Earthenware cup with molded decoration and yellow and green glazes
Iraq or Syria; 8th-9th century
H: 7; Diam without handle: 13.9 cm
Inventory number 4/2006
The cup was given uniform, fairly small-patterned decorations in low relief. This type of decoration was found in the Umayyad period, though most often on unglazed ceramics, and continued under the Abbasids.
Decorations like these – with rosettes, a scale-like pattern, etc. – could be applied to the finished piece by repeatedly using one or more stamps of different types.
In another technique, which was probably used here, the clay was pressed into a two-part mold that held a negative of the entire decoration.
Both the shape and the decoration of such pieces were in many cases derived from models made of silver, and the prototypes could be both Roman and Sasanian. 2023
Decorations like these – with rosettes, a scale-like pattern, etc. – could be applied to the finished piece by repeatedly using one or more stamps of different types.
In another technique, which was probably used here, the clay was pressed into a two-part mold that held a negative of the entire decoration.
Both the shape and the decoration of such pieces were in many cases derived from models made of silver, and the prototypes could be both Roman and Sasanian. 2023
