Fabulous 10th C. Islamic Glass Flask

Ancient Near East, Islamic, ca. 10th to 12th century CE. A fabulous flask of substantial size, formed in a mold from semi-translucent, pale green glass. The vessel is defined by a concave base, an apple-shaped body with a rounded shoulder, and a very narrow, cylindrical neck that tapers to an even narrower mouth. The lower body has raised trailing diamond-shaped patterns around the shoulder in a regular pattern. Down the body from each diamond is a thin line that gradually becomes shallower until it fades away near the foot like a river drying as it gets further from its source. Thick decorative bands of glass - now with brilliant iridescence on them from age - wrap around the lower half of the neck. This example is beautifully preserved despite its incredibly delicate form. The decorative program around the shoulder is classically Islamic, using abstract and geometric motifs instead of representational ones. Size: 4.3" W x 10" H (10.9 cm x 25.4 cm)

A. Y. Al-Hassan writes, "Under Islam, the glass industry witnessed a revival. The old centres flourished and new ones were established. The remarkable, sumptuous Islamic glass treasures which are distributed among museums throughout the world, bear witness to the high artistic and technological level of Islamic glass" (see below, pg. 74). Islamic glassmakers created wares for mosques, houses, and palaces, as well as for the early Islamic scholars who were pioneering the fields of optics and chemistry. Aleppo and Damascus were particular centers of production, with Egypt, Iraq, and Spain also producing incredible glass. These were then traded throughout the known world, including the Viking North Atlantic and China.

See: Al-Hassan, A. Y. "Science and Technology in Islam: Technology and Applied Sciences" UNESCO, 2001.

See a vessel of similar form at LACMA: https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/bottle/OgGV2hbuvbh1gA

Provenance: private California, USA collection, in USA since 1997, previously in the same private collection in Germany

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#148828
Condition Report: Tip of the spout is lost. The neck an area with tiny surface losses above the lower applied ring at the neck's base. Otherwise in beautiful condition with rainbow iridescence and light encrustations on the surface. No pontil mark as the vessel was mold made rather than free blown.