Images(3)

bowl

Object NameBowl

Made FromGlass

Date800-999

TechniqueBlown, pincered

SizeOverall H: 8.3 cm, Diam (max): 9.9 cm

Accession Number55.1.17

Curatorial Area(s)

Ancient

Exhibitions

Glass from the Ancient World: So Diverse a Unity

Dining with the Sultan: The Fine Art of Feasting

Glass of the Sultans

Traveling the Silk Road: Ancient Pathway to the Modern World

Interpretive Notes

Web Text

This cup belongs to a large group of early Islamic vessels that were decorated by pinching the surface with tongs. The metal tongs had circular or square ends containing the carved motif that was to be impressed in relief on the wall of the glass. Three different pairs of tongs, which produced triangular, circular, and heart-shaped patterns, were used to decorate the Corning cup. The makers of such objects may have been seeking ways to achieve some freedom of expression within the rules of repetition common in Islamic art. This freedom could be achieved by using different combinations of tongs, which bore patterns different from those of one- or two-part molds. Archeological finds indicate that this type of glass was traded extensively in the Islamic world during the ninth and 10th centuries.

Physical DescriptionBowl. Transparent yellowish green, with some small bubbles and fewer large ones; occasional darker streaks. Blown; pincered. Cylindrical bowl. Rim plain, with rounded lip; wall almost vertical, but with slightly convex profile, curving in at bottom; base plain; pontil mark. Wall has three horizontal rows of pincered motifs: at rim, above mid-point, and at and below mid-point. All rows were made with different tools. Row at rim (1) has 11 contiguous or adjacent V-shaped motifs; that above mid-point (2) has 13 circles; row below mid-point (3), contains eight stylized heart-shaped motifs, each enclosing one vertical line and two semi-circles.
Provenance

Provenance Remark

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