{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O76443"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O76443/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2026PN6682/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2026PN6682/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2026PN6682","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AT6485","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006BG1511","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AT6488","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AT6487","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AT6486","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AT6484","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AT6483","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O76443/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O76443","accessionNumber":"C.48-1952","objectType":"Jar","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This is a rare complete jar found at Fustat, also known as Old Cairo. It is a fine example of the lustre-painted pottery produced in Egypt under the Fatimid dynasty, who ruled there from 969 to 1171. The jar has a rounded shape and a tall neck with a rim that turns outwards. The low foot-ring is unglazed. \r\nThe decoration is in yellowish-lustre over an opaque glaze. The design on the main body consists of three wide bands filled with different patterns. The bottom wide band has a lustre ground with interlace decoration in the body colour. The larger middle band is dominated by a row of palmettes. These appear in the body colour in the lustre ground of an inverted heart-shaped cartouche. The wide band at the top features a row of five fishes with details of their bodies scratched through the lustre. The narrower bands decorating the neck include one filled with reciprocating triangles. It has been suggested that the band of five fishes 'swimming' around the shoulder of this vessel is a Christian motif. However, it is more likely that the decorator thought fishes appropriate for an object used to store water or other liquids.","physicalDescription":"A rare complete jar with a very rounded shape and tall neck with an everted rim. The low foot-ring is unglazed. The decoration is in yellowish-lustre over a tin-opacified glaze. The band at the bottom consists of interlaced ribbons in reserve, above which a larger middle band consists of large heart-shaped palmettes painted in lustre against the white ground. A band all around the shoulder is filled with five fishes with details of parts of their bodies scratched through the lustre. The neck is decorated with a band of triangles and dots.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"earthenware","id":"x29356"},{"text":"lustre","id":"x29389"}],"techniques":[{"text":"thrown","id":"AAT53908"},{"text":"tin glazed","id":"x36216"},{"text":"lustre-painted","id":"x36217"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Earthenware, with tin-opacified glaze, and decoration painted in a silver oxide lustre pigment","categories":[{"text":"Islam","id":"THES48932"},{"text":"Africa","id":"THES49019"}],"styles":[{"text":"Fatimid","id":"AAT21550"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"MES","id":"THES48607"},"images":["2026PN6682","2006AT6485","2006BG1511","2006AT6488","2006AT6487","2006AT6486","2006AT6484","2006AT6483"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"42","id":"THES49806"},"free":"","case":"2W","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Jar","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Egypt","id":"x29512"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""},{"place":{"text":"Cairo","id":"x28776"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"probably"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1000-1125","earliest":"1000-01-01","latest":"1125-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Purchased with the assistance of the Bryan Bequest and The Art Fund","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"33","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"14","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"of base","note":""},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"10.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"of mouth","note":""},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"24.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"maximum","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Earthenware jar with decoration of fishes and palmettes in yellow lustre, Egypt (probably Cairo), 1000-1125.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Contadini, Anna, <u>Fatimid Art at the Victoria & Albert Museum.</u> London: V&A Publications, 1998. p.86, plate 35."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Soustiel, Jean. <u>La céramique islamique. Le guide du connaisseur. </u> Fribourg, Office du Livre, 1985. ISBN 2-8264-0002-9.  Pl. 147, p. 133"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Lane, Arthur. <u>Early Islamic Pottery</u>. London: Faber and Faber, 1947. 52p., ill.\r\nPage 16, plate 24."},{"reference":{"text":"Verdi, Richard. <i>Saved!: 100 Years of the National Art Collections Fund</i> London, Hayward Gallery and the National Gallery, 2003","id":"AUTH351328"},"details":"","free":""}],"production":"Found at Fustat (Old Cairo)","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"fishes","id":"x30068"},{"text":"palmettes","id":"AAT9995"},{"text":"braiding","id":"AAT53638"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Jameel Gallery \r\n\r\nLustre Jar with Fish\r\nEgypt, probably Cairo\r\n1000-1125\r\n\r\nAfter Cairo was founded in 971, the city became a centre of luxury trades. Among the craftsmen attracted there were makers of lustre pottery from Iraq. At first, they continued to use opaque glazes to create a white ground for the lustre, as on this jar. \r\n\r\nEarthenware with lustre over an opaque glaze\r\n\r\nMuseum no. C.48-1952. Purchased with the assistance of the National Art Collections Fund and the Bryan Bequest.","date":{"text":"Jameel Gallery","earliest":"2006-07-20","latest":null}},{"text":"JAR\r\nBuff earthenware painted in greenish yellow lustre on a white glaze\r\nEGYPTIAN (FATIMAD, found at Fostat); late 11th or early 12th century","date":{"text":"Used until 09/2000","earliest":"2000-09-01","latest":"2000-09-30"}}],"partNumbers":["C.48-1952"],"accessionNumberNum":"48","accessionNumberPrefix":"C","accessionYear":1952,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LP8563","2019LP4203","2019LT7741"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-03-25","recordCreationDate":"2003-03-10","availableToBook":false}}