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Cup with Running Ibexes

second half 12th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 453
To create "silhouette ware," an object of white clay is covered with a special black slip made with the mineral chromite. The slip is carefully removed or incised to create an image. After an initial firing, the vessel is dipped into a transparent turquoise glaze and fired again. In addition to creating a striking color contrast, this overglaze saturates the chromite slip, transforming it from a matte gray brown into an intense black.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Cup with Running Ibexes
  • Date: second half 12th century
  • Geography: Attributed to Iran, probably Rayy
  • Medium: Stonepaste; incised decoration through black slip ground under turquoise glaze ("silhouette ware")
  • Dimensions: H. 5 in. (12.7 cm)
    Diam. 5 5/8 in. (14.3 cm)
  • Classification: Ceramics
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1967
  • Object Number: 67.104
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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Luster Bowl with Winged Horse, Stonepaste; luster-painted on opaque monochrome glaze
Luster Bowl with Winged Horse
late 12th century
Turquoise Bowl with Lute Player and Audience, Stonepaste; glazed (opaque monochrome), in-glaze- and overglaze-painted, gilded
Turquoise Bowl with Lute Player and Audience
late 12th–early 13th century
Pierced Jug with Harpies and Sphinxes, Stonepaste; openwork, underglaze-painted, glazed in transparent turquoise
Pierced Jug with Harpies and Sphinxes
dated 612 AH/1215–16 CE
Mihrab (Prayer Niche), Mosaic of polychrome-glazed cut tiles on stonepaste body; set into mortar
Mihrab (Prayer Niche)
dated 755 AH/1354–55 CE
Pyxis (Cylindrical Container), Stonepaste; luster-painted on incised, opaque white glaze
Pyxis (Cylindrical Container)
late 11th–early 12th century

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