Arts of the
Islamic World
Sale: L08220 | Location: London
Auction Dates: Session 1: Wed, 09 Apr 08 10:00 AM
LOT 166
- A FINE INTACT RAQQA POTTERY JAR, AYYUBID SYRIA,
CIRCA 1200-1230
200,000—300,000 GBP
Lot Sold. Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium:
252,500 GBP
MEASUREMENTS
measurements note
24cm. height
DESCRIPTION
of baluster form on a spreading foot with
recessed base, the high sloping shoulders rising
to a straight cylindrical neck with everted
mouth, the body decorated under the glaze in
black with a frieze of arabesques blades around
the body with minor bands of chevron pattern
above and below, the neck with a band of
pseudo-kufic
CATALOGUE NOTE
inscriptions
Repetition of two Persian quatrains.
A fine intact example of Raqqa pottery from
Ayyubid Syria.
This type of jar with its baluster-shaped body
was a speciality of the Euphrates kilns at Raqqa
in eastern Syria during the prosperous period of
patronage instigated by the Ayyubid prince
al-Malik al-Ashraf Musa between 1201 and 1229.
With the demise of the kilns in the wake of the
Mongol sack of the city in 1265, some potters may
have moved westwards as the baluster shape and
underglaze technique persist in Damascus pottery
production of the ensuing Mamluk period.
These jars are primarily functional vessels used
to store and transport spices, foodstuffs and
medicinal substances. Unlike the later Damascus
jars, many of which were exported and survive in
high numbers outside Syria, Raqqa pottery was
relatively little known in Europe until the
late-nineteenth century when the kiln-site was
discovered. Today, some of the most important
collections are in North America: at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the
Freer Gallery of Art, Washington (Jenkins 2006,
pp.150-157).
There are a few notable instances of Raqqa
pottery recorded in medieval Europe which have
helped scholars to build up a coherent
chronology. Useful in this regard, has been the
group of Raqqa bacini incorporated as mosaic
fragments in the Bove pulpit of the church of San
Giovanni del Toro, Ravello, Italy, dateable to
1200-1230 (see Jenkins 2006, pp.182-184). Several
of the Ravello bacini relate closely to the jar
presented here, both technically and
stylistically, lending credence to the suggested
dating parameters of 1200 to 1230.
Seen on www.Sothebys.com
|
ref.
Guide
to Mamluk Art and Iznik
Tile and Plates the O'Connell Guide
|
