The Art And Architecture of Islamic Cairo

display on a bowl in the Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo. It is
inscribed with the name of an officer of al-Nasir Muhammad and
bears a heraldic device with incised calligraphy. Also showing
heraldic devices is an incised bowl in the British Museum, London.
Divided on the inside by radial segments, it displays alternately the
titles and lozenge-shaped napkin blazon of the owner, signifying his
rank as master of the robes. With their scratched and incised surfaces
these bowls belong to a category of pottery known as sgraffiato ware.
The sgraffiato technique had been employed by the Sa’d pottery in
the eleventh century but during the Mamluk period it came into its
own and it is this that distinguishes Egyptian from Syrian pottery at
a time when both countries were producing similar designs under
Mamluk patronage. Much of this sgraffiato pottery is thought to be
the product of one workshop under the direction of Sharaf al-
Abwani (possibly in Bahnasa). 2
Another fine example of a sgraffiato bowl is in the Victoria and
Albert Museum, London. It has a goblet shape with a flared deepsided
bowl standing on a foot. Covered in white slip, it is painted
brown and white with an amber glaze. The inside decoration is
mainly calligraphic with arabesque on the base and rim, and the
outside consists of emblematic inscriptions with a band of scrollwork
around the base. Characteristic of many sgraffiato vessels is the
mustard coloured ground slip into which the decoration is incised.
There are several examples in the Tareq Rajab Museum, Kuwait,
including a pedestal bowl with a lightly incised scrolling arabesque
on the outside and a petal-shaped rosette inside enclosing a sixpointed
star at its centre.
The popularity of imported Chinese ceramics and the taste for
chinoiserie in court circles also explain the relative decline of local
potteries. Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad’s peace treaty with the
Ilkhanids in 1323 opened up trade routes with the Far East, and to
mark the occasion, the Mongolian Khan sent Sultan al-Nasir
Muhammad a gift of 700 Chinese silks. As we have already
observed, the Chinese had been exporting ceramics to the Muslim
world since Umayyad times but trading now increased with some
intensity. There was a two-way traffic in goods, with Chineseimported
cobalt from the Middle East making possible the production
of pigment for the blue and white ware that later became so
popular in the Middle East and Europe. The flood of Chinese
ceramics into the markets of the Middle East prompted Muslim
potters to absorb, adapt and in some cases imitate Chinese styles.
During the twelfth century Sung dynasty (960–1279) exports to
top: Goblet-shaped bowl: thirteenth to
fourteenth century (Victoria & Albert Museum).
above: Ceramic bowl inscribed with the name of
an officer of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad.
The Decorative Arts of the Ayyubids and Mamluks 165