Vessel Fragment with Bird Decoration (Mamluk dynasty (1250–1517), 15th century): Artwork and History

Vessel Fragment with Bird Decoration (Mamluk dynasty (1250–1517), 15th century) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Islamic; Fustat (now Cairo), Egypt.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

This style of blue brushwork on a white background originated in China during the Tang dynasty (618–906), but instead of featuring a crane—common in Chinese imagery—the stout and short-legged bird on this ceramic fragment resembles an Egyptian gull. Chinese ceramics reached Egypt via the Silk Road, a network of trade routes that stretched from East Asia to East Africa and Southern Europe. Artisans inspired by Chinese porcelain made fritware like this vessel in Fustat, the capital of the Mamluk dynasty (1250–1517). Frit refers to the powdered glass, quartz, or glaze added to the clay base, which, when fired at low temperatures, creates a smooth blank surface ideal for decorative brushwork. An artisan signed their name on the bottom of this vessel in Arabic as “work of al-Shāy.” Al-Shāy was likely a member of a large workshop of ceramicists producing similar works in 15th-century Fustat. It was fairly uncommon for an artist to sign their work in Islamic art, but multiple vessels of this type of Mamluk ware have an artist’s name inscribed under the foot.

Object facts

• Title: Vessel Fragment with Bird Decoration
• Date: Mamluk dynasty (1250–1517), 15th century
• Artist attribution: Islamic; Fustat (now Cairo), Egypt
• Place of origin: Old Cairo
• Medium: Glazed ceramic
• Dimensions: 6.2 × 7.4 × 2.3 cm (2 1/2 × 2 15/16 × 15/16 in.)
• Type: Vessel
• Department: Arts of Africa
• Reference number: 1925.445

Collection credit

Logan-Patten-Ryerson collection

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The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.