Page 54 - Export Porcelain and Globakization- GOOD READ

Collection or the Tareq Rajab Museum in Kuwait. Unfortunately, only a very few
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complete items exist . One rare example is a blue and white dish, excavated in
Mamluk Syria and probably produced from a kiln in Damascus. The dish is from the
late 14th or early 15th century which makes it one of the first imitations of Chinese
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blue and white porcelain outside China . In the late 14th century, blue and white had
already started its cultural journey towards Europe. At the time when Egypt and Syria
were ruled by the Mameluks, the region of nowadays Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan,
Turkmenistan and Usbekistan was conquered by Tamerlane (also called Timur), a
nomad of Turkish origin from Turkistan. He came into power in 1370 and the Timurid
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Empire he created, within three decades, lasted more or less until 1500 . Potters of
the Timurid capital Samarqand and later also in Nishapur produced blue and white
ceramics inspired by Chinese imports of the early Ming dynasty. One blue and white
jar with floral decoration of the late 15th century, now in the Tareq Rajab Museum, is
an extraordinary example of these very early blue and white imitations of the Timurid
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period of Persia (see chart 1). After the establishment of the Safavid dynasty in
Persia this tradition continued on a much larger scale. The so-called Kubachi ware,
probably produced in Tabriz shows clear Chinese influences, but also influences from
the Ottoman Iznik ware. Similar to the Dutch Delft ware the white does not come
from the ceramic paste but is a white opaque glaze on a brown shard. Instead of
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porcelain, Iranian potters have used fritware . These blue and white Faience of Persia
were produced until the 19th century, but most got lost as they are quite fragile and
get easily chipped or broken.
A short overview of the main features of ceramic art in the Islamic world would not
be complete without mentioning the use of glazed tiles as the main decorative element
of architecture. One finds it in the Alhambra in Spain, in the Topkapi palace in
Istanbul, in the Friday mosque of Herat in Afghanistan and Isfahan in Iran, and at the
Registan Square in Samarqand. Again, Persia plays an important role since the main
architectural design of mosques with a dominant ivan (portal) and the custom of
decorating them with mainly blue colored tiles originated in Persia during the
Mongolian empire and influenced the design of mosques in Central Asia, Afghanistan,
Pakistan and India. The same turquoise glaze we find on the ceramics from Raqqa and
Kashan, we can find on the tiles decorating the entrances of the mosques from Isfahan,
at the mausoleum of the Mongolian ruler Oldjaitu in Sultaniyeh, and at the Friday
mosque in Yazd, all built in the 14th century. The Mongolian rulers and their
successors who facilitated the trade of porcelain between East and West Asia also
played a crucial role in the cultural exchange of Persia with the Indian subcontinent
and Central Asia. The architecture of the Mogul Emperors in India and the Timurids
in Central Asia is heavily influenced by stylistic elements of Persia, creating a
continuum of architectural design features from Azerbaijan to West China, from
Uzbekistan to India. The Mongolian, who later adopted Buddhism which originated in
India, first played an essential role in bringing Islamic art via Persia to India. The term
“Mogul” which derives from the word “Mongol” makes this relationship obvious.
Another crucial period for the development of Islamic ceramic was the Ottoman
Empire and the pottery of Iznik in western Anatolia. It has been already mentioned
that the Ottoman Empire has been a major destination for Chinese porcelain exports.
From the late 15th century, potters in Iznik and later also in Kütahya began producing
wares that were decorated in cobalt blue on a white fritware under a clear glaze. In the
13th century the town of Kashan in Iran was already an important center for the
production of fritware. The fritware body in Iznik was covered by engobe and in a
few cases also by a tin-glaze in order to achieve the white cover necessary for
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