The Art And Architecture of Islamic Cairo

above: Lustre bowl showing Coptic priest:
eleventh century (Victoria & Albert Museum).
above right: Lustre bowl with deer: eleventh century
(Cleveland Museum of Art).
86 The Art and Architecture of Islamic Cairo
a cypress tree or an ankh – the ancient Egyptian symbol for the key
of life which was later absorbed into the repertoire of Coptic art.
Another object in the Victoria and Albert Museum with possible
Christian connotations is a jar decorated with bands of interlaced
ribbons, heart-shaped palmettes and stylized fish encircling its
shoulder. The fish, a common motif in Coptic textiles, may well be
a Christian symbol. 13 Less ambiguous in meaning is a dish in the
Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo, portraying a striking image of Christ
holding up his hand in the gesture of benediction.
The quality of figurative representation is what makes Fatimid
ceramics so distinctive, but some of the most elegant and accomplished
designs feature animals. Many mythological beasts, such as
gryphons and harpies, are treated with decorative panache, but it is
the grace and naturalism that distinguish more familiar animals.
In the Cleveland Museum of Art there is a bowl displaying a
magnificent deer with a foliate spray in its mouth. It is a triumph of
decorative refinement fused with naturalism. The dark, flat silhouette
of the animal is set against an opaque, white glazed ground
broken by a few white flourishes which anatomically mould the
form with great economy of means. Irregular panels of spiralling
scrollwork appear in the negative spaces between the legs and above
the back, and a loose garland of leaves rhythmically dances around
the circumference. A similar prancing stag forms a masterly design
on a bowl in the Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo. Its dark silhouette is