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Summary
Summary
Raqqa, in Syria, had its first Islamic flowering in the late 8th century, when it was the residence of the legendary Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid. It experienced a resurgence during the late 12th and early 13th centuries under the Zangids and Ayyubids. Interest in the city was kindled in the West in the late 19th century, by, among other things, the publication of the Arabic literary classic The Thousand and One Nights , in which Harun al-Rashid was a central character. At the same time, ceramics purportedly connected to the legendary caliph were excavated in Raqqa. Speculation about the site and the objects unearthed there has abounded for more than a century.
In this important volume, Marilyn Jenkins-Madina describes the dramatic journey these ceramics took from discovery in Raqqa to the emporiums of Paris and New York, the drawing rooms of great collectors, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Using art historical detective work, archival documents, and scientific data, the author convincingly establishes provenance and dating, placing these beautiful wares in a clear historical context for the first time.
Reviews (2)
Choice Review
This brilliant study (a rescue mission, actually) of ceramics from the Syrian site of Raqqa on the Euphrates River, an Arab center that flourished from the 7th to the 13th century, was prepared by Jenkins-Madina (scholar and emer., Islamic art, Metropolitan Museum of Art). She has engaged in a detective story resulting in a thorough history of Raqqa ceramics and concluding with detailed suggestions about provenance and dating. It includes tracing collections formed in the early 20th century in 18 museums, especially in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art (Istanbul) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York). There is a ton of technical data in six main sections, including those on "wasters" (sherds and rejected pieces), the 46 pieces in the Met, and analyses of patterns and provenance. Two appendixes examine late-19th- to early-20th-century Ottoman attempts to control illicit digging at the site, and compositional analyses of the ceramics. Fine illustrations; concordance of illustrated works with 18 museum inventory numbers. A tough study for undergraduates (although the scholarly techniques employed by the author are a model of scholarship). ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students and researchers. D. K. Haworth emeritus, Carleton College
Library Journal Review
Inspired in part by the Arabic literary classic The Thousand and One Nights, wealthy collectors and enthusiasts began purchasing all things Arabian or Oriental in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Among those items were exotic ceramic objects created in the city of Raqqa, in modern-day Syria. Jenkins-Madina (curator emerita, Islamic art, Metropolitan Museum of Art; coauthor, Islamic Art and Architecture 650-1250) spent much of her career studying these Raqqa items, and the results of her findings culminate in this remarkable, well-documented, and scholarly work. Following a brief introduction on the background of her research and a historical overview of the region, six chapters tell the story of the Raqqa ceramics, analyzing them and establishing their dating and provenance. Art historian Aysin Yoltar-Yildirim writes on the Ottoman response to illicit digging in Raqqa, while research conservator Dylan T. Smith writes on the compositional analysis of early 13th-century ceramics from Raqqa and related sites. An epilog offers suggestions for future study of ceramics from this period and region, and the 300-plus illustrations provide useful insight to this well-organized and easy-to-use work. Highly recommended for collections focusing on archaeological and cultural studies relating to decorative arts. Stephen Allan Patrick, East Tennessee State Univ. Libs., Johnson City (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| Director's Foreword | p. vii |
| Acknowledgments | p. ix |
| Map: Central Islamic Lands in the Medieval Islamic Period | p. 2 |
| Introduction | p. 3 |
| 1 The Lore and Lure of Raqqa | p. 11 |
| 2 Raqqa Demythologized | p. 21 |
| 3 The Rejects of Raqqa | p. 37 |
| 4 Raqqa Ceramics in The Metropolitan Museum of Art | p. 115 |
| 5 Patterns, Profiles, and Provenance | p. 165 |
| 6 The Period of Production | p. 179 |
| Epilogue | p. 188 |
| Appendix 1 The Ottoman Response to Illicit Digging in Raqqa | p. 191 |
| Appendix 2 Compositional Analysis of Early-Thirteenth-Century Ceramics from Raqqa and Related Sites | p. 221 |
| Concordance | p. 236 |
| Bibliography of Works Cited | p. 238 |
| Index | p. 243 |
| Photograph Credits | p. 247 |