The Art And Architecture of Islamic Cairo

from the second quarter of the eleventh century. The Victoria and
Albert Museum contains a number of items that are very similar to
glass vessels found in the shipwreck. One is a well-preserved undecorated
clear glass water jug with a bulbous body, flared neck and
right-angled handle with a thumb-rest. 28
With its flared neck and globular body, the shape of this jug
is characteristic of that which developed in mosque lamps. Earlier
mosque lamps are goblet shaped with stems, feet and truncated
conical bowls designed to hang from chains or be free-standing. It
is a shape that goes back to the fourth-century Byzantine world.
Two well-preserved examples of this type can be seen in the
Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin, and the Museum of Islamic
Art, Cairo. The Berlin lamp dates from the ninth to eleventh
centuries, but the Cairo lamp found in the excavations at Fustat
can be more precisely dated to the eighth century.
Of cold-working glass vessels the most famous group of cut glass
objects are beakers – fourteen in total – known as ‘Hedwig’ glasses
(possibly twelfth century). They were scattered around Europe,
turning up in the ecclesiastical domain, and tradition has it that two
belonged to St Hedwig, princess of Silesia (1174–1245). They are clear
glass vessels with a tincture of smoky topaz carved out of solid glass
blocks with relief designs of lions, gryphons, eagles and abstract
patterns. The provenance and date of these vessels are debatable. It is
claimed that two came from Syria in the early thirteenth century but
most scholars attribute them to Egyptian craftsmanship. However,
because there is no evidence of contemporary Islamic cut glass work
of this type, it has been suggested they might be of Byzantine origin.
What is certain is the Eastern origin of the designs. According to
Ettinghausen and Grabar, four clearly exhibit Samarra style C and
some may date from as early as the tenth century. 29 This date probably
applies to the beaker from Veste Coburg which reveals a symmetrical
Samarra pattern of indented and projecting volutes tightly organized
into its bevelled surface. Whatever their date and provenance all these
beakers are singularly inventive in design terms. Those featuring lions,
eagles and gryphons sustain a high level of abstract integration in
their cross-hatched, multi-layered and multi-faceted designs. The cut
and bevelled surfaces interpenetrate, fusing figure and background,
and the tension between the cursive contours and angular crosshatching
produces a distinct style resembling early Cubism.
The Fustat excavations have revealed a variety of other vessels
made with cold-working techniques, including scratch-engraved,
wheel-cut, faceted and bevel-cut objects. Most of the finer scratch-
top: Mosque lamp: ninth to eleventh century
(Museum für Islamische Kunst).
above: ‘Hedwig’ beaker: tenth century
(British Museum).
The Decorative Arts of the Tulunids and Fatimids 95