Bottle with four handles

Object Details

• Description

  Material: moderately heavy, clear blown glass of greenish-yellow tint, with small bubbles. Decoration in polychrome enamels and gold.

• Label

  This rare four-handled vase bears the characteristic five-petal rosettes associated with the Rasulid dynasty of Yemen (reigned 1229–1454). Controlling the trade routes to Africa and East Asia, the Rasulids were a formidable sea power and commissioned numerous glass and metal vessels from the Mamluks, based in Egypt and Syria. The vase was reportedly found in China, where it may have arrived as a gift or through a Chinese emissary returning from the Rasulid court.

• Provenance

  From at least 1910-at least 1929

  Friedrich Sarre, 1865-1945, purchased from G. R. Harding in London [1]

  ?-to at least 1934

  Jacob Hirsch, Ph.D., New York, method of acquisition unknown [2]

  From 1934

  The Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Dr. Jacob Hirsch [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Friedrich Paul Theodor Sarre, “Die Ausstellung von Meisterwerken Muhammedanischer Kunst in München, 1910” [book] (München: F. Bruckmann ag., 1912), vol. 2, cat. 2107, pl. 172. Sarre included the bottle in the 1910 exhibition, and noted that it was acquired from G. R. Harding [George R.] in London. See also Carl Johan Lamm, “Mittelalterliche Gläser und Steinschnittarbeiten aus dem Nahen Osten” [book] (Berlin: Dietrich Reimer/Ernst Vohsen, 1929), cat. 9, p. 412, pl. 181.9. Friedrich Sarre was an art historian and collector of Islamic Art, and Director of the Islamic Collections at the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin (now the Bode Museum) from 1925-1931.

  [2] Dr. Jacob Hirsch (1874-1955) was a collector of coins, medals, and classical art, as well as a dealer of archaeological objects. He had an eponymous gallery in New York, as well as businesses in Switzerland and Paris.

  [3] See copy of Dr. Jacob Hirsch invoice to Freer Gallery of Art, May 19, 1934, and marked approved on January 12, 1934, in object file.

  Research Completed January 10, 2023

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Arts of the Islamic World (May 3, 1998 to January 3, 2016)

  Ancient Glass (May 26, 1982 to June 25, 1982)

  Art of the Mamluks (May 14, 1981 to May 25, 1982)

  Art of the Arab World (August 15, 1980 to May 13, 1981)

  Art of the Arab World (May 8, 1975 to August 20, 1977)

  Near Eastern Art (June 15, 1973 to May 7, 1975)

  Glass Exhibition, in honor of VI International Congress on Glass (July 4, 1962 to December 3, 1962)

  Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 6 and 7 (February 25, 1956 to April 10, 1962)

  Untitled Exhibition, Islamic Manuscripts, Pottery, Metalwork, and Glass (April 12, 1955 to November 21, 1955)

  Untitled Exhibition, Islamic Arts, 1947 (October 6, 1947 to February 25, 1956)

  Untitled Exhibition, Islamic Ceramics and Glass (January 9, 1945 to May 1, 1945)

  Untitled Exhibition, Islamic Paintings (May 1, 1945 to September 25, 1947)

  Untitled Exhibition, Persian Paintings and Ceramics (May 5, 1933 to January 9, 1945)

  Ausstellung von Meisterwerken Mohammedanischer Kunst in München (May to October 1910)

• Previous custodian or owner

  G. R. Harding

  Friedrich Paul Theodor Sarre (1865-1945)

  Dr. Jacob Hirsch (1874?-1955)

• Origin

  Probably Cairo, Egypt

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1300s

• Name

  Dr. Jacob Hirsch, Harding, G. R., Sarre, Friedrich Paul Theodor

• Place

  Cairo

• Topic

  Gilding, Art, Mamluk period (1250 - 1517), Arts of the Islamic World, Enamel and enameling, Blow molding, Roman Period (30 BCE - 395 CE), Glassblowing

• Culture

  Muslims, Syrians

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)