Such is the general, but by no means the constant, definition of the component ingredients of all the varieties rightly classed together as members of this group, for there can be no doubt that great variations occurred in their composition at different periods and places, and some examples of the finer kinds of Persian, Arabian, and perhaps of Damascus wares are met with in, or under, the glaze of which the oxide of tin has been used to produce a white and more even surface.
A large amount of information about Persian ware is conveyed to us in the work of the comte de Rochchouart who, during a residence of some years in Persia, gave great attention to its ceramic productions of former and of present times. After establishing the fact of the former production of at least four distinct kinds of Kaolinic porcelain, he minutely describes ancient varieties of faience of which the polychrome pieces are the more rare, the blue and white less so; he mentions one uncommon variety, believed to have been made at Cachan, as having a paste of red earth covered with a stanniferous enamel of great beauty, and painted in cobalt under a glaze highly baked; they ring like metal. We do not recollect having seen an example of this variety. Marks imitating those on Chinese porcelain occur on pieces painted in cobalt blue on white. He further tells us that the ancient faience of Persia is as admirable as the modern is detestable, notwithstanding it retains a degree of oriental elegance. The industry at present is carried on at Nahinna; at Natinz, where pottery has been made for some hundred years, and where some of the finest was produced but now inferior; at Cachan, turquoise blue, and many-coloured; while Hamadan, Kaswine and Teheran make inferior wares, the latter being the worst.
We do not derive any information from M. de Rochchouart on the subject of the lustred wares, except in his description of the tiles of the mosque of Natinz of the 12th century; nor do we learn anything of that variety of creamy white pottery having the sides pierced through the paste but filled with the translucent glaze, and which is believed to be the Gombrōn ware of Horace Walpole’s day. But he gives interesting information on the subject of the tiles used for decoration, of which the finest are those mentioned above; those of Ispahan and of the period of Shah Abbas (1585-1629) being also admirable for their exquisite design.
The Persian glazed pottery known to us may be divided into:
A. Wares, generally highly baked, and sometimes semi-translucent. Paste, fine and rather thin, decorated with ruby, brown, and coppery lustre, on dark blue and creamy white ground. Engraved [p. 68] is a very curious and characteristic example: unfortunately imperfect. It is in the Kensington collection.
B. Wares, of fine paste, highly baked, semi-translucent, of creamy colour and rich clear glaze, running into tears beneath the piece of a pale sea-green tint. Its characteristic decoration consisting of holes pierced through the paste, and filled in with the transparent glaze: the raised centres, &c. are bordered with a chocolate brown or blue leafage, slightly used. This is supposed to be the Gombrōn ware.
C. Wares, frequently of fine paste, and highly baked to semi-transparency: the ground white; decoration of plants and animals, sometimes after the Chinese, in bright cobalt blue, the outlines frequently drawn in manganese; some pieces with reliefs and imitation Chinese marks also occur; this variety is perhaps more recent than the others.
We assign the name Damascus as the chief centre of a large class of wares which were also made, in all probability, in Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Asia Minor, &c., and among which pieces of Persian manufacture may be included from our want of exact knowledge of their technical differences; a certain general character pertaining to the whole class. There can be no doubt that Damascus was an important producer of this pottery, which was known to the commerce of the 16th century as “Damas” ware, and we have examples, in silver mountings, of the period of queen Elizabeth. It would be well, therefore, to revive the term “Damas” or “Damascus ware” for this family, of which the true Damascus and Rhodian are only local varieties, in preference to the misapplied general name of “Persian,” by which they have been known.
The paste varies in quality more than in kind, being of a grey white colour and sandy consistence, analogous to that of the Persian wares. The decoration is more generally rich in colour, the ground white, blue, turquoise, tobacco colour, and lilac, sometimes covered with scale work, with panels of oriental form or leafage, large sprays of flowers, particularly roses, tulips, hyacinths, carnations, &c., the colours used being a rich blue, turquoise, green, purple, yellow, red, black. The forms are elegant; large bowls on raised feet, flasks or bottles bulb-shaped with elongated necks; pear-shaped jugs with cylindrical necks and loop-handle; circular dishes or plates with deep centres, &c. An interesting example of the highest quality of this ware is in the writer’s possession, and is described and figured in colour in vol. xlii. of the “Archæologia.” It is a hanging lamp made for and obtained from the mosque of Omar at Jerusalem, signed and dated June 1549.