Chinese influences on Islamic pottery
Chinese influences on Islamic pottery cover a period starting from at least the 8th century CE to the 19th century.[1][2] This influence of Chinese ceramics has to be viewed in the broader context of the considerable importance of Chinese culture on Islamic arts in general.[3]
Earliest exchanges
Pre-Islamic contacts with Central Asia
Despite the distances involved, there is evidence of some contact between eastern and southwestern Asia from antiquity. Some very early Western influence on Chinese pottery seems to appear from the 3rd–4th century BCE. An Eastern Zhou red earthenware bowl, decorated with slip and inlaid with glass paste, and now in the British Museum, is thought to have imitated metallic vessels, possibly of foreign origin. Foreign influence especially is thought to have encouraged the Eastern Zhou interest in glass decorations.[4]
Contacts between
Such mixed influences are especially visible in the earthenwares of Northern China in the 6th century, such as those of the
Early Islamic period
Direct contacts between the Muslim and Chinese worlds were marked by the Battle of Talas in 751 in Central Asia. Muslim communities are known to have been present in China as early as the 8th century CE, especially in commercial harbours such as Canton and Hangzhou.[3]
From the 9th century onwards, Islamic merchants started to import Chinese ceramics, which were at the core of the
Archaeological finds of
Chinese pottery was the object of gift-making in Islamic lands: the Islamic writer Muhammad Ibn-al-Husain-Bahaki wrote in 1059 that Ali Ibn Isa, the governor of Khurasan, presented Harun al-Rashid, the Caliph, twenty pieces of Chinese imperial porcelain, the like of which had never been at a caliph's court before, in addition to 2,000 other pieces of porcelain".[1]
Yuan and Ming dynasties
By the time of the
The Islamic market was apparently especially important in the early years of
The start of the Ming dynasty was quickly followed by a decree of 1368, forbidding trade with foreign countries. This was not entirely successful, and had to be repeated several times, and the giving of lavish imperial diplomatic gifts continued, concentrating on silk and porcelain (19,000 pieces of porcelain in 1383), but it severely set back the export trade. The policy was relaxed under the next emperor after 1403, but had by then greatly stimulated the production of pottery emulating Chinese styles in the Islamic world itself, which was by now reaching a high level of quality in several countries (high enough to fool contemporary Europeans in many cases).[12]
Often Islamic production imitated not the latest Chinese styles, but those of the late Yuan and early Ming.[13] In turn, Chinese potters began in the early 16th century to produce some items in overtly Islamic styles, including jumbled inscriptions in Arabic. These appear to have been made for the growing Chinese Muslim market, and probably those at court wishing to keep up with the Zhengde Emperor's (r. 1505–1521) flirtation with Islam.[14]
Evolution
Yue ware
Yue ware originated in the
Yue ware was highly valued, and was used as tribute for the imperial court in northern China in the 9th century.
Sancai ware
In order to imitate Chinese Sancai, lead glazes were used on top of vessels coated with white slip and a colorless glaze. The coloured lead glazes were then splashed on the surface, where they spread and mixed, according to the slipware technique.[2]
Shapes were also imitated, such as the lobed dishes found in Chinese Tang ceramics and silverware which were reproduced in Iraq during the 9–10th century.[3]
Conversely, numerous Central Asian and Persian influences were at work in the designs of Chinese sancai wares: pictures of Central Asian mounted warriors, scenes representing Central Asian musicians, vases in the shape of Middle-Eastern
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Iran three-color ceramic, 9-10th century.
-
Syrianthree-color ceramic, 13th century.
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Three-color glazed ceramics, Cyprus, 14th century.
White ware
Local potters in Egypt and Syria were producing fine glazed white lusterware as early as the 8th century.
In the late 11th century, potters further developed
Celadon ware
Chinese greenware, or celadon, was the most popular ware imported from China to Iran beginning in the ninth century.[27] During the Ilkhanid period, this manifested in Iranian imitations of the Chinese originals.[28] Persian potters produced lotus bowls, gently sloping bowls with carved petals and a central indent, and decorated them with molded fish, another hallmark of Chinese celadon. However, Iranian copies were often larger than the original Chinese works, reflecting the regions’ differing preferences in size.
Blue and white ware
Beginning in the 14th century, blue and white pottery ware was the site of much cultural interplay between China and Iran. Desire for blue and white Chinese pottery in Iran spurred import of large quantities of the pottery, as well as domestic production of Chinese-influenced blue and white ware.
Islamic potters in the Abbasid period seldom produced pure white ware and often decorated their work with cobalt blue geometric and floral motifs.[29] The use of cobalt later influenced the production of blue and white porcelain in 14th century China. On some occasions, Chinese blue and white wares also incorporated Islamic designs, where elegant forms of the Song wares were transformed into massive forms similar to metalwork, this is possibly attributed to imitations of Middle Eastern metal products. This can be found in the case of some Mamluk brass objects which were converted into blue and white Chinese porcelain designs. Chinese blue and white ware then became extremely popular in the Middle East, where both Chinese and Islamic types coexisted. Most surviving Iranian blue and white ware are bowls with narrow foot-rings and some distinctive shapes of Chinese blue and white wares like a high-shouldered vase known as meiping in China.
Chinese porcelain of the 14th or 15th century was transmitted to the
Timurid blue and white ware of the late 14th and early 15th centuries display many more similarities between these Islamic ceramics and Chinese porcelain.[32] This Iranian blue and white ware is most comparable to the Yuan period. This period entailed many more similarities between Chinese and Middle Eastern blue and white wares, though there are still some stylistic differences, as evidenced in the Timurid potters’ adoption of the lotus-petal design used in China for their blue and white porcelain. In China, with this framing design, there usually were Buddhist emblems to follow. Timurids instead incorporated their own elements within the lotus-petal framing such as a simplification of these Buddhist elements or a substitution of them with arabesque scrolls. Tall-i Iblis indicated that Kirman was the center of blue and white ware manufacture during this period.
