This is a beautiful example of a small footed bowl made of luster ceramic painted in golden ocher, white and blue. The paint is partially faded and the decoration is well preserved inside the cup. The outer brown decoration has suffered more and is partly erased. Chips on the edge and walls reveal the creamy colored surface beyond the white slip which covers the ground.

A large blue star formed by superimposing squares occupies the bottom of the bowl. It contains a flower that develops into a double row of petals. Two blue bands surround the star; a third strip echoes the color along the upper edge. Brown motifs in the shape of whirlpools and zigzags adorn the background.

The exterior of the bowl partially kept its decoration composed of hatching, bands and brown-painted dots. The foot seems to have been blue, but only the white slip remains.

This piece is in line with the achievements of Nasrid ceramics created by the great production centers of Malaga or Almeria, in Andalusia, around the 14th century. At that time, this region was the last Muslim bastion in Spain under the domination of the kingdom of Grenade, which had been founded in 1238 by Mohammed ibn Nasr. The rest of the peninsula, gradually invaded by the Reconquista, was under the domination of the Christian kingdoms, with Castile and Aragon among main actors.

The Nasiri Dynasty reigning in Granada would play the clever game of diplomacy and maintain a brilliant culture by giving intellectual and artists a special place. The beautiful Palace of the Alhambra was therefore constructed under this dynasty and embraces by itself all the techniques of the applied arts.

The production of Nasiri luster ceramics enjoyed an international reputation at that time and was exported both in the Mediterranean and in Northern Europe. The most famous pieces are the extraordinary vessels known as the Alhambra vases, the form of which derives from the traditional tinajas (large wine jars which were made in Spain and in North Africa in the 10th-11th century). Nasrid ceramics are characterized by a white enamel that covers the surface, on which ornaments are then painted in golden brown and cobalt blue.

Bibliography
SOUSTIEL J., La Céramique islamique, Fribourg, 1985, pp. 170-187.
TORRE BALBAS L., Arte almohade, arte nazarí, arte mudéjar in : Ars Hispaniae, Vol IV, Madrid 1949.

All e-Tiquities have been searched in the Art Loss Register database.