HvWO 013

Antique Omani glazed pottery

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Antique Omani glazed pottery

 

Heavy (asymmetric) hand-shaped jar with green / turquoise glazing and black painted geometrical designs  without ears. Also glazing inside. Possibly older than 1700. Ring base. Yellow orange clay.  Height 15 cm.

This jar is probably a spittoon. This shape is documented in ref 5 page 55 plate 1.6  which describes the different shapes of Safavid spittoons.

Shapes of Safavid pottery Spittons

 During the 16th century the shapes of Safavid pottery was largely based on the shapes of Chinese pottery. During the 17th century the Safavids develop their own more elegant variants of these shapes. 

So this antique Omani pottery jar is based on a Safavid model of the 17th century.

 

Antique Omani Pottery

Antique Omani Glazed pottery

 

Antique Omani Pottery

 

Antique Omani Pottery

 

 

Name: "Antique Omani Glazed Pottery"

Period: 1700-1800

Origin:  Oman (shape of jar is based on ancient Chinese jars). Purchased in the Nizwa souq early 1980´s

 References:
  1. No reference exists of Omani pottery of the last 4 centuries.
  2. Sarah Posey Yemeni pottery British Museum (focus on "modern" pottery)
  3. We have seen some pots from china 15th century they resemble the Omani pots even more closely, see photo slide-show for example. We found shards of similar pots in an old deserted ruined village in the hills next to the Batinah.
  4. "Islamic Art in Oman" chapter 9 Islamic Pottery in Oman by Seth Priestman (describes pottery of much earlier periods)
  5. Persian Pottery in the First Global Age: The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries by Lisa Golombek,Robert B. Mason,Patricia Proctor,Eileen Reilly; Royal Ontario Museum, published by Brill Leiden Boston