muslim: an early fatimid ceramist

7/27/2019 Muslim: An Early Fatimid Ceramist

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Muslim: An Early Fatimid Ceramist

Author(s): Marilyn JenkinsSource: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series, Vol. 26, No. 9 (May, 1968), pp.359-369Published by: The Metropolitan Museum of ArtStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3258401 .

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Muslim: A n E a r l y F a t im i d C e r a m i s tM A R I L Y N JE N K I N S CuratorialAssistant,IslamicArt

There are very few concrete facts on which to base the history of Islamic ceramicsduringthe firstfive centuriesof Muslim civilization,from the earlyseventh to the earlytwelfth century. Contemporaryliterature names several cities famed for the produc-tion of beautiful pottery, but it gives little or no indication of what these ceramicslooked like, or how and when they were made. Excavations very often provide arthistorianswith datable examplesand information about the evolution of style, tech-nique, and iconography. But here, too, there are difficulties.Al Basrain Iraq, whichwas a major early ceramic center, is now partially under the Persian Gulf and hasnever been excavated. Medieval Baghdad, another important center, lies beneathmodern Baghdad, and thus probably will never be excavated. Fustat, the center ofceramic production in medieval Egypt, has been haphazardlyexcavated, and conse-quently the opportunity it would have afforded for stratigraphicdating-assigningdates to objects in accordancewith the levels on which they are found- has been lost.

Thus, scholarsare compelled to rely heavily on technical, stylistic, and iconographicstudies to establish the relative chronology of the ceramic objects made during thisfive-hundred-yearperiod, because not only is information lacking in contemporaryliteratureand ceramiccenters, but there is not one dated ceramicobject before Ii I8,to my knowledge, and there are very few bearing inscriptions that permit a precisedating.

There are only two publishedceramicpieces bearing inscriptionsthat can help us inany way to date preciselya piece of pottery madeduring the firstfive centuriesof Mus-lim civilization. Both of these were made in Egypt during the yearswhen the Fatimid

I. Luster-paintedragmentarylatesignedby Muslim. Egyptian(Fatimid eriod),about ooo.BenakiMuseum,Athens, 1122.No. 9 in Appendix

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2. Front and back of luster-paintedbowl,signed by Muslim. Diameter o inches.Gift of Mr. and Mrs. CharlesK.Wilkinson,63.178.1. No. so in Appendix

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dynasty was in power, from 969 to I I71. Oneof these, a fragmentary, large, luster-paintedplate, in the Islamic Museum in Cairo, con-tains a dedicatory inscription to "the Com-mander-in-Chief Gaban," an official in thecourt of the caliph al-Hakim, who ruled from996 to I02I. Since Gaban bore this title onlyfrom ioII to I013, the plate can be datedwithin this two-year period.

The second object is a fragmentary luster-painted plate in the Benaki Museum, Athens(Figure i), which bears an inscription on therim: "[The work of] Muslim son of al-Dahan,to please . . . Hassan Iqbal al-Hakimi." Has-san Iqbal has not been identified as yet, butthe use of al-Hakimi as part of his name doesindicate that he was a courtier of the caliphal-Hakim. Thus, we can assume that this ob-ject was made sometime during the caliph'stwenty-six-year reign-from 996 to I02 -and, further, that the ceramist Muslim ibnal-Dahan was working at that period.

This latter fact is particularly importantbecause, although it was a common practicefor Fatimid ceramists to sign the objects theymade, Muslim is the only artist among themwhose work can be dated to a precise histori-cal period.The number of Fatimid ceramic objects inWestern collections is very small. Conse-quently, the Museum is fortunate not onlyto have four bowls of this type, but amongthem to have a bowl signed by Muslim, whichis also one of the few objects signed by thisartist that has survived intact (Figure 2). Ason the other bowls bearing his signature, hehas employed in its decoration the techniqueof luster painting. This technique, which wasfirst employed on pottery in ninth-centuryIraq, and from there spread to other NearEastern countries, to Spain, and then toItaly, France, England, and America, was oneof the most important discoveries made bythe artists of the Islamic world.

