#fritware

V & A 343-1897

Fritware jar, possibly Syrian or Iranian, 18th or 19th century. Painted with a pattern of fish in black enamel, under a greenish-blue glaze, 

Fritware tile panel, painted in blue, turquoise, and moss green under a transparent glaze. Turkey, Iznik; c. 1540 #turkishtiles #turkishtileart #bluey #blueandturquoise #fritware #glazedceramic #artworks (at Catalina Foothills, Arizona) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpanx97JwHhatncI8bRYVF3xH_nSX7mlygYWoY0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Underglazing had also become a popular technique by the turn of the 13th century. Potters initially experimented with the application of a black slip under the glaze (‘silhouette’ ware) until they obtained full control over thin pigments which would not run during the firing, as you can see on this object.

This striking fritware ewer was made in Kashan in Iran around 1200–1220, when this city was producing some of the most striking Islamic ceramics. The body was produced using an impressively accomplished double-shell technique. The plain inner shell – the container for the liquid – was formed, given a monochrome turquoise glaze, and fired in the normal manner. The perforated outer shell was then made around the turquoise centre and decorated in black. Parts of the decoration, including the inscriptions above and below the openwork area, were scratched through this black paint. The outer shell was then glazed in turquoise to match the inner shell, and the whole piece was fired again. The mouth of the ewer was moulded in the form of a cock’s head, and the handle as tail feathers, with details added in black. Such bird- and animal-shaped elements had been a common feature of metalwork ewers since the beginning of the Islamic period, and the double-shell technique, too, may have been inspired by metalwork with openwork decoration.

Image and text information courtesy Brooklym Museum.     

Tile from a Qur’anic Frieze  Probably Kashan, Iran, early 14th century  Fritware, underglaze and lustre-painted 

Ashmolean Museum