Bowl: C.506-1991

Maker(s)

Potter: Unknown

Entities

• Bowl
• Islamic pottery
• Sgraffito

Categories

• Glazed earthenware

Description

Brown earthenware with cream slip incised under an amber glaze

Brown wheel-thrown earthenware coated with a cream slip which is incised under an amber glaze.
Shape: Tall conical bowl with plain rim and steeply sloping sides with a horizontal ridge on lower body exterior, descending via a sharp carination onto a foot ring with slightly flaring profile.
Interior: Yellow surface colour produced from a thick cream slip coating under an amber glaze. On the upper body a pair of concentric lines frames a frieze of paired leaves or petals surrounded by scrolls. On the lower body, a concentric scalloped line is located above three fish with features including eyes and fins. On the base, within concentric lines, an incised palmette is surrounded by scrolling lines.
Exterior: rim is glazed but with no underlying slip, producing a dark brown colour. Remainder of exterior surface is yellow in colour but slightly different in tone and glassier in appearance to vessel interior, possibly as the result of a thinner cream slip under the amber glaze. On the upper body two concentric lines enclose a frieze of fishes, surrounded by scrolls. On the lower body, immediately above the carination, a repeating vegetal pattern of abstract palmettes and scrolls is incised.

Notes

History note: Henry Scipio Reitlinger (d. 1950); Reitlinger Trust, Maidenhead

Legal notes

H. S. Reitlinger Bequest 1950; transferred from the Reitlinger Trust, 1991

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1950) by Reitlinger, Henry Scipio

Dating

14th Century
Probably 1300 CE - 1399 CE

School or Style

Mamluk