Vase

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Object Name: 
Vase
Accession Number: 
55.1.36
Dimensions: 
Overall H: 30.2 cm, Diam (max): 16.2 cm
Location: 
On Display
Date: 
about 1310-1330
Web Description: 
Enameled and gilded glass is the most celebrated type of glass from the Islamic world. During the 13th and 14th centuries, in a region that now includes Egypt and Syria, Ayyubid and Mamluk glassmakers lavished their creative efforts on generously proportioned and richly painted objects. The shape of this handled vase and its parallels is unknown in Mamluk metal and ceramic production, and it has been suggested that the glassmakers were inspired by Chinese ceramic vases with dragon handles. The decorative composition of the vase is particularly well balanced. It consists of lively schools of fish at the top and bottom, a prominent inscription, a heraldic six-petaled rosette, and staggered circular medallions that enlarge proportionally with the body of the object. The rosette has been interpreted as the emblem of several Mamluk emirs.
Department: 
Provenance: 
Morley, Charles (Chas) L., Source
1955-08-11
Pasha, Tigrane, Former Collection
Category: 
Primary Description: 
Vase. Colorless with yellow (honey-colored) tint and with many small and large, often spike-like bubbles and few large blowing-spirals; slight wear, interior slightly dull; free blown, gilded and enameled, applied handles. Vase: Pear-shaped body with concave base having very rough pontil mark, applied ring-base with airtrap, cylindrical neck with wide flaring top, rim with airtrap folded outwards; a pair of snake-like wavy handles with one large loop applied to shoulder and neck. Decoration from bottom to top; golden fish with red outlines, an Arabic inscription - gold with blue filling "in relief" - repeating "the Wise" together with two medallions in gold with blue dots showing arabesques, on the shoulder arabesques in gold with blue dots and two medallions on each side showing arabesques in gold and floral motifs in green, blue, red, yellow and white "in relief", around the neck arabesques in gold with multicolored dots "in relief" and with two medallions (coat-of-arms) showing a golden rosette with six leaves on a red background "in relief", this frieze being bordered by two narrow bands with arabesques and blue dots, below rim another frieze with fish. The handles join the shoulder at pointed golden medallions or "Norman shields".
Glass of the Sultans
Venue(s)
Benaki Museum
Corning Museum of Glass
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Isurāmu garasu=Islamic glass/イスラーム・ガラス=Islamic glass/真道洋子著; 桝屋友子監修 (2020) illustrated, part 3 color plate 34;
New Light on Old Glass: Recent Research on Byzantine Mosaics and Glass (2013) illustrated, pp. 330-331, pl. 4; BIB# 136397
Historia del Vidrio: desarrollo formal, technologico y cientifico (2012) illustrated, Fig. 60, p. 75; BIB# 139172
Richard La Londe and Friends (2009) illustrated, p. 28, top left; BIB# 112312
Histoire du Verre: les chefs-d'oeuvre de l'Islam (2007) illustrated, p. 110; BIB# 98424
Shades of Glass (2006) illustrated, p. 16, bottom middle; BIB# 100967
Glass of the Sultans (2001) illustrated, p. 265, #131; BIB# 68105
Glass in the Islamic World (2001) illustrated, Cover;
Beauty of Glass (2000) illustrated, p. 130; BIB# 77736
Uncovering treasures in the Empire State (1999) p. 130, fig. 2; BIB# AI43699
The Corning Museum of Glass, Curators' Choice (1995) illustrated, #6; BIB# 36655
Glass Fusing 1 (1994) p. 3, #7; BIB# 45679
All About Glass = Garasu Daihyakka (1993) p. 43; BIB# 36566
The Corning Museum of Glass and the Finger Lakes Region (1993) illustrated, p. 13, #22; BIB# 35681
Hikari no shouchu: sekai no garasu = The glass (1992) p. 104, #167; BIB# 58995
Treasures from The Corning Museum of Glass (1992) illustrated, pp. 32-33, #23; BIB# 35679
The Art of Glass: Masterpieces from the Corning Museum of Glass (1990-01-19) illustrated, p. 63 (bottom); BIB# AI23824
Masterpieces of Glass and American Decorative Arts in New York City (1990-01) illustrated, p. 20;
The Art of Glass: Masterpieces from the Corning Museum (1990-01) illustrated, p. 24 (top right); BIB# AI24626
The Glass Source Book (1990) illustrated, p. 45, #4; BIB# 33844
A Short History of Glass (1990 edition) (1990) illustrated, opposite title page; p. 43, #36; p. 45; BIB# 33211
Masterpieces of Glass: A World History From The Corning Museum of Glass (1990) illustrated, pp. 80-81, pl. 32; BIB# 33819
Glass Animals: 3,500 Years of Artistry and Design (1988) illustrated, p. 42; BIB# 32200
Book of Glass (1986) p. 34;
Islamic Art in the United States: The Corning Museum of Glass (1985) illustrated, p. 70, ill. p. 69;
Masterpieces from the Corning Museum of Glass: 24 Ready-to-Mail Full-Color Postcards (1984) illustrated, cover, p. 2 (bottom right); BIB# 34354
Garasu Nyumon (Introduction to Glass) (1983) illustrated, p. 101; BIB# 32417
A Short History of Glass (1980 edition) (1980) illustrated, p. 43, #35; BIB# 21161
Le Nouveau Musee du verre a Corning (1980) pp. 52-59, ill. p. 59, #13;
All You Need to Know About Glass (1979-09) illustrated, pp. 40-46; BIB# AI63794
The Corning Glass Center (1959) illustrated, p. 13 (top); BIB# 99843
The Corning Glass Center (1958) illustrated, p. 13 (top);
The Corning Glass Center (1958) illustrated, p. 13 (top); BIB# 26395
Das Glas und die Jahrtausende (1954) #89, pl. 35;
Mittelalterliche Gläser und Steinschnittarbeiten aus dem Nahen Osten (1929-1930) p. 404, #8; p. 261 v. 1: pp. 261-404, #8; v.2: pl. 179, #8; BIB# 28511
Old Oriental Gilt and Enamelled Glass Vessels (1899) #V, p. 48; pl. V; BIB# 70797