Blue and white tiles made in Damascus were likely made by artisans originally employed under Timur. Geometric designs found on these tiles reference Timurid “panel style.” Landscape motifs found on these tiles reference Samarqand mural painting.[33]
Beginning in the 15th century in Persia and Central Asia, highly ornamented and intricate buildings called chini-kaneh (“porcelain houses”) were constructed in the Islamic world to house Chinese Ceramics. Niches built into the walls and vaults of chini-khaneh. Individual niches were specifically shaped to hold particular ceramic pieces. The chini-kaneh built in Samarqand by Ulugh Beg was also lined with Chinese porcelain tiles.[34]
The expansion of Chinese blue and white porcelain to other countries and the consequential imitations of these products evidences China's prioritization of their blue and white porcelain as an export product. Maritime routes were the main mode of transportation for Chinese blue and white porcelain, traveling to the West through India across the Maldive Islands, to the Gulf ports, the Red Sea area, and even to East Africa. This is likely due to practicalities like the quantity and efficiency of these routes and the fragility of the objects. Much Chinese blue and white porcelain has been found in Fustat in Egypt, where numerous locally manufactured blue and white ceramics have indicated an already flourishing Middle Eastern blue and white porcelain movement by the 14th century. In Syria, a clear Chinese impact on local potters came from the abundance of Chinese blue and white porcelain in Damascus, which ranged from the Yuan to the Ming period. The late 14th century Hama dish in Damascus National Museum is an example of Syrian potters’ clear intent to replicate Chinese blue and white porcelain. Chinese blue and white porcelain was mainly taken from Gulf ports like Hormuz Island (New Hormuz) to inland towns in Iran, which further supports the significance of maritime routes in the transportation of Chinese blue and white porcelain. Topkapi Saray, Istanbul has one of the finest collections of Chinese ceramics in the world. This water-based expansion of Chinese blue and white porcelain can be confirmed by finds in Japan, Korea, and South-East Asia.
The demand for Chinese blue and white porcelain in the Middle East influenced Chinese production of these products in both the quantity of blue and white porcelain's production and the type of objects being produced. Muslim merchants in the port town of Quanzhou in Fujian controlled the marketing of this porcelain, and there is little evidence of Mongol patronage in it as a fine art. As found in the vast majority of Chinese blue and white porcelain being outside of China, Chinese porcelain was more often produced for Middle Eastern consumers. Small-sized ware like pouring bowls and stem-cups, as reflected in Mongol metal ware, indicate China's domestic use of them. The Chinese blue and white porcelain being primarily produced were large-sized dishes used as export products for the Middle East.
See also
- Silk Road
- Islamic contributions to Medieval Europe
- Rock and wave, decoration style for ceramic borders that passed from China to Turkey
Notes
- ^ a b c Studies in Chinese ceramics by Dekun Zheng, Cheng Te-K'Un p.90ff [1]
- ^ a b c d e Medieval Islamic civilization: an encyclopedia by Josef W. Meri, Jere L. Bacharach p.143 [2]
- ^ a b c d e f g Notice of British Museum "Islamic Art Room" permanent exhibit.
- ^ British Museum, Ancient China permanent exhibit
- ^ a b c d e The arts of China by Michael Sullivan p.119ff
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Notice of the Metropolitan Museum of Art permanent exhibition.
- ^ a b c Maritime silk road Qingxin Li p.68
- ^ Vainker, Ch. 5, pp. 134, 140–141 especially
- ^ Vainker, 136–137
- ^ Vainker, 137–140; Clunas and Harrison-Hall, 86–95
- JSTOR 41508050.
- ^ Vainker, 140–142
- ^ Vainker, 140–141
- ^ Vainker, 142–143
- ^ a b c d The arts of China by Michael Sullivan p.90ff
- ^ a b c d e Chinese glazes: their origins, chemistry, and recreation Nigel Wood p.35ff [3]
- ^ a b Chinese glazes: their origins, chemistry, and recreation Nigel Wood p.205ff [4]
- ^ a b Islamic art by Barbara Brend p.41
- S2CID 219883933.
- ^ Watson, Oliver (1999). "Museums, Collecting, Art-History and Archaeology". Damaszener Mitteilungen. 11: 421–432.
- S2CID 263237339.
- S2CID 134377361.
- ^ Teske, Jef (1999). Ceramics from the Orient. p. 11.
- ISBN 9780300254280.
- ISBN 9780300215281.
- ^ Teske, Jef (1999). Ceramics from the Orient. p. 17.
- )
- JSTOR 20840081.
- ^ Atil, Esin (1973). Ceramics from the world of Islam. p. 3.
- OCLC 905435609.
- JSTOR 43489760.
- OCLC 608497183.
- ^ "Tile Panel". www.metmuseum.org. Archived from the original on 2016-04-18. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
- JSTOR 1523126.
References
- ISBN 9780714124841
- Vainker, S.J., Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, 1991, British Museum Press, 9780714114705
Further reading
- Canby, Sheila R. (ed). Shah Abbas; The Remaking of Iran, 2009, British Museum Press, ISBN 9780714124520
- Crowe, Yolande (2002). Persia and China: Safavid Blue and White Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum 1501–1738. London: La Borie. ISBN 978-0953819614.
- Rawson, Jessica (1984). Chinese Ornament: The Lotus and the Dragon. London: British Museum Publications Ltd. ISBN 978-0714114316.
- Wilkinson, Charles K. (1973). Nishapur: pottery of the early Islamic period. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 0870990764.
External links
- A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries