Dish

Dish

This dish, purchased from Dikran Kelekian in 1908, has a greenish-white crackled glaze, with large areas of partial disintegration and a brilliant silver iridescence. Its black and blue under glaze is similarly degraded. An example of Raqqa ware from thirteenth or fourteenth-century Syria, the complex chromatic variations resonated with the blue, green, and gold decorations of Whistler's Peacock Room.

13th-14th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Dikran G. Kelekian

Stone-paste decorated with glaze

HxW: 4.7 x 17.3 cm

F1908.28

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59

East

Syria

France

Paris

Vessel

Vessel

This "interesting specimen," as Freer described it, was one of several Raqqa pieces that he purchased from Dikran Kelekian in 1905. The crackled, partially disintegrated turquoise glaze was particularly appealing to Freer, who discerned chromatic correspondences between ceramics like this and the contemporary American paintings that he collected.

11th-12th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Dikran G. Kelekian

Stone-paste painted with glaze

HxW: 22.9 x 22.9 cm

F1905.92

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51

North

Syria

France

Paris

Bottle

Bottle

Excavated in Syria and sold to Freer from the Paris gallery of Siegfried Bing in 1905, this flattened, short-necked bottle was described by the collector as "rare and very beautiful." The varied tones of discoloration on the surface and the abraded decoration, modeled in relief, were appealing to Freer, who discerned chromatic harmonies among his already-substantial collection of East Asian ceramics, his tonalist American paintings, and ravaged, but chromatically complex, vessels like this from the Near East. In Detroit, this bottle was prominently featured with a grouping of other Near Eastern wares, massed around Whistler's <i>La Princesse du pays de la porcelaine.</i>

1st-2nd century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Siegfried Bing

Glazed clay

HxW: 30.9 x 24.5 cm

F1905.247a-b

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48

North

Syria

France

Paris

Jar

Jar

13th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

unknown

Stone-paste; painted under glaze

Raqq ware

HxW: 45.0 x 30.0 cm

F1902.191

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47

North

Syria

Jar

Jar

The glaze and decoration on this Raqqa ware jar now dated to the twelfth or thirteenth century, is extremely discolored and the surface partially disintegrated. Its abraded greenish glaze, overpainted with luster in shades of brown and cobalt blue, were, however, the vessel's chief attraction for Freer. He described the jar "valuable" and "fine in color." In 1903, when he purchased this vessel from the Paris-based dealer Dikran Kelekian, 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, Siegfried Bing and other dealers looked to the arts of the Islamic world, where recent unofficial excavations had made ceramics and textiles available.

12th-13th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Dikran G. Kelekian

Stone-paste painted under glaze

HxW: 29.0 x 23.8 cm

F1903.189

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2

45

North

Syria

France

Paris

Jar

Jar

According to the Paris-based dealer Dikran Kelekian, from whom Freer acquired it in 1903, this jar was excavated from a Persian tomb and was two thousand years old. Despite its advanced state of archaeological decay, the vessel, which is actually an example of Syrian Raqqa ware, dates to the medieval period&#151;the eleventh through the thirteenth century. For Freer, who had only begun to acquire Near Eastern ceramics in 1902, the iridescent, highly degraded turquoise glaze and the rough surface texture of this vessel was one of its chief attractions. He went on to amass a significant collection, many of which were prominently displayed in the Peacock Room in Detroit.

11th-12th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Dikran G. Kelekian

Stone-paste painted with glaze

HxW: 34.6 x 21.7 cm

F1903.227

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42

North

Syria

France

Paris

Jar

Jar

Described by Freer as "very beautiful," this jar was one of a number of Near Eastern ceramics and Egyptian antiquities shipped to him on approval by the Parisian art dealer Siegfried Bing. In 1904, 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, Bing and other dealers looked to the arts of the Islamic world, where recent unofficial excavations had made ceramics and textiles available. Raqqa ware was especially appealing to Freer, who discerned chromatic harmonies among his already-substantial collection of East Asian ceramics, his tonalist American paintings, and the iridescent turquoise- and green-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.

12th-13th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Siegfried Bing

Stone-paste painted under glaze

HxW: 28.0 x 22.2 cm

F1904.144

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42

North

Syria

France

Paris

Jar

Jar

Raqqa wares like this jar 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, finding chromatic harmonies among his already substantial collection of East Asian ceramics, his tonalist American paintings, and these iridescent turquoise and green-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

HxW: 10.4 x 8.2 cm

F1905.286

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38

North

Raqqa

Syria

France

Paris

Jar (amphora) with two handles and an uneven foot

Jar

Raqqa wares like this jar 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, finding chromatic harmonies among his already substantial collection of East Asian ceramics, the tonalism of his American paintings, and these iridescent turquoise- and green-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 painted under glaze

HxW: 31.0 x 19.0 cm

F1904.51

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37

North

Syria

France

Paris

Jar

Jar

After Freer acquired this highly decayed and damaged Raqqa jar from the Parisian dealer Dikran Kelekian in 1904, he noted that "Kelekian believes that jars of this sort are of early Persian origin. Perhaps Babylonian." Raqqa wares like this jar 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. Their cultural and chronological origins were not yet well understood. Even so, Freer was an early enthusiast, finding chromatic harmonies among his already substantial collection of East Asian ceramics, the tonalism of his American paintings, and these iridescent turquoise- and green-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 painted with glaze

HxW: 32.8 x 20.1 cm

F1904.171

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26

North

Syria

France

Paris

Jar

Jar

Described by Freer as "an interesting specimen," 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.

17th-18th century

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Dikran G. Kelekian

Stone-paste painted under glaze

HxW: 34.0 x 23.5 cm

F1903.188

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2

22

North

Syria

France

Paris