Pitcher

Pitcher

12th-13th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Siegfried Bing

Glazed clay

HxW: 22.5 x 15.6 cm

F1903.204

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2

194

West

Syria

France

Paris

Pitcher

Pitcher

14th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Dikran G. Kelekian

Stone-paste decorated with glaze

HxW: 28.3 x 18.8 cm

F1905.287

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2

187

West

Iran

France

Paris

Pitcher

Pitcher

Raqqa wares like this pitcher only began to appear on the art market at the turn of the last century, following the excavation of ancient and medieval pottery in northern Mesopotamia, near modern-day Mosul, and in the south, near Baghdad and along the Gulf. Freer was an early enthusiast: he purchased his first piece in 1902 and eventually amassed a substantial collection of Near Eastern ceramics. In Detroit, they were prominently featured throughout the Peacock Room, most notably massed around <i>La Princesse du pays de la porcelaine</i> and in the eye-level shelves along the west wall.

12th-14th century?

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

G. Camas

Stone-paste decorated with glaze

HxW: 25.0 x 17.7 cm

F1906.221

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2

183

West

Syria

United States

New York

New York

Pitcher

Pitcher

Described by Freer as "an interesting specimen, much restored," this jar was one of a number of Near Eastern ceramics shipped to him on approval by the Parisian art dealer Dikran Kelekian. In 1903, when he purchased this vessel, Freer had only recently turned his attention to ancient and medieval glazed wares from the Near East. As the availability of Japanese art in Western markets began to decline, Kelekian and other dealers looked to the arts of the Islamic world, where recent unofficial excavations had made ceramics and textiles available. This vessel, which dates to the seventeenth or eighteenth century, was already ravaged by time, with a broken foot, a hole in one side, and yellow and brown discolorations all over the brilliant cream-colored glaze. Freer, however, regarded these imperfections as aesthetically distinctive, and because of this, Raqqa ware was especially appealing to Freer. He discerned chromatic harmonies among his already-substantial collection of East Asian ceramics, his tonalist American paintings, and the iridescent glazed vessels from the Near East. He eventually amassed a substantial collection of Near Eastern ceramics. In Detroit, they were prominently featured throughout the Peacock Room, most notably massed around Whistler's <i>La Princesse du pays de la porcelaine</i> and in the eye-level shelves along the west wall.

11th-12th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Dikran G. Kelekian

Stone-paste with degraded turquoise alkali-silicate glaze

Rakka ware

HxW: 16.8 x 12.2 cm

F1905.77

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2

60

East

Raqqa

Syria

France

Paris