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Cut and Engraved Glass from Islamic Lands

Goblet [Western Asia or Egypt] Fragmentary plate [Western Asia, excavated at the Tepe Madraseh, Nishapur, Iran] Jug [Probably Iran] Beaker [Western Asia or Egypt]


Ewer

Corning Ewer, ca. 1000
Western Asia or Egypt
The Corning Museum of Glass, Purchased with the assistance of the Clara S. Peck Endowment (85.1.1)
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Bottle

Bottle, 9th century
Syro-Palestinian region or Egypt
The Corning Museum of Glass (68.1.1)
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Bowl

Bowl, 9th–10th century
Western Asia, perhaps Iran
The Corning Museum of Glass (55.1.136)
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 Cold-cut glass became the most prominent artistic form of decoration in the early Islamic period, especially in the ninth and tenth centuries. While this lapidary technique is as old as glassmaking itself, dating well before glassblowing was invented, Roman and Sasanian cut glass (from eastern Mediterranean and Iranian areas, respectively) provided immediate models. From Egypt to Iran, Islamic cut and engraved decoration took various forms, ranging from complex relief patterns created using mechanically operated wheels and drills to hair-width incisions made with a pointed tool.

Glass objects can be divided into six broad categories according to technique and/or decorative pattern: scratch-engraved, faceted, with disks, with raised outlines, with slant-cut decoration, or with linear decoration.

In the scratch-engraved technique, fine incisions were made using a pointed tool mounted with diamond, topaz, or corundum chips to create linear, vegetal, and geometric patterns. Facet-cut decoration, influenced by the Sasanian tradition, usually created "honeycomb" patterns of shallow facets. Raised or countersunk disks with a raised boss in the center are commonly referred to as "omphalos" (Greek for "navel"). In relief-cut glass, the background and most of the inner areas of the main design were removed by cutting and grinding, leaving the outlines and some details in relief. This group also includes Roman-inspired cameo glass—colorless glass encased by a colored layer in order to create a dramatic bichromatic contrast. In objects with incised lines, the wheel's angle of approach to the surface, either perpendicular or at a slight angle, created the distinction between the linear and the slant-cut styles.


Islamic World, Religious Art, Islam, Glass, Glass, West Asia

Department of Islamic Art, Department of Islamic Art

Blown Glass from Islamic Lands, Enameled and Gilded Glass from Islamic Lands, Glass with Mold Blown Decoration from Islamic Lands, Geometric Patterns in Islamic Art, Glass from Islamic Lands, Hot-Worked Glass from Islamic Lands, Mosaic Glass from Islamic Lands, Stained, or Luster-Painted, Glass from Islamic Lands, Vegetal Patterns in Islamic Art , Roman Cameo Glass, Abridged List of Rulers: Islamic World,

Iran, 500-1000 A.D., Iran, 1000-1400 A.D., Iraq, 500-1000 A.D.,

West Asia, 500-1000 A.D.