Essay: Islamic Glass production

To assist in seeing the extent in which Islamic glass manufacturers made their mark on global glass production one must have a certain understanding of a history of Islamic Glass production. The history of glass in Islam begins with the Umayyad dynasty, the dynasty that created a vast empire that spanned from Spain in the West to Iran in the East. During their tenure the “…rulers had a strong impact on architecture…” (Carboni, Glass of the Sultans, 3) but when it came to decorative arts, glassware being one of them, “they relied on existing decorative language established under the Romans and Sassanians.” (Carboni, glass of sultans, 3). It is understood that distinguishing glass that was made before the advent of Islam from that produced 150 years later is rather difficult, from this one can infer that the Umayyad’s had little interest in the field of glass production. Adding to the issue of this period was that “…it is impossible to know whether a significant number of of glassmakers converted to Islam early or, since glassmaking was mainly a prerogative of Jewish artisans, not at all.” (Carboni glass from Islamic land, 15). Carboni describes glass made in Islam in this period as “proto-Islamic” as the glass made cannot entirely be attributed to Islam (Carboni glass from Islamic land, 15). The earliest glass produced in Islam is rather hard to identify primarily due to its lack of royal patronage. Other examples of Islamic art history i.e. Timurid illustrations are easier to identify because it is stamped with the royal name (Carboni, glass of sultans, 4). However, there was a significant glass which was produced in Islam through periods dominated by many dynasties; “…the Abbasid (Greater Iraq 749-1258), the Fatimid (Egypt and Syria, 969-1171), and the Seljuq (Iran and Anatolia, 1040-1194).” (Carboni, glass of sultans, 4). Yet there hasn’t been a single piece of glassware identified as having the stamp of one of these dynasties, therefore attributions to dynasties in glassware should only be associated to that era rather than to the dynasty itself. (Carboni, glass of sultans, 4). Carboni describes of the Qadisiyya quarter in Abbasid Baghdad as being a centre of glass production (Lamm, 1929-30, p. 498). In Samarra excavations uncovered a large amount of glass that “… attempted to imitate second and third century Roman glass…” (Carboni, glass of sultans, 4) Therefore we can see that “The artistic languages established in Abbasid Baghdad and Samarra branched out to influence the rest of the Islamic world…” (Carboni, glass of sultans, 4). This Romanesque glass is understood to have influenced Islamic Glass production until the ninth century, this is when Islam developed its own style and its influence on global glass production in terms of style began to show. During this brief period an era of relief-cut glass, glass that is decorated by intricately cutting away excess glass, emerged that spanned the tenth and eleventh centuries. This relief cut glass was produced mainly in central and eastern Islamic lands (Carboni, glass of sultans, 5). This period ended with the appearance of nomadic Mongols in Iran and Iraq, known as the as the Ilhkhanids. “Such upheavals (referring to the Mongols) almost certainly dealt a serious blow to the glass industry in the region…” (Carboni, glass of sultans, 5). Sometime later Timur invaded and conquered Iran, but by this time glassmaking had “declined to such an extent that the new lord is thought to have transferred artists to Damascus in order to revive the industry in his capital…” (Carboni, glass of sultans, 5). Shortly after this “Glassmaking seems to have been relegated to insignificance in the eastern Islamic lands in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and was not revived there until the late sixteenth century under the influence of European glass.” (Carboni, glass of sultans, 5). Syria and Egypt’s glassmaking activity experienced a rather different transformation during this period arguably one of Islam’s greatest contributions to the history of glasswork was achieved. “during the late Ayyubid period (ca. 1169 – 1260) and especially under the Mamluks (1250-1517), that enamelled and gilded glass – without doubt one of the most significant contributions to the history of glassmaking worldwide – reached a status that may be described as “royal” …” (Carboni, glass of sultans, 5). The production of enamelled glass eventually became standardised in Egypt and Syria due to political and economic factors as well as competition from Europe. In due course the Ottomans dominated the entirety of the area to the west of Iran and the Safavids controlled Iran and parts of central Asia and finally the Mughals controlled India – “… all became great patrons of arts but, once again, did not take a special interest in glass, regarding it as little more than a useful commodity.” (Carboni, Glass of the Sultans, 6). During the sixth and seventh centuries it can be seen that the production of glass in local Islamic factories had dramatically declined. “It is not possible, for a long interval in the sixteenth and seventeeth centuries, to definitely attribute any extant vessels to local islamic factories.” (Carboni, Glass of the Sultans, 6). What happened in this period was that the trade that had previously flowed from east to west in the medieval period reversed and Venetian, Bohemian and English works were made for export.