The Palmette Tree: A Study of the Iconography of Egyptian Lustre Painted Pottery

Abstract

The history of the manufacture of lustre painted pottery in Egypt from early in the Islamic period until the coming of the Ayyubids in 1169 a.d. has been a widely debated subject since the early twentieth century. This dispute has centered, for the most part, around the question of the origin of such ware, some scholars believing that it originated in Egypt, others, that it originated in Iraq, and still others, in Persia. Because of the lack of conclusive evidence which would prove or disprove any of these theories, the question must still remain unanswered, and for this reason I will not attempt to add a theory to the growing number. The iconographic study which follows does not depend on the solution of this problem. Although this pottery has often been the subject of research and much of it has been excavated during the last sixty years, only two precisely datable Egyptian lustre painted ceramic objects, both of which are fragmentary plates, have come to light. One, in the Benaki Museum, Athens, can be placed, by means of its inscription, in the reign of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim, who ruled from 996-1021 a.d., but a more exact dating is not possible.1 The other, in the Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo (PL I Fig. 1) decorated in brownish-yellow lustre, contains an inscription which has been translated and analyzed by Hassan al-Bashah Hassan Mahmud. It reads: 'Tower and thriving to the master of the masters, the Ghaban, the servant of the Commander of the Faithful al-Hakim bi \Amrillah, may Allah's blessings rest upon him and upon his pure ancestors. From this inscription, it is clear that this object was made during the reign of alHakim. A still more precise date of manufacture can be established as Ghaban has been identified, and the years during which he bore the title of Commander-in-chief are known. Ghaban's