Beaker, greenish, colorless glass, with engraved decoration
Syria, Iraq, or Iran; 9th century
H: 7.5; Diam: 8.2 cm
Inventory number 23/1987
The top of the beaker carries an Arabic inscription in Kufi that can be translated as follows: “In the name of God. The blessings of God to the owner.”
In the early Islamic period, glass was engraved with decorations of varying complexity. Some pieces were covered entirely by complicated patterns, while others featured a simple engraving to contrast with larger, undecorated surfaces. Common to them all, however, was the use of diagonal hatching, which in the quite simple floral decoration on this beaker changes directions from leaf to leaf.
The beaker can be dated, since blue glass with related decorations was found in a stupa (a Buddhist shrine) built in 874 in China’s Shaanxi Province.
In the early Islamic period, glass was engraved with decorations of varying complexity. Some pieces were covered entirely by complicated patterns, while others featured a simple engraving to contrast with larger, undecorated surfaces. Common to them all, however, was the use of diagonal hatching, which in the quite simple floral decoration on this beaker changes directions from leaf to leaf.
The beaker can be dated, since blue glass with related decorations was found in a stupa (a Buddhist shrine) built in 874 in China’s Shaanxi Province.
Published in
Published in
Kjeld von Folsach: Islamic Art. The David Collection, Copenhagen 1990, cat. 212;
Kjeld von Folsach: Art from the World of Islam in the David Collection, Copenhagen 2001, cat. 295; Annika Larsson and Mohammed Guennoun: Viking Bliss. The Golden Age of Square Kufi, Uppsala 2025, pp.160-161;
Kjeld von Folsach: Art from the World of Islam in the David Collection, Copenhagen 2001, cat. 295; Annika Larsson and Mohammed Guennoun: Viking Bliss. The Golden Age of Square Kufi, Uppsala 2025, pp.160-161;
