It has been generally accepted that the beginnings of tin-based opacification of ceramic glazes i... more It has been generally accepted that the beginnings of tin-based opacification of ceramic glazes is associated with the white glazed wares excavated in Iraq and western Iran and dated to the ninth century AD (so-called 'Samarra-type' pottery). This paper focuses on an earlier stage in the technological development of tin-opacified glazes, that is, the yellow and white glazed wares produced from the eighth century AD in Egypt and the Levant. In addition, the compositional data was extended for the subsequent spread of tin-opacified glazes into Mesopotamia in the ninth century and Northern Iran and Central Asia in the tenth century. Using SEM-EDS and SR-Micro-XRD, the chemical composition and microstructure of eighty-five samples of opaque yellow and white glazed wares from Egypt (Fustat), the Levant (Madaba, Aqaba, Al-Mina and Raqqa), Mesopotamia (Samarra, Kish, Basra and Susa), Northern Iran (Takht-i Suleiman), and Central Asia (Nishapur, Merv and Samarqand) were investigated. These data confirmed that the yellow and white glazes were opacified by lead-tin-oxide (PbSnO 3) and tin oxide (SnO 2) particles respectively. Replication experiments were then conducted to imitate typical compositions of the analysed opaque yellow and opaque white glazes. Overall, the results posited the beginning of tin-based opacification of glazes in the eighth century in Egypt and the Levant, and provided explanations as to how the production of opaque yellow and white glazes in the Levant and Mesopotamia might have been technologically linked.
This volume brings together 18 articles by friends, colleagues and students of Professor Hillenbr... more This volume brings together 18 articles by friends, colleagues and students of Professor Hillenbrand in celebration of his sixtieth birthday. Hillenbrand, who has taught at the University of Edinburgh since 1971 and held the chair of Islamic Art there since 1989, is ...
Watson, Oliver, 'The Museum of Islamic Art, Doha', in Junod, B., Khalil, G., Weber, S. and Wolf, ... more Watson, Oliver, 'The Museum of Islamic Art, Doha', in Junod, B., Khalil, G., Weber, S. and Wolf, G. (eds), Islamic Art and the Museum: Approaches to Art and Archaeology of the Muslim World in the Twenty-first Century, London, 2012, p. 264-269.
Watson, O., 2017. Ceramics and Circulation 800–1250. In B. Flood & G. Necipoglu, eds. A Companion... more Watson, O., 2017. Ceramics and Circulation 800–1250. In B. Flood & G. Necipoglu, eds. A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture v. 1. pp. 478–500.
PhD thesis, SOAS, 1977, 2. vols, pp. 264, + 228 figs.
A survey of the lustre tiles of the 13th an... more PhD thesis, SOAS, 1977, 2. vols, pp. 264, + 228 figs. A survey of the lustre tiles of the 13th and 14th century CE, made at Kashan. Includes discussion of the buildings in which tiles were installed, a list of potters and their works, and a list of dated lustreware. A briefer but updated version of this material is included in my book, Persian Lustre Ware, 1985.
Quhrud is a small village in the mountains between Kashan and Isfahan. The Masjid-i Ali contains ... more Quhrud is a small village in the mountains between Kashan and Isfahan. The Masjid-i Ali contains an important carved wooden door documenting the foundation of the mosque after a vision of the Imam Ali, and a series of lustre tiles, dating from the early 14th century AD
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 1980
Iran's collections. 326 pp. Tehran: The Prime Ministry of Iran, 1978.(Available from Ott... more Iran's collections. 326 pp. Tehran: The Prime Ministry of Iran, 1978.(Available from Otto Harrassowitz, Taunusstrasse 5, D-6200, Wiesbaden.) This book is in effect a lavish catalogue of the Iranian pottery held by the Prime Minister's office in Tehran. The ...
