Mosque Lamp, early 14th century
Islamic Gallery
Gallery 24, Ground Floor
  Related Objects in the Ashmolean
 
1. Islamic gilded blue glass jug
 To the right of the mosque lamp

This jug, probably also made in Syria, is an example of the other types of vessel that were decorated using gilt and enamel in the 13th and 14th centuries. The decoration of this rare piece was entirely gilt although the pattern now survives only as a shadow. The neck and body of the jug show traces of a eulogistic inscription including the name of the Sultan. Between the inscriptions are arched arabesques and circle motifs similar to those on other coloured vessels.
 

2. Fatimid or early Mamluk footed cup
 In the bottom right of the same case

The decoration on this cup is called ‘marvering’, after the marble slab on which the object was rolled in order to bed the white trail of glass into the cup’s surface. The white trail was then combed or dragged up to create a feather pattern. The purple colour derives from manganese oxide, the white from tin oxide. Marvered decoration was common on Syrian glass in the 12th and 13th centuries, usually on purple, but occasionally on blue and green glass.
 
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