The principal decoration on the interior ofthis bowl is a heraldic eagle with spreadwings, claws, and tail, holding a trilobed leafin its beak. Its head, body, claws, and theleaf are painted in solid luster with only somefacial details and the outline of the body

3. Luster-painted owl. Iraq, ix century.Diameter 74 inches.RogersFund,52. 14

4. Outsideof luster-painted owl. Iraq, x century.Diameter 12inches.FletcherFund, 64.134



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5. Stone stele. Roman, rom ancientViminacium near Kostolac, Yugoslavia),iii century.From Archaeologisch-Epigraphische ittheilungenausOesterreich-Ungarn,5 (Vienna, I892) by 0. Benndorfand E. Bormann

6. Silk twill. Byzantine, xi century.Purchase,Joseph PulitzerBequest,41.927. Limestonestele. Coptic Egyptian,about 6oo. Gift of ErnestMackay,

14.I.459 a-d8. Stonerelief. Hispano-Islamic, rom Madina az-Zahra (near Cordova),

Spain, x century.Museo Arqueol6gico,Madrid9. Detail of ivorybox. Hispano-Islamic,xi century.Treasuryof the Cathedralof PamplonaIo. Silk textile. Hispano-Islamic,xii century.Funds rom VariousDonors,58.85.2i I. Detail of wooden ceiling, rom the CappellaPalatina, Palermo,Sicily,xii century.Museo Nazionale, Palermo.From Siculo-Arabic Ivories

(Princeton,1939) by PerryBlytheCott12. Detail of ivory casket.South Italian, xi-xII century.Gift of J. PierpontMorgan, I 7. 90.241

feathers being left white. The wings, tail, andupper legs are white, outlined and detailedin luster. In the area around the bird thereare asymmetrical fillers, most of which con-tain a rather debased form of the "peacock-eye" motif, which is first found on Iraqi lusterof the ninth century (Figure 3).The luster-painted decoration on the backconsists of concentric circles filled with andsurrounded by dashes, a design that is only aslight variation of the customary exterior dec-oration of tenth-century luster-painted bowlsfrom Iraq (Figure 4).Muslim signed the bowl twice: once onthe foot, and again below the eagle's rightclaw.

In representing this heraldic eagle in afrontal position, Muslim was using a long-popular motif, one not just peculiar to theiconography of Fatimid Egypt. This symbolof strength was the insignia of the Romanlegions (Figure 5), and from the Romans themotif passed into the Byzantine repertoire(Figure 6).It is not at all surprising to find this samebird represented on our Islamic Egyptianbowl, because when the Arabs conqueredEgypt, in A.D. 64I, they became the rulersofa country that had been subject first to Greek



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and then to Roman domination for most ofthe preceding millennium. The iconographyand artistic style that had evolved in Egyptduring this long period were not supersededwith the coming of the Arabs, but continuedto exert a very strong influence on EgyptianIslamic art long after the introduction, byconquering dynasties and migrating artisansfrom the East, of a more abstract iconographyand style.

The Coptic stele shown in Figure 7 illus-trates the use of the motif in pre-IslamicEgypt. It was made around A.D. 600, andrepresents a heraldic eagle strikingly similarto the Fatimid bird, in the representation ofthe body feathers, the band separating thebody from the tail, the division of the wings,and the leaf in the bird's beak. The ChristianEgyptian who created this work and his fellowCoptic artisans were strongly influenced bythe Byzantine art of Constantinople, and thisartistic influence on the Coptic communitycontinued for many centuries after the Arabconquest. As Coptic artisans were often em-ployed by the Arabs, these Christians wereactively able to keep the Roman and Byzan-tine tradition alive in Islamic Egypt.The same bird is also to be found on Islamicobjects made in Spain in the tenth, eleventh,

and twelfth centuries (Figures 8-io), intwelfth-century Sicily (Figure ii), and insouthern Italy during the eleventh andtwelfth centuries (Figure I2). These coun-tries all had, to a greater or lesser degree,the same classical heritage as Islamic Egypt,and their art produced under Muslim domi-nation demonstrates the same continuity ofpre-Islamic tradition.

