AN ENAMELED.GLASS BOTTLE

OF THE MAMLUK PERIOD BY M. S. DIMAND

Curator of Near Eastern Art

Syrian glassware was famous even in ancient times, but it was under the Muhammadan

dynasties that the various methods used in its decoration were gradually perfected. The

greatest era of Islamic glass had its rise in the twelfth century and reached its climax in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries under the

Ayyubid and Mamluk rulers. To the Syrian glass-makers of this period we owe the devel-

opment of the art of enamel painting on glass. Under the Ayyubid and Mamluk dynasties,

the Syrian cities of Aleppo and Damascus be- came the leading centers of glass manufacture. Their glass bazaars were filled with richly decorated ware which became famous all over the East and was exported even to China. A number of pieces now in museums and private collections are known to have come from China. Under the Mamluks, Damascus crafts- men also supplied the Cairo bazaars with lux urious glassware. European inventories of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries mention the

gilded and enameled glass of Damascus, and in the fifteenth century the art of enamel

painting and gilding was introduced to Ven-

ice, probably by Syrians. Many fine pieces now in European church treasuries and museums were brought back from the Near East by pil- grims and crusaders. Some of them, such as the pilgrim bottle in Saint Stephen's Cathe- dral in Vienna, were used as reliquaries. This mediaeval enameled and gilded glass of the East must be classified among the finest ever produced.

The Metropolitan Museum is justly proud of possessing one of the finest collections of Islamic enameled glass of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. In the collection, now being shown in a special exhibition in Gallery E 15, are to be found beautiful mosque lamps, bottles, flasks, cups, beakers, and trays. In- cluded in the exhibition are thirteen lamps which were made to order for Mamluk sultans and amirs, whose names, titles, and badges frequently appear in the decoration. Several of them bear the names of court officials of one of the greatest Mamluk rulers, Nasir ad Din Muhammad ibn Kalaun, who reigned three times between 1293 and 1340. Such lamps were donated to mosques in Cairo and other

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Islamic cities, where they were suspended by chains adorned with glass balls. Separate glass containers for the oil were placed inside them.

The richness of enamel decoration is par- ticularly apparent in the glass bottles and other vessels, of which there are five examples of outstanding quality in the Museum's col- lection. Unlike the mosque lamps, in which

representations of living beings are absent,

many of them show a decoration of animals and figure subjects. The most magnifi- cent of them all is <,*. a large bottle re-

cently acquired by /

the Museum. This i masterpiece of ̂f ." Mamluk glass was

formerly in the col- lection of the Aus- trian imperial fam- 4 $ ily of Hapsburg ^" i' and was exhibited ,., in the Kunsthisto- ,,; risches Museum in r Vienna. In bril- :-.'. liance of color and . ... beauty of design it . -

surpasses all other :' examples of Mam- luk glass that have been preserved. Detail of the bottle on The pgeilt and "Altorientalische Glas-

enamel - painted decoration covers almost the entire surface of the bottle.

A word about the technique of gilding and

enameling may be appropriate here. The gilt decoration was the first to be applied, the artist using a pen for the outlines and a brush for the larger surfaces. After the piece had been given a preliminary firing, the design was outlined in red and the various colored enamels were applied. The piece was then fired in a muffle kiln. The semi-opaque enam- els consisted of a flux containing much lead colored with metallic oxides. Green was ob- tained from oxide of copper, red from oxide of iron, and yellow from antimonic acid.

t .(

White, which was entirely opaque, was ob- tained from oxide of tin. The fine blue color so characteristic of the enameled glass of

Syria was made of pulverized lapis lazuli mixed with colorless glass.

The decoration of the Museum's new bottle is very elaborate. On the shoulder are three

large medallions formed by interlaced bands and filled with a dense pattern of arabesques in red and gold with touches of white, red,

and green against a brilliant dark

_/:% - ..;.blue background. f ....; -, The medallions are

[jtf X,,. reminiscent of the ~:xs j': stained-glass win-

^/'^^ \ dows of the me-

fj~ i . " -,'.j;i ddiaeval churches of

\FiS ^Ie Europe. The spaces iC?t: j^?^ ^ between the me-

E->-v? lS L i dallion are covered

^^^-4f<N^^C /!t,^ , with a vine pattern &~,~.'.i!l'~:-fii (// Lfreely painted in

i.....j gold, the vine leaves having dots

,yvi1 ' and drops in white,

tV? ~.; .7~^,?- yellow, green, red, ->^, -- > -and blue enamel. ?- '~~-~' Below the medal-

lions is a frieze of warriors on horse-

the opposite page. From back, fighting with _efiisse," Vienna, 1898 swords, lances,bows

and arrows, and maces. The headgear of the warriors varies, some of them wear turbans, others Mongol caps and helmets. It is probable that a battle between Arabs and Mongols is depicted. A similar representation of large figures of horse- men was popular in silver inlaid brasswork of the Mamluk period and also in miniature

paintings of the Mongol school. Of particular interest are the skillfully drawn horses, which show the close observation of nature that be-

gan to appear in Islamic art at the beginning of the fourteenth century as a result of Chi- nese influence spread through the Near East

by the Mongols. Further evidence of Chinese influence is apparent on the neck of the bottle,

74

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- iiiaii-me-fc l^0B

H- -

Enameled-glass bottle made in Syria. Mamluk period, first half of the XIV century. A detail of the frieze of warriors is illustrated on page 73.

It ; '

- ,- .. -.*; ^* *

-

i.Jr ^

-

_ola _*f ^

Enameled-glass mosque lamp made in Syria. Mamluk period, second half of the XIII century. Gift of J. Pierpont MAorgan, 1917

which shows a wide band containing cloud motifs and a phoenix (feng huang) bordered by narrow bands with arabesques and delicate floral scrolls in gold.

The color range of the enameled decoration

of this bottle is much greater than that of of Mamluk glass of the second half of the thirteenth century, represented in the Muse- um by a famous cup in the Edward C. Moore collection in which the gilt decoration pre-

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- 'i . I :-

-- N*r ~ . I * I

~~~~~I* ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I 71~~~~~~~~~1

r ?

? ,~ I, ;, ; !

?t?r

Enameled-glass cup made in Syria. Mamluk period, second half of the XIII century. Edward C. Moore collection

dominates over the enameled. The variety of the colors used is particularly evident in the battle scene. The horses of the frieze are ren- dered in white, yellow, blue, red, green, au-

bergine, and black with contrasting stippling, and the warriors' costumes and saddles are likewise rendered in contrasting colors.

The Museum's new bottle belongs to a

group of Mamluk vessels made in the first half of the fourteenth century. Of the same period are a large standing cup presented to the Museum in 1923 by Mr. and Mrs. V. Everit

Macy and a fine bottle from the collection of Baron Robert de Rothschild in Paris. The

present acquisition probably dates from about 1320, and thus belongs to the period of Sultan Nasir ad Din Muhammad ibn Kalaun.

An exhibition Great Rugs of the Orient is

being held in Galleries D 3 and E 14 simulta-

neously with the exhibition of Islamic glass. Most of the examples shown are Persian court rugs of the sixteenth or seventeenth century, butt Indian and Turkish rugs are also included.

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