Digging Deeper at Penn​
​Explore The Middle East Gallery
  • Focus Objects
    • Obsidian, Steatite, Diorite, & Alabaster
    • Precious & Semi-Precious Stones
    • Gold, Silver, & Lead
    • Copper Continuum
    • Ancient Textiles
    • Early Modern Textiles
    • Silk
    • China Trade
  • Manufacture
    • Obsidian, Steatite, Diorite, & Alabaster
    • Precious Stones & Semi-Precious Stones
    • Gold, Silver, & Lead
    • Copper Continuum
    • Ancient Textiles
    • Textiles
    • Silk
    • China Trade
  • Cultural Context
    • Gawra
    • Ur
    • Hissar
    • Khafajeh
    • Hasanlu
    • Rayy
    • Safavid Empire
    • Ethnographic Materials
  • Themes of Trade
    • Why People Traded >
      • Why People Traded Common Stones
      • Why People Traded Precious Stones
      • Why People Traded Gold & Silver
      • Why People Traded Copper
      • Why People Traded Ancient Textiles
      • Why People Traded Early Modern Textiles
      • Why People Traded Silk
      • Why People Traded with China
    • How People Traded >
      • How People Traded Obsidian, Steatite, & Diorite
      • How People Traded Precious Stones
      • How People Traded Gold & Silver
      • How People Traded Copper
      • How People Traded Textiles in Antiquity
      • How People Traded Silk
      • How People Traded Textiles in Historic Periods
      • How People Traded with China
    • Mechanics of Trade >
      • Neolithic & Chalcolithic
      • Royal Cemetery of Ur
      • Old Babylonian
      • Neo-Assyrian
      • Medieval Rayy
      • Safavid
      • 19th Century Ethnographic
  • How Do We Know
  • Glossary
  • About
Created by Penn Art History 501

China Trade: Ceramics

Ceramics are one of the most highly prized imports from China to the Middle East. Before trade, both China and the Middle East had their own established production methods and aesthestics. This Collection identifies two objects that not only tells the story of trade but also how ceramics making in the Middle East incorporated influences from Chinese porcelain.
This is an original Chinese white porcelain made during Chinese Song dynastyt found in Rayy. This bowls demarcates the wide extent of the trading network in the 10th century.

​Thick white crackles and a glaze covers both surfaces; faint stamped impressions resembling finger prints decorates the interior and fine vertical lines curved at top are incised on the exterior. 
This is a bowl made in Basra, found in Siraf. It imitates Song ware shape as well as Chinese white porcelain by applying an opacified tin/lead glaze over the body of the entire ceramic. However, this piece also represents distinctive local culture by using calligraphy on the interior as a form of decoration. The highly decorative blue Kufic script reads, "برکه صاحبی من عمل ابو نصر", which is the signature of Abu Nasr, the maker of the vessel. 

Focus Objects

Materials & Methods

Historical/Cultural Context

Why People Trade

How People Traded

Mechanics of Trade

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Header Image by Peter Miller is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
  • Focus Objects
    • Obsidian, Steatite, Diorite, & Alabaster
    • Precious & Semi-Precious Stones
    • Gold, Silver, & Lead
    • Copper Continuum
    • Ancient Textiles
    • Early Modern Textiles
    • Silk
    • China Trade
  • Manufacture
    • Obsidian, Steatite, Diorite, & Alabaster
    • Precious Stones & Semi-Precious Stones
    • Gold, Silver, & Lead
    • Copper Continuum
    • Ancient Textiles
    • Textiles
    • Silk
    • China Trade
  • Cultural Context
    • Gawra
    • Ur
    • Hissar
    • Khafajeh
    • Hasanlu
    • Rayy
    • Safavid Empire
    • Ethnographic Materials
  • Themes of Trade
    • Why People Traded >
      • Why People Traded Common Stones
      • Why People Traded Precious Stones
      • Why People Traded Gold & Silver
      • Why People Traded Copper
      • Why People Traded Ancient Textiles
      • Why People Traded Early Modern Textiles
      • Why People Traded Silk
      • Why People Traded with China
    • How People Traded >
      • How People Traded Obsidian, Steatite, & Diorite
      • How People Traded Precious Stones
      • How People Traded Gold & Silver
      • How People Traded Copper
      • How People Traded Textiles in Antiquity
      • How People Traded Silk
      • How People Traded Textiles in Historic Periods
      • How People Traded with China
    • Mechanics of Trade >
      • Neolithic & Chalcolithic
      • Royal Cemetery of Ur
      • Old Babylonian
      • Neo-Assyrian
      • Medieval Rayy
      • Safavid
      • 19th Century Ethnographic
  • How Do We Know
  • Glossary
  • About