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Bowl with polychrome decoration
Ottoman period
1725–1750
Object Place: Kütahya, Turkey
Medium/Technique
Fritware (stonepaste), white slip with shallow cross-hatching, blue and polychrome enamels under transparent glaze
Dimensions
Height x diameter: 5.5 x 9.6 cm (2 3/16 x 3 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of George Washington Wales
Accession Number03.185
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia, Islamic Art
ClassificationsCeramics
Kutahya is an ancient Turkish city on the southern edge of the Anatolian plateau, close to deposits of many minerals used by potters. Ceramics have been produced there for at least 1,000 years. Around the 15th century Kutahya potters began to work with fritware, an artificially-created ceramic material that, when fired with an opaque white glaze, nearly rivaled the qualities of much-prized Chinese porcelain.
Ceramics made in Kutahya continued to evolve after the court-sponsored kilns of Iznik ceased firing in the 1600s, and it reached a peak in the 18th century. As at Iznik, potters made both tiles and a wide variety of hollow wares. Much of it was painted, under a transparent glaze, using the Iznik colors of black, blue, turquoise, green and raised red, but adding a bright yellow. Kutahya specialized in small pieces, such as tea services or small plates. Decorative motifs tended to be small in scale. The potters could be Christian or Muslim. Most were from a large Armenian community, and production included pieces intended for church display.
The MFA is fortunate that two of its most generous early patrons, George Washington Wales and Denman Waldo Ross, having acquired about fifty Kutahya pieces between them, bequeathed them to the Museum around 1900. Although many of the pots are fragmentary, they showcase well the variety and individuality of the potters’ styles.
Ceramics made in Kutahya continued to evolve after the court-sponsored kilns of Iznik ceased firing in the 1600s, and it reached a peak in the 18th century. As at Iznik, potters made both tiles and a wide variety of hollow wares. Much of it was painted, under a transparent glaze, using the Iznik colors of black, blue, turquoise, green and raised red, but adding a bright yellow. Kutahya specialized in small pieces, such as tea services or small plates. Decorative motifs tended to be small in scale. The potters could be Christian or Muslim. Most were from a large Armenian community, and production included pieces intended for church display.
The MFA is fortunate that two of its most generous early patrons, George Washington Wales and Denman Waldo Ross, having acquired about fifty Kutahya pieces between them, bequeathed them to the Museum around 1900. Although many of the pots are fragmentary, they showcase well the variety and individuality of the potters’ styles.
DescriptionWheel-turned body; high foot ring, slightly flared lip. Borders below the interior and exterior lip containing undulating vine and leaf forms in blue, green, yellow and red, delimited by blue lines. Exterior: incised with four large circles, each crossed diagonally by parallel incised lines, and leaving central, lenticular areas; these areas, and those between the incised circles, are outlined in yellow and painted similarly to the border in the same colors (one has been left unpainted.). Interior: small floral bouquet, in the same colors as the exterior, with a small blue ellipse in its center and placed within double blue lines
Marks
An asterisk-like black mark on the base probably identifies the painter. An asterisk-like black mark on the base probably identifies the painter. An asterisk-like black mark on the base probably identifies the painter. An asterisk-like black mark on the base probably identifies the painter. An asterisk-like black mark on the base probably identifies the painter. An asterisk-like black mark on the base probably identifies the painter. A black, asterisk-like mark on the base probably identified the painter.
Provenance1903, bequest of George Washington Wales (b. 1815 – d. 1896), Boston, to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 15, 1903)