10 Ceramics


Ewer with phoenix head lid, China, Sui dynasty, early 7th century, white-grey moulded porcelain stoneware with the addition of freehand turned elements, covered with a green-yellow glaze. images: MAO Museum of Oriental Art, Turin


Ewer with rooster head, Iran, Kashan,


13th century (or late 12th/early 13th century), siliceous mixture, fretwork decoration, black motifs under turquoise glass


Ewer with rooster head, Iran, Kashan,


13th century, fritware, lustre decoration on matt white glass


Ewer with rooster head, Iran, Kashan or Sultanabad, 13th century, fritware, black


decoration under turquoise glass with touches of blue, traces of gold leaf


LIQUID FRONTIERS AND ENTANGLED WORLDS


T


his third chapter from the series of exhibitions called Liquid Frontiers and Entangled Worlds


is part of a composite research programme taking place at MAO between 2023 and 2024, which seeks to analyse the artistic trajectories and cultural dynamics that have characterised exchange between Asia and Europe over the centuries. Eurasian Traditions


highlights the


critical role of Asia and the Mediterranean as a fulcrum of cross- cultural interaction and as site of connection, negotiation and constant re-emergence. Tis exploration of cultural transposition, and


translation,


interpretation is done through a selection of objects from West, Central, and East Asia. Tese objects raise questions about material and immaterial circulation, ways of transforming meaning and use between Asia and Europe across two thousand years of history. Far from wanting to be an exhaustive selection, the


objects selected that offer


alternatives to the euro-centric paradigm of artistic excellence. Tey reassert the critical role played by Central Asia in the global transmission of ideas and creation. Te Mediterranean Sea played a pivotal role in this cross-cultural phenomenon, as an intermediate space and creator of boundaries but also as a phenomenal catalyst of exploration and contact: a liquid frontier where continents converge and artistic expressions and cultural phenomena are constantly reinvented. Te exhibition is divided into


thematic sections with a special focus on colour: blue, red and gold; and materiality:


ceramics, fabrics,


metalwork, paper and pigments. As well as ceramics, on show are silks from the ancient region of Sogdiana, in Central Asia, blue and white ceramics produced between the Persian Gulf and China, a selection of Tartar clothes made of silk and gold in the 13th century during the Mongol period between Iran and China, that were prized by the European


ASIAN ART | WINTER 2023 |


mediaeval aristocracy and the clergy, rare examples of tiraz (Egypt, 10th century), textiles embroidered with inscriptions highlighting the importance of calligraphy in the Islamic world, and a series of zoomorphic metal incense burners (Iran, 9th to 13th centuries), reaffirming the centrality of essences in Mediaeval Islamic societies. Te project draws on numerous


loans from major Italian collections and


institutions, reflecting the


presence in Italy of a shared multicultural history: alongside objects from Central Asia in the MAO collection there are rarely seen textiles, ceramics and miniatures from the Fondazione Bruschettini per l’Arte Islamica e Asiatica, Khorassan metalwork from the Aron Collection and important loans from the Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche, Faenza, the church of San Domenico, Perugia, the Museo delle Civiltà di Roma, the Galleria Sabauda/Musei Reali and the Palazzo Madama, Turin. In addition, as has become


#AsianArtPaper | asianartnewspaper | The objects


reassert the critical role played by


Central Asia


customary at MAO, a booklet with in-depth articles on the main subjects of the exhibition is distributed free of charge. With texts by the curatorial team and contributions from Yuka Kadoi, Maria Ludovica Rosati, and Mohammad Salemy, the publication is an indispensable tool


understand the content of the exhibition and is a fascinating read. Te exhibition begins with the culture and nomadic habits of the


asianartnewspaper | to better


early traders of the Silk Road. Nicoletta Fazio and Laura Vigo write in the catalogue about these ancient traders of the Silk Road, who roamed between the ancient areas of Iran and China and the northern regions of India. Te authors set the scene for the exhibition by explaining ‘By the end of the 5th century, the secret of sericulture finally leaked out of China, allowing Iranian and Central Asian craftsmen to produce their own silk textiles, and opening the way for Sogdian merchants to export them to the west and east’. Popularised by Central Asian silk weavers, the roundel motif had become fashionable amongst the Chinese court and elites. By the 580s at the latest, this motif had been translated into different formats and artistic media, which can be seen in the Sui-dynasty ceramic ewer with the bird spout on view in the exhibition, and the later, 13th- century silk fragment from Central Asia, also on show in the exhibition. Te authors continue, ‘Roundels and medallions framing animal


Asian Art Newspaper


subjects were originally infused with ancient Iranian concepts from Zoroastrian religion and ideology, charged with a strong symbolism. Birds holding pearl necklaces in their beaks stood for the bird Varagan searching for light in the ocean; the winged horse represented the young fire god Apam Napat ‘born of the waters’;


the ram symbolised the


majestic power and glory of Kwarnah (the divine light); and the composite creature of a winged dog with lion’s claws, the mythical simurgh, mediator between heaven and earth. Framed by beaded or leafy medallions, these creatures


peacefully conquered


Eurasia, enthralling the mind and shaping the taste of urban elites and the fashionable set. When these silks with animal figures


in medallions Achromatic pilgrim’s flask, Iran, 13th/14th century, unglazed clay terracotta with moulded decoration, MAO Turin


Moon flask, Jingdezhen, China, Ming dynasty, Yongle period (1402-1424), porcelain painted in cobalt blue underpaint with geometric and vegetal motifs, Palazzo Madama, Civic Museum of Ancient Art, Turin


were traded outside their con- text of origin, their symbolism was let fall; the motif was translated by Sogdian traders and craftsmen and adapted successfully to local consumers, specifically for its exotic nature. Translated by multiple hands into different artistic languages, this decorative motif stood the test of time. It was successfully replicated up to the 14th century in the luxurious cloth-of- gold silk textiles for the elites of Mongol-dominated Iran and coveted by


the aristocracy of mediaeval


Europe, demonstrating the ever- lasting appeal of ancient Central Asian symbols far beyond their original socio-cultural context of usage and circulation. Laura Vigo also notes that ‘Sogdians


had a thing for wine’. Surviving wall paintings and bas-reliefs show banquet scenes where goblets and ewers are an integral element of a complex mise-en- scene. She writes, ‘Grape wine was the favourite alcoholic beverage and known for its indisputable inebriating qualities. Presented as a gift, payment or tribute to guests and political figures, it was also vital in Zoroastrian libation rituals. Persian sources mention that ewers with a spout in the shape of a cockerel head, known as “wine cocks”, were used in Zoroastrian ceremonies already by the 6th century BC in the


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