DavidsSamlingGennem24År

3/1962 Jug Persia, first half of 13th century Grey-white, hard-fired body decorated with red, white and gold over an opaque turquoise glaze. H:28.5, Diam:18 Only a limited selection of colours can tolerate the high temperatures necessary for glaze firing. But towards the end of the 12th century, Persian potters got round the problem by decorating over the once-firedglaze, aproce­ dure which they knew from the lustre technique but which they had never used for other colours. This type ofpottery, which is well represented in the David Col­ lection, is called minai (enamel) and is characterized by a wealth of colour hitherto unknown and by a style of decoration that is rich in figures and reminiscent of con­ temporary miniature painting. The jug shown here, whose shape derives from metal jugs of the same period, is fairly simple in its colouring but on the other hand is furnished with a relieffrieze depicting various four-legged animals and a chain of fourteen individually delineated dancing girls, likewise in relief and accentuated by overglaze colours. Despite the Koran’s law against representations of living creatures, these are to be found right back to the earliest period of Islamic history, though always in a secular context: on articles of everyday use, in the palaces of princes, or in the illuminated manuscripts of such palaces. This richly decorated minai pottery was costly, and in contemporary sources it is referred to in conjunction with items ofgold and silver.

3 /1 9 6 2 K a n d e P e rs ie n , 13. å r h u n d re d e s f ø r s te h a lv d e l G rå h v id , h å r d tb r æ n d t s k æ rv d e k o r e r e t m e d r ø d t, h v id t o g g u ld o v e r e n o p a k tu r k is g la s u r. H :2 8 ,5 , D ia m :1 8 D e t e r e t b e g ræ n s e t u d v a lg a f fa rv e r, s o m k a n tåle d e h ø je te m p e r a tu r e r v e d e n g la s u r b ra n d . M e n o m k r in g s lu tn in g e n a f d e t 12 . å r h u n d re d e k o m p e rs is k e p o tte m a g e r e u d e n o m p r o b le m e t v e d o g ­ så a t d e k o re r e o v e r d e n e e n g a n g b r æ n d te g la s u r, e n f re m g a n g s m å d e , s o m d e k e n d te fra lu s tr e te k ­ n ik k e n , m e n s o m d e a ld rig h a v d e a n v e n d t til a n ­ d re fa rv e r. D e n n e ty p e k e ra m ik , d e r e r v e lre p r æ ­ s e n te r e t i D a v id s S a m lin g , k a ld e s minai (em a lje ) o g e r p r æ g e t a f e n in d til d a u k e n d t fa rv e p r a g t o g a f e n o fte f ig u r r ig d e k o r a tio n , d e r k a n v æ k k e m in ­ d e ls e r o m s a m tid ig t b o g m a le ri. D e n v is te k a n d e , h v is f o r m k la r t e r a fle d t a f s a m tid ig e m e ta lk a n d e r, e r re t e n k e l i sin fa rv e - h o ld n in g m e n til g e n g æ ld u d s ty r e t m e d e n re ­ lie ffris e m e d fo rs k e llig e firb e n e d e d y r s a m t e n k æ ­ d e a f 14 in d iv id u e lt u d f o r m e d e d a n s e rin d e r lig e le ­ d e s i r e lie f o g a c c e n tu e re t m e d o v e r g la s u r f a r v e r . P å tr o d s a f K o ra n e n s f o r b u d m o d a fb ild n in g e r a f le v e n d e v æ s n e r fin d e s d isse h e lt tilb a g e i d e n tid lig e is la m is k e h is to r ie , d o g a ltid i v e rd s lig e s a m m e n h æ n g e : p å b r u g s g e n s ta n d e , i fy rs te rn e s s lo tte e lle r i d isse s illu m in e r e d e m a n u s k r ip te r. D e n r ig t u d s m y k k e d e m in a ik e r a m ik v a r k o s t­ b a r, o g d e n b le v i s a m tid ig e k ild e r o m ta lt i s a m ­ m e n h æ n g m e d e ffe k te r a f g u ld o g sø lv .

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