What about Muslim's other work? Twentybowls, complete or fragmentary, signed byhim are known, and can be used as a fairbasis for compiling his iconographical reper-toire. From these it can be concluded that hemost frequently decorated his objects withanimals. Seven of the twenty objects have ananimal or animals as their principal decora-tion. Another four objects bear representa-tions of birds. Eight of the remaining ninebowls are decorated with interlaced bands,calligraphy or "pseudocalligraphy," and flo-ral patterns, or combinations of these motifs,and one fragment is decorated with a humanbeing.

The style of the eagle on our bowl is mostclosely related to that of a griffin on a bowlby Muslim in the Islamic Museum in Cairo(Figure I3). The heads of the two are almostidentical, and there is a similar use of white

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Luster-paintedbowl, signedby Muslim. Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo, 14930.No. 4 in Appendix

for certain facial details and the pearl collar.Both are drawn in a bold, heavy style, whichgives them an even stronger, more robustappearance than most of his other animals.The shape of these two bowls is identical:they have relatively high, straight walls,giving them a simple but graceful shape thatis more aesthetically pleasing than that ofmost Fatimid bowls, which have low, con-cave walls.

In his representation of animals, Muslimappears always to leave the shoulder and hipjoints white and to indicate the ribs in white.This convention, however, is not peculiar tothis artist, but is also found on animals onFatimid ceramics not bearing his signature(Figure I4). Other stylistic characteristics ofMuslim's pieces are likewise found on objectsnot signed by him, and probably not attrib-utable to him.

This apparent lack of stylistic individualityis not an isolated case in Islamic art. It occursin all periods and throughout the Muslimworld. There seem to have been certain artis-tic conventions, perhaps standardized in pat-tern books, that were strictly adhered to ineach period. This would explain the lack ofindividuality in the representation of thesame motif by different artists of the sameperiod.

Muslim was, however, a master ceramist, inthe deft way in which he handled the stand-ard motifs and the way in which he incor-porated them into the overall design of hisbowls. In fact, Muslim apparently enjoyed acertain pre-eminence among his fellow arti-sans,for not only washe permitted to dedicatea bowl to someone closely associated with thecaliph, but he also seems to have counter-signed objects made by other ceramists, andthus may have been the master of an impor-tant atelier.

Muslim's work represents a zenith in theanimal, floral, and abstract decoration of



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Egyptian luster-painted ceramics, becauseafter his time the decoration of Fatimid luster-painted pottery becomes mainly figural. Thebrief catalogue of his known work that fol-lows, however, is more than a list of piecesmade by a master craftsman. It represents aceramic "pattern book" for Fatimid Egyptaround the year one thousand, which canhelp make possible the placing of similarobjects more securely into the early Fatimidperiod by serving as a sound basisfor stylistic,iconographical,and technical studies of otherFatimid luster-painted ceramics.

REFERENCES

The date i i18 occurson luster-paintednscrip-tion tiles in the tomb chamberof ImamRiza inMeshhed, Iran. They are listed by Arthur Up-hamPope,"TheCeramicArt in IslamicTimes,A.The History" in Survey of Persian Art II (London,1939), p. i666.The plate bearing he nameGaban s discussedbyHassan l BashahHassanMahmud,"APotteryPlatewith the Name GabanMawlaal-Hakimbi-amri-llah Written on It" in Bulletin of the Facultyof Arts, Cairo University, i8, Part i (I958), pp.71-85 (in Arabic).The Coptic influence n IslamicEgypt is illus-trated by a Fatimid luster-paintedbowl in theVictoriaand Albert Museum,London, that isdecorated with a representationof a Copticpriest. See Arthur Lane, Early Islamic Pottery(London, 1947), Plate 26A.Ceramic bjects hatseem ohave beencounter-signedby Muslimare discussedby Abdel Ra'ufA. Yousuf,"Pottery of the Fatimid Period andIts Artistic Style" in Bulletin of the Faculty ofArts, Cairo University,20, Part 2 (1958), pp. I73-279 (in Arabic).Severalof Muslim'spieces thatI have been unable to illustrateare shown inYousuf'sarticle, and in the book by Aly BeyBahgat and Felix Massoul, La CeramiqueMusul-mane de l'Egypte (Cairo, I930).I would greatly appreciatebeing informedofthe existence of additional objects signed byMuslim.