The generally accepted theory is that the demand for Islamic glazed pottery started in Abbasid Ir... more The generally accepted theory is that the demand for Islamic glazed pottery started in Abbasid Iraq in the 9th century AD with the production of a range of glazed wares in response to the import of Chinese stonewares and porcelains. However, Oliver Watson has recently proposed that the demand for Islamic glazed pottery first occurred in Egypt and Syria in the 8th century AD resulting in the production of opaque yellow decorated wares. Using a combination of SEM analysis of polished cross-sections, and surface analysis using hand-held XRF or PIXE, Coptic Glazed Ware from Egypt, Yellow Glazed Ware from Syria, and comparable wares from Samarra, Kish and Susa have been analysed. The analyses show that the opaque yellow decoration was the result of lead stannate particles in a high lead glaze, which it is suggested was produced using a lead-silica-tin mixture. The use of lead stannate in the production of yellow opaque glazes is explained in terms of technological transfer from contemporary Islamic glass- makers who continued the Byzantine tradition of glassmaking. It is further argued that the introduction of opaque yellow glazed pottery into Mesopotamia could have provided the social context for the sudden emergence of tin-opacified white glazed pottery in Abbasid Iraq in the 9th century AD. However, in view of the very different glaze compositions employed for the yellow and white opaque glazes, it seems probable that the white tin-opacified glazes used for Abbasid cobalt blue and lustre decorated wares represent a separate but parallel technological tradition with its origins in the production of Islamic opaque white glass.
Watson. Revisiting Samarra: the Rise of Islamic Glazed Pottery. Beiträge zur Islamischen Kunst un... more Watson. Revisiting Samarra: the Rise of Islamic Glazed Pottery. Beiträge zur Islamischen Kunst und Archäologie (2014) vol. 4 pp. 123-142
Oliver Watson. ANOTHER GILT GLASS BOTTLE. Festschrift for Jens Kroger, Brill (2007) pp. 107-122
O... more Oliver Watson. ANOTHER GILT GLASS BOTTLE. Festschrift for Jens Kroger, Brill (2007) pp. 107-122 On a Syrian mediaeval gilt-decorated blue glass bottle in the collections of the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha
It has been generally accepted that the beginnings of tin-based opacification of ceramic glazes i... more It has been generally accepted that the beginnings of tin-based opacification of ceramic glazes is associated with the white glazed wares excavated in Iraq and western Iran and dated to the ninth century AD (so-called 'Samarra-type' pottery). This paper focuses on an earlier stage in the technological development of tin-opacified glazes, that is, the yellow and white glazed wares produced from the eighth century AD in Egypt and the Levant. In addition, the compositional data was extended for the subsequent spread of tin-opacified glazes into Mesopotamia in the ninth century and Northern Iran and Central Asia in the tenth century. Using SEM-EDS and SR-Micro-XRD, the chemical composition and microstructure of eighty-five samples of opaque yellow and white glazed wares from Egypt (Fustat), the Levant (Madaba, Aqaba, Al-Mina and Raqqa), Mesopotamia (Samarra, Kish, Basra and Susa), Northern Iran (Takht-i Suleiman), and Central Asia (Nishapur, Merv and Samarqand) were investigated. These data confirmed that the yellow and white glazes were opacified by lead-tin-oxide (PbSnO 3) and tin oxide (SnO 2) particles respectively. Replication experiments were then conducted to imitate typical compositions of the analysed opaque yellow and opaque white glazes. Overall, the results posited the beginning of tin-based opacification of glazes in the eighth century in Egypt and the Levant, and provided explanations as to how the production of opaque yellow and white glazes in the Levant and Mesopotamia might have been technologically linked.
This volume brings together 18 articles by friends, colleagues and students of Professor Hillenbr... more This volume brings together 18 articles by friends, colleagues and students of Professor Hillenbrand in celebration of his sixtieth birthday. Hillenbrand, who has taught at the University of Edinburgh since 1971 and held the chair of Islamic Art there since 1989, is ...
Watson, Oliver, 'The Museum of Islamic Art, Doha', in Junod, B., Khalil, G., Weber, S. and Wolf, ... more Watson, Oliver, 'The Museum of Islamic Art, Doha', in Junod, B., Khalil, G., Weber, S. and Wolf, G. (eds), Islamic Art and the Museum: Approaches to Art and Archaeology of the Muslim World in the Twenty-first Century, London, 2012, p. 264-269.
Watson, O., 2017. Ceramics and Circulation 800–1250. In B. Flood & G. Necipoglu, eds. A Companion... more Watson, O., 2017. Ceramics and Circulation 800–1250. In B. Flood & G. Necipoglu, eds. A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture v. 1. pp. 478–500.
