Description

The art of enamelled glass reached an apogee during the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods. Syrian and Egyptian artists painted intricate designs on blown vessels using gold and enamelled pigments made of crushed coloured glass, fusing them through firing. A number of these objects, including this red and gold enamelled goblet, made their way to China through Muslim traders who founded colonies there and exported silks and other goods back to West Asia. The ROM’s goblet was discovered in a mosque in China’s Shanxi province. Its Arabic inscription is undeciphered. Two other Mamluk glass vessels discovered at the same time as the goblet are 924.26.1-2.