Thrown, stonepaste bowl rising from vertical foot-ring through flaring, slightly rounded sides to everted rim; monochrome decoration beneath transparent turquoise glaze; at centre, a rosette against scrolled ground within eight-point star, the interstices filled with cross-hatching, vines against scrolled ground between; cavetto with radiate tongues; rim with triangular peaks filled with cintamani design. Exterior walls glazed with groundline exposed; light iridescence; repaired from fragments.
Both Syria and Iran were centres for underglaze ware during this time and this piece could indeed herald from either, yet distinct similarities with one sold at auction in recent years - Christies, London, April, 2011 - would suggest a provenance of Raqqa in Syria.
The adoption of underglaze during 12th century radicalised ceramic production across the Islamic world. Though it is known to have been practised earlier using a lead-base glaze, the use of a new-composite alkaline glaze allowed painters a new freedom of artistic expression, limited only by their own skill with a brush.
Atypically, the exterior walls are only partly glazed and the artist has concentrated on embellishing the interior. Customarily, a floral design at the centre occupies the entire bowl and divides it into panels that have been filled with both vegetal and geometric elements.
We see influence borrowed from other mediums and spread across a vast geographical area. For example the cross-hatching mimics the stippled ground of contemporary metalwork – originally inspired by Persian metalwork - and was used to ornament a plethora of other mediums.
This piece marks the moment at which a new technique is being widely adopted throughout the empire. Today, it may be viewed as a charming testament to a tradition of ceramic production in Raqqa that was put to an end by the Mongol invasions in mid-13th century.