Text in Medieval Ceramics

Calligraphy was an art that has flourished in the Islamic world,  ornamenting the walls of mosques, the backs of coins, and the surfaces of ceramic vessels. As it is against Islamic tradition to depict human and animal figures, living things were usually painted or drawn in the form of intricate calligraphic designs. Considering the diffusion of this art throughout so many aspects of Islamic culture, it is understandable that calligraphy would find its way to ceramics.

During the 9th century, after some of the first Iraqi potters had formulated techniques to mimic Chinese porcelains, designs and inscriptions were added, starting a pathway into a form of ceramic art unique to Islamic culture. In figure one, we can observe the bold cobalt blue Kufic script saying ghibta or "happiness", against a white lustrous body.

In the 10th century the epigraphic style became popular, a style that was characterized by bold, dark Kufic script placed in concentric bands around the dish against a white background. Some of the most striking examples of the trade of techniques an innovation along the Silk Road are embodied in the similarities between epigraphic dishes between the ceramic centers of Samarkand (figure two) and Nishapur (figure three). The two styles are almost identical, yet they were created independently as the two cities are approximately 1000km apart. The cities' distance from one another and the similarities in their products speaks to the prevalence of trade between these two cities, and the demand for work similar to this style. The striking calligraphy was usually a secular proverb or universal truth that would appeal to many audiences of different faith backgrounds. This style was likely created to decorate the homes of educated customers of the middle class, people who could afford a dish of such fine workmanship and could read the quotes of Mohammad or the blessings of good fortune that were elegantly inscribed on the white surfaces of these bowls. Calligraphy would make its way into other styles of ornamentation, too, as in figure four, camouflaged within the concentric bands of braidwork and vegetal motifs. In these vessels containing texts, we can see the influences that cities within the Islamic world had on one another, and we can gain a more social understanding of these bowls, beyond the royalty that purchased them and the potters that created them.

Works Cited

Grube, E. J. (1965). The Art of Islamic Pottery . New York, NY: Metropolitan Museum of Art .

Ettinghausen, Richard. 2001. Islamic Art and Architecture 650-1250. Yale University Press New Haven.

Wilkinson, C. K. (1961). The Glazed Pottery of Nishapur and Samarkand . New York, NY : Metropolitan Museum of Art .

Wilkinson, C. K. (1973). Nishapur: Pottery of the Early Islamic Period . New York, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art .