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Perhaps the most refined Seljuq fine wares are those which were painted in
lustre over the glaze. The lustre-painted wares of Iran of the Seljuq and post-Seljuq period
reveal the peak of this special Islamic decorative technique. The decorations mainly depict
crowded figural scenes, combined with floral and epigraphic bands. Many kinds of vessels were
produced: different types of ewers, jugs, vases, bowls, trays
13(13k)
and tilework. There is a
very fine and rare large plate in the Rajab Museum, depicting an enthroned monarch, holding a
cup in his hand, surrounded by attendants (cover, bottom right). This plate may be dated to
the end of the twelfth or beginning of the thirteenth century. The major pottery centres at
the time were in Kashan, Nishapur and also in Jurjan (close to the Caspian Sea). The wide
variety of lustre-painted tiles were mainly decorated with Qur’anic inscriptions and they were
used as wall coatings in mosques, palaces or served as mihrabs 14(25k)
.
Pottery decoration reached its apex in the polychrome overglaze-painted
wares, called by the Persians minai, enamelled, or heft-rengi, seven-coloured wares. The
decorations depict scenes, mainly from the famous Persian epic the Shahname, the Book of
Kings by Ferdausi 15(10k)
.
A somewhat later version of this overglaze-painted ware called
lajvardina ware, is when the surface of the vessels was covered with a cobalt-blue glaze and
the decoration was painted in red and white and further enhanced by thin gold leaves which
were pasted on the body 16(24k)
.
This type of pottery was produced in Iran well after the Mongol
invasion of 1221, when a large part of the country was devastated and pottery production for
a while came to a halt. The Far Eastern influence is clearly visible on lajvardina wares.
By the beginning of the fourteenth century another type of
underglaze-painted ware appeared: the Sultanabad ware. The shapes and designs of these vessels
were quite distinct from earlier examples and, once more, Far Eastern influence is obvious.
The Sultanabad bowl in the Rajab Museum bears the date of 716 A.H./A.D. 1316
17(21k)
.
Another type of pottery which played a significant role in the medieval
Islamic period was sgraffiato. This is a special decorative technique, when the under-surface
of the vessels is covered with a comparatively thick slip into which the decoration is
scratched with a sharp tool. Afterwards the vessel is covered with a transparent coloured,
or colourless lead glaze. This technique, it is claimed, may have had its origin in Egypt,
where it was introduced in late Roman times. In Islamic times, particularly during the
eleventh to thirteenth centuries, this type of pottery was used in Syria and Iraq, but first
of all in Iran. Several types of these sgraffiato were developed there: the simple sgraffiato,
when only thin lines were scratched into the ground slip; the so-called champlevé,
when larger surfaces were carved away 18(15k)
and the Aghkand ware, when details of the remaining
slip were painted in different colours. In Mamluk times (1250-1517) in Egypt a special type of
sgraffiato was produced. It differed from the other wares in three respects: the body of the
vessels was thick red earthenware which was covered with a ground slip into which the
decorations were carved in. These included blazons, such as swords, polo sticks, cups, napkins,
et cetera, but frequently inscriptions, written in Mamluk naskh were also used. The Rajab
Museum is well provided with such Mamluk sgraffiato
19(24k)
. This type of pottery was produced
during the thirteenth to fifteenth century.
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