SUMMER S. KENESSON

NASRID LUSTER POTTERY: THE VASES

The Alhambra vases are a group of large ceramic vases vases, but also of the historical context of their produc­ painted in luster, sometimes in combination with cobalt­ tion. These vases provide much useful evidence for the blue paint, produced in southern in the four­ social and historical study of late Moorish Spain, such as teenth century. They are perhaps the rarest - only ten the role of certain major cities, the relationship between complete (or nearly so) vases exist today, plus a number the Christians and the , and the style of courtly of fragmentsl - and most splendid works of art pro­ life in vogue in Muslim Spain in the fourteenth century. duced by the , the last Muslim rulers in After an introduction examining these facets ofthe envi­ Spain, who reigned from 1232 to 1492. They are called ronment that produced the vases, the vases will be con­ the Alhambra vases because it was once believed that sidered in chronological order, comparing them with they were produced to decorate another great Nasrid other objects made at the same time, such as ivories and work, the Alhambra palace. textiles. An analysis of the information gleaned from the Despite their grand size (over four feet in height), rich examinati on of the vases will demonstrate their impor­ decoration, and rarity, the beautiful Alhambra vases have tance to the study of in general. yet to be collected together and studied in depth as a unit. Consequently, their function and much about their MALAGA lavish arabesque and inscriptions are still unknown. The first significant study of the vases was done by Jose Fer­ randis Torres, in his article "Los Vasos de la Alhambra."2 This study of Spanish pottery must include mention of Arthur Van de Put compiled a catalogue of the vases in Malaga's role in the import, export, and production of 1947,3 and shortly thereafter, Mrs. Alice Wilson Frothing­ ceramic wares. The Alhambra vases, from the fourteenth harn presented the first concerted effort to classify the century, belong within the period of Nasrid rule in vases in her book, The ofSpain.4 Her text offers southern Spain (1232-1492), inaugurated by the unifica­ a great amount of data on the historical context of this tion of Jaen, , and Malaga under Ibn Ahmar, pottery, and when combined with Richard Ettinghau­ prince of Jaen. Ibn Ahmar was weil able to exploit the sen 's essay "Notes on the Lustreware of Spain,"5 it pro­ natural benefits of the region's geography and made the vides a useful guide to many facets of the vases' history. most of the trading opportunities he had with the Chris­ Unfortunately, after this essay little further work was tians of Castile and the Almohads of North Africa, even done on them, and they have received only passing men­ using one as an ally against the other as it suited his tion in texts on Spanish art or luster pottery,6 perhaps diplomacy.7 Although Granada was his capital, Malaga as because their character is difficult to explain. They are a major port became the artistic and cultural center of an isolated example of a peculiar artistic development, the province owing to its constant traffic in both people and as such they have no satisfactory analogy elsewhere andgoods. and must be examined mainly on their own terms. A considerable amount of documentary evidence ex­ What follows is a description of the eleven known ists to support Malaga's extensive involvement in the Alhambra vases, a few fragments and an engraving of an­ trade and commerce of Granada. Inventories, such as other vase, now lost (for the purpose of clarity, each vase one from Portsmouth, England, dating from 1289, men­ is named according to its provenance or some distin­ tion the arrival of some lusterware from Malaga en route guishing characteristics; these names, though weil estab­ to Eleanor of Castile, wife of Edward I of England. Two lished by previous researchers, are not necessarily uni­ others refer to Malagan ceramies, one from Kent in the versally accepted). Because of their rarity and the lack of early fourteenth century and another from Collioure, in recent research, it is important to emphasize the need the Narbonne region, from 1297.8 Furthermore, the for a complete and thorough investigation not just of the famous traveler Ibn Battuta wrote in 1350 that "at 94 SUMMER S. KENESSON

Malaqa there is manufactured excellent gilded pottery, this, and it is a testimony to Malaga's renown for luster which is exported thence to the most distant lands."9 pottery abroad. Spanish lusterware has been discovered elsewhere in With the exception of Ibn Battuta, none of these the Mediterranean world; in fact, two of the Alhambra sources mentions that lusterware was produced in vases were discovered in Sicily. This is not surprising con­ Malaga, but it seems reasonable to conclude that it was sidering the role of Sicily as a trading and exchange cen­ made there, partly because of Ibn Battuta's ac count and ter between the Muslim Middle East and the kingdoms partly because of the inscriptions on the Fustat piece. In of western Europe after it was first conquered by the addition, export pottery was most often made in the port Muslims in 827.10 That the Muslim tradersand mer­ cities from which it was shipped. Ibn Sacid writes (ca. chants continued to be active in Sicily after the Norman 1250) that "glazed and gilded earthenware" was pro­ conquest in 1091 is supported by the fact that one vase, duced in Malaga, Almeria, and , which were cities now in the Instituto de de DonJuan in Madrid, easily accessible by sea, although no shards have been was owned by Count Burgio di Villafiorita,ll a scion of an found at either of the latter two sites. 13 Al-Idrisi, writing Italian family that claimed to descend from a member of in 1154,14 claims that he saw at Calatayud in Arag6n piec­ the Banu Hamud who ruled Cordoba, Malaga, and Alge­ es of luster pottery being made "and these exported in ciras for a short while in the eleventh century. Further­ all directions," and it is likely that emigrant craftsmen more, a dish in the Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin, settled there to trade from this important area, a cross­ from the late thirteenth century, shows that there was roads between the Christian north, the important mer­ continuing mercantile activity between Spain and the cantile town of Zaragoza to the east, and the Islamic Middle East. Found in Fustat, or Old Cairo, the luster­ towns to the south, as opposed to settling in Zaragoza painted bowl is inscribed on the bottom with the word itself.15 However, for Calatayud this was probably a short­ "malaqa" (fig. 1), as is a fragment in the Victoria and lived industry initiated by migrant artisans (possibly Albert Museum, translated by many as Malaga.'2 It is very from Egypt as their Fatimid-style wares suggest) that al­ unusual for a Spanish potter to inscribe his works like Idrisi happened to witness. 16 In any case, their produc-

Fig. 1. Luster painted bowl. Staatliche Museum, Berlin. (photo: Frothingham)