition surfacing at regular intervals alongside the imported motifs and designs (see nos. 36 - 37 [EA1986.50 & EA1978.2169]).
  • Details

    Associated place
    Asia Iran (place of creation)
    Date
    15th century (1401 - 1500)
    Timurid Period (1370 - 1507)
    Material and technique
    fritware, with underglaze painting in blue
    Dimensions
    8.2 cm (height)
    17.5 cm (diameter)
    Material index
    Technique index
    Object type index
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Presented by Sir Alan Barlow, 1956.
    Accession no.
    EA1956.114
  • Further reading

    Allan, James W., Islamic Ceramics, Ashmolean-Christie's Handbooks (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1991), no. 29 on p. 50, illus. p. 51

    Fehérvári, Géza, Islamic Pottery: A Comprehensive Study Based on the Barlow Collection (London: Faber and Faber, 1973), no. 171 on p. 131, pls 73 a & b

    Lane, Arthur, Later Islamic Pottery: Persia, Syria, Egypt, Turkey (London: Faber and Faber, 1957), p. 34, pl. 18

    Golombek, Lisa, Robert B. Mason, and Gauvin A. Bailey, Tamerlane's Tableware: A New Approach to Chinoiserie Ceramics of Fifteenth- and Sixteenth-Century Iran, Islamic Art and Architecture, 6 (Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Publishers in Association with Royal Ontario Museum, 1996), p. 154, pls 28 a & b

Glossary (2)

fritware, underglaze painting

  • fritware

    Ceramic material composed of ground quartz and small quantities of clay and finely ground frit (frit is obtained by pouring molten glass into water).

  • underglaze painting

    Painting applied to ceramic material before a transparent, or monochrome or coloured glaze for Islamic objects, is applied. The technique was initially developed in China.

Location

    • First floor | Room 31 | Islamic Middle East

Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.

 

Publications online

  • Islamic ceramics, by James W. Allan

    Islamic Ceramics

    These two bowls [EA1956.114 & EA1978.1593] vividly illustrate the transition between the decorative styles and motifs of fourteenth century Persian ceramics and those current on ceramics produced under the Safavid dynasty in the sixteenth - seventeenth century. The traditional elements are most clearly seen on the second [EA1978.1593], where the design is of a six-pointed star within two other six-pointed stars, the whole framed by a (fragmentary) Persian inscription. The ‘fish-scale’ filler pattern and the trefoils appear to be based on fifteenth century metalwork. The shape, like the colour scheme, however, was introduced into the Islamic world from China in the late fourteenth century, and the decoration on the outside of the rim is a simplified version of a common fourteenth century Chinese border design.

    In the upper bowl [EA1956.114] the traditional elements are far fewer. The central phoenix continues the ‘Sultanabad’ style illustrated above (no. 19 [EA1956.59]), though even here of course there is a Far Eastern source for the creature. Traditionalism emerges too in the way the whole design forms a circle within a square within a cross-shape, the latter with very wide, round-ended arms: far more geometric in concept than contemporary Chinese designs. But the Chinese elements are otherwise very strong: the peonies, the border patterns, the band of lappets on the outside, the blue and white colour scheme and the shape, all derive from late fourteenth century imports. In Iran, from the fifteenth century onwards, the potters had great difficulty withstanding the impact of Chinese blue and white porcelains, though they never completely forgot their Islamic heritage, the latter tradition surfacing at regular intervals alongside the imported motifs and designs (see nos. 36 - 37 [EA1986.50 & EA1978.2169]).
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