Damascus: Lustre-painted Pottery

Date: Thirteenth century

A lustre-painted vase in the Kuwait National Museum bears an inscription stating that it was made for one Asad al-Iskandarani. The inscription continues that it is the work of Yusuf in Damascus (ʿamal Yūsuf bi-dimashq) and decorated (i.e. painted) by an artisan only known by the letter alif.

Citation: Watson, Oliver, Ceramics from Islamic Lands (London and New York: Thames and Hudson in association with the al-Sabah Collection, 2004), pp. 396-97.

See also: Milwright, Marcus. “Pottery in written Sources of the Ayyubid-Mamluk Period (c.567-923/1171-1517)”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 62.3 (1999): p. 506.