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Lot Essay
Cameo glass vessels, made by applying glass of a second colour to all or part of the surface of a vessel and then wheel-cutting a design through it, are among the rarest of all mediaeval Islamic glass vessels. A small number exist with the design cut away on both sides of the design; among the most spectacular of these are a jug formerly in the Keir Collection and now in the Corning Museum of Glass (The Arts of Islam, exhibition catalogue, London, 1982, no.132; col.pl.p.54). Out of this style, as with stucco work, a graduated or sloping style was developed which was quicker to produce and into which category the present beaker falls.
In his discussion of the discoveries at Nishapur Jens Kröger notes that, of the wheel-cut vessels, very few were of floral design, the great majority having animals. Three of the total of six clear glass floral fragments which were discovered do however relate in composition to the present beaker (Kröger, Jens: Nishapur: Glass of the Early Islamic Period, New York, 1995, nos.194-6, pp.144-5). These fragments were excavated from a well dateable to the 9th or early 10th century. A complete beaker of this group, again solely of clear glass, is in a private collection ('Art from the Worlkd of Islam, 8th-18th century', Louisiana Revy Volume 27. no.3, March 1987, no.16, p.67, col.pl.p.54). These pieces share a strong scrolling design with obvious influences from Sassanian motifs, inner scrolls which are of circular form, motifs which grow from nowhere rather than being part of a more realistic trailing tendril, and a lack of enclosing border.
Four small fragments of cameo glass were excavated at Samarra which are executed in a comparable style (Lamm, C.J.: Das Glas von Samarra, vol.4 of Die Ausgrabungen von Samarra, Berlin, 1928, p.78, nos.247-50, pls.VII and VIII). This, coupled with the unusual nature of the scrolling motifs on this beaker, suggests that v. Folsach postulating that the small bowl mentioned above might have been from Samarra, where the bevelled style began, rather than from Nishapur. The same would apply to this beaker.
In his discussion of the discoveries at Nishapur Jens Kröger notes that, of the wheel-cut vessels, very few were of floral design, the great majority having animals. Three of the total of six clear glass floral fragments which were discovered do however relate in composition to the present beaker (Kröger, Jens: Nishapur: Glass of the Early Islamic Period, New York, 1995, nos.194-6, pp.144-5). These fragments were excavated from a well dateable to the 9th or early 10th century. A complete beaker of this group, again solely of clear glass, is in a private collection ('Art from the Worlkd of Islam, 8th-18th century', Louisiana Revy Volume 27. no.3, March 1987, no.16, p.67, col.pl.p.54). These pieces share a strong scrolling design with obvious influences from Sassanian motifs, inner scrolls which are of circular form, motifs which grow from nowhere rather than being part of a more realistic trailing tendril, and a lack of enclosing border.
Four small fragments of cameo glass were excavated at Samarra which are executed in a comparable style (Lamm, C.J.: Das Glas von Samarra, vol.4 of Die Ausgrabungen von Samarra, Berlin, 1928, p.78, nos.247-50, pls.VII and VIII). This, coupled with the unusual nature of the scrolling motifs on this beaker, suggests that v. Folsach postulating that the small bowl mentioned above might have been from Samarra, where the bevelled style began, rather than from Nishapur. The same would apply to this beaker.