Bottle, blue-green glass with lustre decoration. Modern neck
Egypt?; end of 9th-beginning of 10th century
H: 13.5 cm
The lustre technique was probably discovered by Egyptian glassmakers as early as the 4th century, but in the 8th-12th century, it experienced a renaissance in Egypt and Syria. In this technique, a decoration of metal oxides is painted on the ready-blown glass, which after firing has taken on an indiscernible metallic layer: lustre. By using different metal oxides, different colors could be produced, as we see on this bottle, whose base and neck have lighter tones.
The stylized vine leaves on the decoration are related to Abbasid ornamentation, which would indicate that the bottle should be dated early, to the Tulunid period.
Inv. no. 1/1985
Published in:
Martin Kunz (ed.): 3000 Jahre Glaskunst von der Antike bis zum Jugendstil, Kunstmuseum Luzern, Luzern 1981, cat.no. 625;
Dan Klein and Ward Lloyd (eds.): The history of glass, London 1984, p. 60;
Art from the World of Islam. 8th-18th century, Louisiana, Humlebæk 1987, cat.no. 12;
Kjeld von Folsach: Islamic art. The David Collection, Copenhagen 1990, cat.no. 229;
Kjeld von Folsach, Torben Lundbæk and Peder Mortensen (eds.): Sultan, Shah and Great Mughal: the history and culture of the Islamic world, The National Museum, Copenhagen 1996, cat.no. 64;
Stefano Carboni and David Whitehouse: Glass of the Sultans, Corning Museum of Glass, New York 2001, cat.no. 107;
Kjeld von Folsach: Art from the World of Islam in The David Collection, Copenhagen 2001, cat.no. 322;
Helen C. Evans and Brandie Ratliff (eds.): Byzantium and Islam : age of transition, 7th-9th century, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 2012, cat.no. 155;
Yōko Shindō: Isurāmu garasu = Islamic glass, ed. Tomoko Masuya, Nagoya 2020, p. 30, ill. 40;
