Page 317 - Life & Land Use on the Bahrain Islands (Curtis E Larsen)

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Portuguese period, and Whitcomb shows it in his fourteenth- through sixteenth-
century group (Whitcomb 1978, Plate V, no. 20). Jugs 70h and i appear to be
variations on Whitcombs’ Plate V, no. 11. Base 70n has a formal parallel with his
Plate V, no. 22. Drooping spouts such as the one shown in Figure 70j are related to
Whitcomb’s PI. V, no. 10. Other plain forms shown in Figures 69 and 70 are
illustrated as common examples of the Late Islamic assemblage on Bahrain.

Summary
The key ceramic forms in the Late Islamic assemblage outlined here point to four
major areas. Imported Ming blue and white porcelain and celadon attest to the
strong maritime links that existed between the gulf and the Far East during the
fifteenth through seventeenth centuries. Imitation Chinese wares such as the local
blue and whites indicate links with southern Persia, most likely Hormuz. Julfar
wares point to contact with the Trucial Coast, The bulk of the assemblage,
however, can be broadly related to the adjacent Arabian coast. These areas closely
match the fifteenth century Islamic trading networks centered on Hormuz that
Tibbets (1974) describes. The assemblage shown outlines the Hormuzi-Portuguese-
Safavid interval of Bahrain's history.