14. Luster-painted owl, unsigned.Egyptian(Fatimidperiod), about Iooo. DiameterIo4 inches.Purchase,JosephPulitzerBequest,64.26I



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Appendix

Quadrupeds

1. Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo, No.10876/2: base of bowl.Animal (unidentifiable) executed inluster; animal must have covered almostentire bowl.

Ribs and shoulder joint left white.Two spots on animal and its belly leftwhite, but outlined and dotted withluster to indicate fur. Above back of ani-mal, ovoid filler outlined in luster andcontaining luster-painted dots and circles.

BACK: Appears to have had decora-tion consisting of concentric circles.

SIGNATURE: On foot: J JXplus undecipherable word written twice.

Below belly of animal: L-

2. Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo (Bah-gat and Massoul, Plate xiv, 4a, b): baseof bowl.

Animal (perhaps gazelle) executed inluster; animal just covers foot of bowl.

Shoulder and hip joints and line onbelly left white. Eye left white, withluster-painted pupil. Luster-painted leafin mouth of animal. Narrow luster-painted band surrounds animal.

BACK: No indication of decorationremains.

SIGNATURE: On foot:


Confronted long-eared animals (un-identifiable) executed in luster and sep-arated by vertical object; design musthave covered almost entire bowl.

Inside of ear and eyes left white, withpupils in luster. Hastily executed fillersin luster in front of both animals and be-hind ears of animal on left.

BACK: Design appearsto have con-sisted of concentric circles in luster sepa-rated by dashes of luster.

SIGNATURE: On back:^.k4. Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo, No.I4930: complete bowl. See Figure 13 ofthis article.

Winged griffin executed in luster sur-rounded by luster-painted band; this de-sign just covers bottom of bowl.

Shoulder and hip joints, claws, certainfacial features, collar, and outer area ofwing left white. Luster-painted leaf inmouth of animal. Tail and wing end inluster-painted leaf.

Wall of bowl decorated with alternat-ing design of luster-painted palmettetree and "fleur-de-lis," outlined in lus-ter, in ovoid luster-painted frame. Rimdecorated with luster-painted band.

BACK: Concentric circles in lusterfilled with and surrounded by luster-painted dashes.

SIGNATURE: On innerwallof bowl:jt)LO JLJa e

5. Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo, No.6114/3: base of bowl.Gazelle executed in luster, separatedfrom rest of bowl by gadrooned frameoutlined in luster with a luster-painteddot in each of the arcs; animal design inframe takes up more than bottom ofbowl.

Shoulder and hip joints, ribs, and lineon belly left white. Luster-painted leafin mouth of animal.Floral fillers in luster extend fromframe into center of bowl. Debased pal-mette-leaf motif reserved in luster sur-rounds frame.


SIGNATURE: On foot: -

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Confronted long-eared or long-hornedanimals (unidentifiable) executed inluster, separated by tree outlined inluster; design must have taken up almostentire bowl.

Between each animal and tree, irreg-ular filler outlined in luster and deco-rated with luster-painted spiralsand dots.

BAC K: Circles n lustersurrounded vluster-painted dashes.

SIGNATURE: On back:(_LSome of the signature area missing.

Birds

8. Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo, No.60o7/I: base of bowl.Peacock executed in luster; designcovers more than foot of bowl.

Areas in tail left white. Wing left whiteand decorated with luster-painted dots.Floral fillers in luster.


SIGNATURE: On back: 4

7. Benaki Museum, Athens: base ofbowl.

Dog executed in luster; this designjust covers foot of bowl.

Shoulder and hip joints, ribs, and eyeleft white with luster pupil. Luster-painted branch in mouth of animal.

Luster-painted floral fillers extend intocenter of bowl from luster-painted bandsurrounding dog.

BACK: Nothing remainsof design.SIGNATURE: On back: - .J-c

9. BenakiMuseum,Athens, No. II 22:fragmentary plate. See also Figure i ofthis article.

Design on interior must have beendivided into at least four areas.On rim: floral scroll executed in luster

containing luster-painted birds in var-ious attitudes, some of them holdingluster-painted leaves in their beaks. Eyesof birds left white, some containing lusterpupils.

