Vessels9th century

Dish with Green Splashed Decoration

9th century

Description

This green-splashed dish,represents the glazed luxury wares being produced in Abbasid Iraq by the late eighth to early ninth century. The rounded walls and slightly everted rim of this dish recall those of Tang white wares. Whether the production of color-splashed ceramics in the Islamic world was an independent development or was also inspired by wares imported from China is still unresolved. A copper oxide was applied in patches on the exterior and interior rim of this dish before it was fired upright. The green patches flowed freely in the clear glaze, pooling at the center into a shape serendipitously resembling a lotus blossom. Ceramics with colorants running in a clear glaze were broadly popular and widely produced in the early Islamic era; wasters have been found from Afrasiyab, in Uzbekistan, to Fustat, in Egypt.Because this visual effect could be achieved through various techniques, assigning place and time of production to these wares is often difficult.On the basis of its well-formed foot, its finely potted profile with recurved rim, and its lack of secondary incised decoration, it is attributed to Iraq.

Classification

Vessels

Technique

Glazed

Medium

Buff-colored earthenware with patches of green (copper) running in clear lead glaze

Period

Abbasid period

Century

9th century

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Islamic & Later Indian Art

Dimensions

4.1 x 21.2 cm (1 5/8 x 8 3/8 in.)

Provenance

[Galerie für Griechische, Römische und Byzantinische Kunst, Frankfurt, 1972], sold; to Stanford and Norma Jean Calderwood, Belmont, MA (1972-2002), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2002.