PhD thesis, SOAS, 1977, 2. vols, pp. 264, + 228 figs.
A survey of the lustre tiles of the 13th an... more PhD thesis, SOAS, 1977, 2. vols, pp. 264, + 228 figs. A survey of the lustre tiles of the 13th and 14th century CE, made at Kashan. Includes discussion of the buildings in which tiles were installed, a list of potters and their works, and a list of dated lustreware. A briefer but updated version of this material is included in my book, Persian Lustre Ware, 1985.
Quhrud is a small village in the mountains between Kashan and Isfahan. The Masjid-i Ali contains ... more Quhrud is a small village in the mountains between Kashan and Isfahan. The Masjid-i Ali contains an important carved wooden door documenting the foundation of the mosque after a vision of the Imam Ali, and a series of lustre tiles, dating from the early 14th century AD
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 1980
Iran's collections. 326 pp. Tehran: The Prime Ministry of Iran, 1978.(Available from Ott... more Iran's collections. 326 pp. Tehran: The Prime Ministry of Iran, 1978.(Available from Otto Harrassowitz, Taunusstrasse 5, D-6200, Wiesbaden.) This book is in effect a lavish catalogue of the Iranian pottery held by the Prime Minister's office in Tehran. The ...
The generally accepted theory is that the demand for Islamic glazed pottery started in Abbasid Ir... more The generally accepted theory is that the demand for Islamic glazed pottery started in Abbasid Iraq in the 9th century AD with the production of a range of glazed wares in response to the import of Chinese stonewares and porcelains. However, Oliver Watson has recently proposed that the demand for Islamic glazed pottery first occurred in Egypt and Syria in the 8th century AD resulting in the production of opaque yellow decorated wares. Using a combination of SEM analysis of polished cross-sections, and surface analysis using hand-held XRF or PIXE, Coptic Glazed Ware from Egypt, Yellow Glazed Ware from Syria, and comparable wares from Samarra, Kish and Susa have been analysed. The analyses show that the opaque yellow decoration was the result of lead stannate particles in a high lead glaze, which it is suggested was produced using a lead-silica-tin mixture. The use of lead stannate in the production of yellow opaque glazes is explained in terms of technological transfer from contemporary Islamic glass- makers who continued the Byzantine tradition of glassmaking. It is further argued that the introduction of opaque yellow glazed pottery into Mesopotamia could have provided the social context for the sudden emergence of tin-opacified white glazed pottery in Abbasid Iraq in the 9th century AD. However, in view of the very different glaze compositions employed for the yellow and white opaque glazes, it seems probable that the white tin-opacified glazes used for Abbasid cobalt blue and lustre decorated wares represent a separate but parallel technological tradition with its origins in the production of Islamic opaque white glass.
Watson. Revisiting Samarra: the Rise of Islamic Glazed Pottery. Beiträge zur Islamischen Kunst un... more Watson. Revisiting Samarra: the Rise of Islamic Glazed Pottery. Beiträge zur Islamischen Kunst und Archäologie (2014) vol. 4 pp. 123-142
Oliver Watson. ANOTHER GILT GLASS BOTTLE. Festschrift for Jens Kroger, Brill (2007) pp. 107-122
O... more Oliver Watson. ANOTHER GILT GLASS BOTTLE. Festschrift for Jens Kroger, Brill (2007) pp. 107-122 On a Syrian mediaeval gilt-decorated blue glass bottle in the collections of the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha
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Papers by Oliver Watson
A survey of the lustre tiles of the 13th and 14th century CE, made at Kashan. Includes discussion of the buildings in which tiles were installed, a list of potters and their works, and a list of dated lustreware. A briefer but updated version of this material is included in my book, Persian Lustre Ware, 1985.
On a Syrian mediaeval gilt-decorated blue glass bottle in the collections of the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha
A survey of the lustre tiles of the 13th and 14th century CE, made at Kashan. Includes discussion of the buildings in which tiles were installed, a list of potters and their works, and a list of dated lustreware. A briefer but updated version of this material is included in my book, Persian Lustre Ware, 1985.
On a Syrian mediaeval gilt-decorated blue glass bottle in the collections of the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha