H I S P AN O -M O R E S "U E P OTTE RY IN THE COL L E CTION OF THE H I S PAN I C SO CI ETY OF AM ERI CA B Y EDWIN ATLEE BARBE R , PH . D . D i re c to r o f th e P e nns y lv a ni a Mus e u m a nd S c h o ol o f Ind u s tri a l A rt P h ila d e lp h i a , P a . < “ S 4 / I, 1/ T H E H I S PA N I C S O C I E T Y O F A M E R I CA I T S6 H STREET , WEST OF B ROADWAY N EW YO RK, 19 15 Co r h t 1 15 b p y ig , 9 , y T H E H I S P AN I C S OCI E T Y OF AM E R I CA HI SPAN O -M O RES"UE POTTERY HI SPAN O-M OR ES"U E P OTTERY I NTRODUCT ORY NOT E S M ETALLI C LUSTERS AND STANNI FEROUS ENAM E L HE o f to origin metallic luster , as applied the - l surface Of tin ename ed earthenware , is a prob lem which has occupied the attention o f ceramic stu to dents for many years . Various theories as the source ff O f this art have been advanced by di erent writers , some Of which have proved fallacious , while others have failed to be convincing . Examples Of native pot te r E y with stanni ferous enamel , from gypt , Babylonia o r A ssyria , are unknown , notwithstanding the fact that the early writers attributed to those countries the fo r first use Of tin as a glaze bricks and vases . What was for a long time believed to be tin enamel has to proved be a silicious glaze , tinted and made opaque A by the introduction Of metallic oxides . careful examination Of early pieces has failed to bring to light a single example showing tin in the glaze . [ 5] o r f P tte y and tiles , O f an entirely di ferent char acter from the usual varieties Of Persian wares with which we are familiar , have been found in the north western part Of Persia , in the ruins O f some O f the to Older towns . We re fer the stellate and cruci form o r tiles and more less complete pieces O f pottery , with to luster ornamentation , which reveal a marked ex influences tent extraneous . The principal character i sti c which is noticeable is that they are coated with a stanni ferous enamel instead O f being glazed with a - o r silico alkaline glass glaze , in the Persian and E gyptian manner . - e The star shaped til s with lustered designs have , sO far as we know , been found in Persia only in the to Rha es northwest part , by some attributed g , by O to S to thers ultanabad , a short distance the west to ward , and by still others Veramin , some twenty miles distant , which latter town was built after Rha e s g was destroyed in the thirteenth century . Various dates have been mentioned fo r the de struc Rha es S 1 22 1 tion Of g and ultanabad , ranging from t 1 2 S o . 59 Bagdad , the aracenic capital , fell under 1 2 Hulagu Khan in 58 . Just what connection this event had with the manufacture O f the lustered tiles we not e which find in Persia has yet been determin d . Bagdad was only some four hundred miles from [ 6] Rha e s f g , and potters , at the sacking O f the ormer r e e to r city , could adily have escap d northweste n fo r Persia and established their art a time there . While it is undoubtedly true that the lustered pottery and tiles which we are considering have been to found in abundance in Persia , all evidences point not O the fact that they are O f Persian conception . ur belie f that tin was not employed as a glaze by the native Persian potters until introduced by foreign craftsmen is rather strengthened than weakened by the presence O f stanni ferous wares which reveal in so unmistakable a manner outside influences , along with the glass - glazed products O f very decided Per A - - sian character . mong the eight pointed star shaped o f examples we find paintings antelopes , horses , pan the rs , hares and other animals , also plant forms and S arabesque traceries , all showing a strong aracenic influence . The technique Of some O f these lustered designs bears a striking resemblance to that O f the lustered pottery found in the rubbish mounds O f F O C E ostat , near ld airo , gypt . I n the South Kensington Museum may be seen a collection O f fragments O f bowls and tiles from ancient ruins in Persia . Those with metallic lusters to Rha e s to are attributed g , and belong an early period , probably the thirteenth and fourteenth cen [ 7] ur ie s ur t O f o era . Many Of them show Mongolian l inf uence in the figures and costumes , while others are purely Saracenic in spirit and treatment . One Of them is a star - shaped tile with Saracenic style Of ornament and mock Arabic inscription in golden on luster a blue border . The glaze O f all Of these r fragments contains more o less tin . S imilar lustered tiles are to be seen in public museums in this country . The white stanni ferous enamel is thick and heavy . The superimposed luster is identical with that which is found on H ispano It - Moresco plaques . is Of brownish yellow tone , but to - when viewed at an angle it changes a bluish violet , O f t he same quality as that Of the lusters Of Valencia . " We are there fore forced to the conclusion that these star- shaped tiles found in Persia were made under to Saracenic influence , modified some extent by the introduction O f Mongolian technique , as exhibited in o f the paintings human figures . The glaze and luster W S no r ere purely aracenic , since neither tin enamel luster produced from silver and copper was used in C . not hina Moreover , we do find in the potteries O f R S R A l o r akka ( yria ) , hodes , nato ia , Damascus Tur key , all O f which reveal a strong Persian character , any indications Of the use O f tin glaze o r metallic lusters . This negative evidence goes far to prove [8] that stanni ferous enamel and iridescent decorations did not originate with the Persian potters . Had they e un been employ d generally in Persia , they would doubtedly have reappeared in the imitative potte ry Of these more recent centres . A noble example Of tin - enameled faience from Persia is the M ihrab from the S e lj oucid temple at to Veramin , which was brought this country by M r . H Y . Kevorkian and exhibited in New ork in the 1 1 spring O f 9 4 . This remarkable specimen measures twelve feet nine inches in height by seven feet six o f -five t inches in width and is composed l sixty ile panels and plaques O f varying form , covered with a Cufic in white stanni ferous enamel , with and Neski scriptions , arabesques and interlaced designs in relie f , colored in various shades O f blue , turquoise , purple , brown , and green , and heightened with golden , ruby , and purple lusters . Supporting some Of the panels are semi - cylindrical columns surmounted by S aracenic capitals . On the lower tablet is this inscription “ Ex Ali son son Ab - i ecuted by , Of Muhammed , Of S Tahir , and completed in the month Of haaban in the 66 A 1 2 year 3 . H . ( corresponding to 64 A . At a later period the Persian potters , reverting to their original methods , glazed their pottery with [9 ] to to glass , but continued some extent use lusters in the decorations . A Dr . J . Butler , in a recent writes as follows I venture to think that the clue to much that is called Persian and Syrian and Moorish is to be found E — E ultimately in gypt that , in fact , gypt was the centre from which there spread over the Nearer East col the art O f decorating faience , first with beauti ful oure d glazes and enamels , and then with brilliant changing lustre , and the art O f decorating wall sur faces with glazed and painted tiles . “ There was , then , a continuous historic evolution O f art in E gypt from Pharaonic times to the middle e It fo r ag s . is true that some few centuries after no A o r the conquest rab records were written , none ‘ have been preserved , which can be quoted in direct to reference ceramic art ; but the works Of Walid , Of u al R Mansur , the founder Of Baghdad , Of Har n ashid , u u Khamarawi ah suffi Mam n , Tul n , and y , contain a cient history Of artistic progress in the eighth and ninth centuries a witness carried on by the mosques Of Al Azhar and Hakim in Cairo into the tenth cen I n tury . the eleventh century we have the strongest * M i ne 22 1 Th e B ur li n ton a az 1 0 .