Gadrooned frame outlined in lusterwith a luster-painted dot in each of thearcs forms part of design of this plate.Rest of design, aside from cartouchecontaining inscription, impossible to re-construct.


SIGNATURE: In cartouche:

10. Metropolitan Museum, New York,Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles K. Wilkin-son, No. 63.178.1: complete bowl. SeeFigure 2 of this article.

Complete description given in text.11. Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo, No.6124/I (Yousuf, Plate 6a, b): base ofbowl.

Peacock executed in luster, surroundedby luster-painted band; this design justcovers bottom of bowl.

Outline and details of wing, line onbelly, area on beak, upper part of legs,and eye left white with pupil in luster.

Decoration on wall of bowl impossibleto reconstruct.


SIGNATURE: On back: e--L367



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SymmetricaleafDesigns

12. Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo, No.15958: complete bowl.

Design in center of bowl consists offour white leaves, each surrounded bywhite frame, silhouetted on luster ground.This design, which covers bottom ofbowl, is set off from rest of bowl byluster-painted band.

Wall of bowl decorated with bold,luster-painted Kufic inscription: "Com-prehensive well-being and perfect bless-ing." Luster-painted asymmetrical fillersdecorated with spiral design in lusterwithin inscription area.

Flat, out-turned rim decorated withluster-painted sawtooth band.BACK: Concentric circles in luster

filled with and surrounded by luster-painted dashes.

SIGNATURE: Onback:

13. Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo: baseof bowl.

Basic design appears to have consistedof interlaced luster-painted lines. Incenter, these lines circumscribe five half-palmette leaves with stems, in white re-served in luster, thus forming rosette,with white five-pointed "star" in centeralso reserved in luster.

Decoration on wall of bowl impossibleto determine further, but undoubtedlyrelated to central design.

BACK: Appearsto have had decora-tion consisting of concentric circles.

SIGNATURE: On back: --

14. Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo, No.21482 (Yousuf, Plate i3a, b): base ofbowl.

Four highly stylized white leaves sil-houetted on luster ground, which washastily incised with rectangles, circles,and spirals; this design covers bottom ofbowl.


SIGNATURE: On back: O-L

15. Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo, No.I2437/2: base of bowl.In center, rhomboid design formed byfour luster-painted, half-palmette leavessilhouetted on white ground; this designset off from rest of bowl by luster-painted band of same rhomboid shape.

Decoration on wall of bowl, except forfour luster-painted leaves, impossible todetermine.


SIGNATURE: On back: -L-

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Interlacedesigns

16. Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo, No.I 1I4: baseof bowl.

Design consists of white interlacedbands decorated with alternating pattern,outlined in luster, of circles and rec-tangles; this design, silhouetted on lusterground, seems to have been an overallpattern.


SIGNATURE: On back: r }, .17. Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo (Bah-gat and Massoul, Plate xiv, 5a, b): baseof bowl.

Design consists of white interlacedbands, outlined in luster and containinga pseudo-Arabic inscription in luster,radiating from luster-painted pentagonwith white rosette in center; this designseems to have been an overall pattern.

BACK: Appearsto have had decora-tion consisting of concentric circles.

SIGNATURE: On back: J-S

HumanBeing

18. Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo, No.I3968: base of boxwl.

Seated figure executed in luster; de-sign must have covered almost entirebowl.

Face, hand, shading, and costume de-tails white.


SIGNATURE: On foot:r I [y i I "

Miscellaneous19. Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo (Bah-gat and Massoul, Plate xiv, 6a, b): baseof bowl.

Center of bowl contains fragmentaryluster-painted signature of artist. Thisarea surrounded by luster-painted band.

Decoration on remainder of this frag-ment consists of circles outlined in lusterwith dots in center.

BACK: Impossible to determine deco-ration.

SIGNATURE: In center of interior:

20. Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo (Bah-gat and Massoul, Plate xxii, 8a, b): rimof bowl.

Rim appears to have been decoratedwith luster-painted festoon. Below fes-toon was signature of artist.

Rest of design impossible to recon-struct.


SIGNATURE: On interiorwall:

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muslim: an early fatimid ceramist

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