Tankard with blue stripes
On display
Details
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Title
Tankard with blue stripes
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Associated place
Iran (place of creation) -
Date
early 13th century -
Material and technique
fritware, with underglaze painting in blue
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Material index
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Technique index
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Object type
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Dimensions
12 x 18.4 x 16 cm max. (height x width x depth)
at foot 8.6 cm (diameter) -
No. of items
1
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Credit line
Gift of Gerald Reitlinger, 1978.
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Museum location
First floor | Gallery 31 | Islamic Middle East -
Museum department
Eastern Art
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Accession no.
EA1978.2347
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Handbook text
The influence of metalwork recurs in Islamic ceramics. Here a small but interesting feature derived from metalwork is the latch handle on the tankard, which was common on earlier bronzes and contemporary inlaid brasses but is a somewhat impractical shape in clay.
The frit ware bodies of the tankard and bowl are used to good effect as a white ground for the bright blue stripes under the glaze. The use of such stripes gives the pieces a very modern look, and indeed they were probably appreciated in the 13th century as they are today for their very abstract designs. In a medieval Islamic context, however, they were also almost certainly interpreted in a symbolic way. The symbolism of the Sun has already been discussed (no. 10 [EA1978.2311]). Here the radiating blue lines on the bowl remind us of the Sun’s rays, and the solar symbolism is further enhanced by the central bird figure. For the ability of birds to fly up into the sky relates them to the heavens, and it is of course in the heavens that the Sun has his residence.In: Allan, James W., Islamic Ceramics, Ashmolean-Christie's Handbooks (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1991)
Glossary of terms
fritware
underglaze painting
Further reading
Allan, James W., Islamic Ceramics, Ashmolean-Christie's Handbooks (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1991), no. 12 on p. 24, illus. p. 25
