Tickets
English
DonateMembershipTickets

Fragmentary Plate with Engraved Designs

9th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 453
The striking blue color of this plate was achieved by adding cobalt to the glass fabric, and its surface has been engraved with various patterns arranged in concentric registers around a central roundel. The circular hole at the center indicates the place where a foot was once attached. This plate is important evidence of the active glass trade from west to east during the ninth and tenth centuries. Probably made in Syria, it was imported to Nishapur where it was found in the prosperous Tepe Madrasa section of the city. The fact that six dishes of this type were found in the crypt of the Famen Temple in China demonstrates the far eastern reaches of the trade routes that passed through Nishapur. Furthermore, the evidence from this temple, whose crypt was sealed in 874, provides an ante quem date for our plate.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Fragmentary Plate with Engraved Designs
  • Date: 9th century
  • Geography: Attributed to Syria or Iraq. Excavated in Iran, Nishapur
  • Medium: Glass, blue; blown, applied trail, scratch-engraved
  • Dimensions: H. 9/16 in. (1.4 cm)
    W. 10 5/8 in. (27 cm)
    D. 8 in. (20.3 cm)
  • Classification: Glass
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1940
  • Object Number: 40.170.131
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
Qur'an Manuscript, Main support: ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on parchment; Binding: leather; tooled
Qur'an Manuscript
late 9th–early 10th century
Vase, Matthew Boulton British, White opaque glass, gilt-bronze mounts, British, Birmingham
Vase
Designer Designed by Matthew Boulton
Glass by James Keir
Manufactory Assembled by Boulton & Fothergill
ca. 1772
Incense Burner of Amir Saif al-Dunya wa’l-Din ibn Muhammad al-Mawardi, Ja`far ibn Muhammad ibn `Ali, Bronze; cast, engraved, chased, pierced
Incense Burner of Amir Saif al-Dunya wa’l-Din ibn Muhammad al-Mawardi
Ja`far ibn Muhammad ibn `Ali
dated 577 AH/1181–82 CE
Lantern for a Lamp, Earthenware; carved decoration, unglazed
Lantern for a Lamp
9th–10th century
Eight-light chandelier, Vincennes Manufactory French, Painted iron, soft-paste porcelain, gilt bronze, probably German assembled with French porcelain
Eight-light chandelier
Porcelain possibly by Vincennes Manufactory
ca. 1765–70

Related Content

Timeline of Art History

Entries and chronologies from The Met's art encyclopedia.

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please contact us using the form below. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.

Send feedback

Content Notice

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world, and our online collection reflects ongoing work conducted over the course of our more than 150-year history. You may encounter objects or images that may be inappropriate for some viewers or information that may be outdated.