Fritware dish, painted in blue and black under a transparent glaze
With the Mongols’ destruction of Raqqa in 1259, the city ceased to be the region’s most important center of ceramics production, and Damascus took the lead. High-quality ceramics was also made elsewhere in Syria in the Mamluk period, however, whereas coarser work should probably be attributed to Egypt.
This large dish is unusually well preserved since the glaze on much Syrian pottery becomes iridescent or matte, or completely decomposes.
Though the dish’s central six-pointed star is often associated with Judaism, it is frequently found as an ornament on Islamic works of art, without it having any specific significance.
This large dish is unusually well preserved since the glaze on much Syrian pottery becomes iridescent or matte, or completely decomposes.
Though the dish’s central six-pointed star is often associated with Judaism, it is frequently found as an ornament on Islamic works of art, without it having any specific significance.