Damascus Revival, 2024
Mediums:
3D Ceramics
Project Description:
Damascus Revival is an archive of 3D models that are inspired by the traditional forms and functions of Damascene craft. This series of 3D ceramics capture the legacy of the historical craftsmanship in Damascene ceramics from the 12th-16th century, propelling this ancient art form into a contemporary identity. By researching the historical, artistic and technical influences of Damascus ceramics, this archive explores the distinctiveness of Damascus ceramics and tells their story by creating imagined replicas that carve a new identity. This 3D collection celebrates the work of Syrian craftsmen which combined local traditions with imported styles and techniques to produce the distinctive and inventive character of Damascus ceramics. This 3D collection is specifically looking into 12th-16th century, a period of exceptional creativity in ceramics making. Damascus ceramics reflect the complex artistic collaborations, influences and imitations between Arabs and China, Persia, Turkey and more which are categories of my research methodology. My digital practice pays homage to the labour and process of craft, therefore I do not use Artificial Intelligence tools in my custom production pipeline. Each 3D ceramic is digitally crafted from scratch, with every ornament drawn by hand and scanned in high resolution. This Research & Creation project is generously funded by the Canadian Council for the Arts.
Tools:
Hand Rendered Drawings, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Substance Painter, Adobe Substance Designer, Houdini Side FX, Marmoset Engine
Lot #001, It Will Grow Tomorrow
Theme: Blue Rebirth
3D Ceramic Profile: Albarello
Period of research: Early 13th century
The legend of Raqqa lives in the history of Syria's ceramics almost as a dream. For a short period of time, the ceramics that came out of Raqqa lured the world with their lustre. The ending of Raqqa's ceramics was in 1258, when the Mongol invasion destroyed the city along with its artistic crafts. "What happened in Syria after the fall of Raqqa, remains obscure. But some potters conversant with the lustre technique probably escaped to Damascus."¹The artisans of Raqqa slowly began to move to Damascus, where a new artistic movement began to grow. As Raqqa was removed as the centre of ceramic production, so Damascus increasingly took its place, absorbing the region's best potters and craftsmen. The loose, quick hand that once created in Raqqa is now in Damascus, carefully crafting floral, arabesque motifs. This story is reflected even in the profile of the albarello, where it has been moulded and changed, symbolizing the growth of the ware. "Damascus albrelli evolved away from the small, faceted and sometimes heavily wasted forms found on their Raqqa forebears and instead took on the much grander and stouter silhouette of the vessel, with its tall, inward-sloping neck and shallow, angular shoulder profile."² The iconic lustre technique that the potters mastered in Raqqa, is now the "rarely seen Mamluk luster ware" as Bonhams discloses in footnote of a lot from a rare and important Damascene Mamluk lustre pottery Bowl from the 12th/13th century.
Since traditionally, albarellos were used to hold medicinal items, the function of this pot is to hold healing ointments. "It Will Grow Tomorrow" combines both the quickly, lively drawn lines from Raqqa, and the beginning of Damascene ceramic period. This fritware albarello is luster painted in a deep cobalt blue glaze, with hints of green, pale violet purple and olive green peaking through. The cavetto consists of two alternating bands surrounding a Kufic inscription which in Arabic, reads "It Will Grow Tomorrow". The body is divided by fluted sides, that are filled with quickly drawn luster paint strokes, contrasted with the curved thin bands that are alternatively populated with typical Raqqa space fillers such as dots, curved commas and spirals.
1. Early Islamic Pottery (PG. 15). (1947). Arthur Lane.
2. A sea of cultures (PG. 28). (2022). Sam Fogg.
Lot #002, Echoes
Theme: The Chinese Influence
3D Ceramic Profile: Large ovoid jar
Period of research: Late 14th century
At the end of the fourteenth century, Damascus pottery industry flourished, producing a variety of ceramics, including blue and white imitations of Chinese porcelain originals. Yuan and Ming dishes and bowls were circulating Syria, influencing and inspiring its craftsmanship around the world. "It is not certain where the Chinese technique was first developed in the Islamic world, but it was well known by the potters of Raqqa by the thirteenth century. Large quantities of underglaze-decorated Chinese pottery and sherds have been found in ninth-century Mesopotamian sites, as well as in numerous other locations across Asia and Africa, so Arab craftsmen were aware of the technique well before they started to emulate it".¹ The blue-and-white color scheme became a symbol of prestige. Damascene craftsmen began to adopt this into their hierarchy of colour and emulate the floral motifs of Chinese ceramics into their own design of developing Arabesque patterns. "The overall blue-and-white colour palette derives from Chinese porcelain, which was considered prestigious and was collected by Mamluk rulers".²
The function of this pot is purely decorative. "Echoes" celebrates the Chinoiserie artistic fusion and imitation of Chinese ceramics by Damascene craftsmen. The short neck begins with a band of alternating leaves. Followed by a second band of peony rosettes, playfully alternating around the body four times. The top bands are immersed in vibrating lines of circles that elude to water ripples representing the fluid artistic exchanges. The body of the pot copies the legendary Chinese cloud motif which has inspired artists over so many periods of time. This playful, yet symmetrical motif is a marriage between the organic form of a cloud with the calculated sense of arabesque motifs.
1. Damascus Tiles (PG. 24). (2015). Arthur Millner.
2. Collecting Inspiration: Edward C. Moore at Tiffany & Co. (PG. 193). (2021). Deniz Beyazit.
Lot #003, Untitled
Theme: The Invasion of Timur
3D Ceramic Profile: Pear shaped jar
Period of research: Early 15th century
"A century long period of peace was brutally disrupted in 1400 with the invasion of Syria and sacking of Damascus by Timur, who not only destroyed swaths of the city, and slaughtered most of its inhabitants, but deported the city's craftsmen to work for him in Samarkand."¹ Timur stole the craftsmen from Syria to beautify his home in Samarkand. This was a period in history where craftsmen and artists were considered prizes of war, forced to beautify spaces for war lords and dictators, using their art as a symbol for power and prestige. The function of this pot is undisclosed, it asks its viewer to visualize the rest of the design in their own imagination.
"Untitled" is an unfinished pot, as if capturing the moment craftsmen were forced to flee, leaving their artistic pursuits behind for survival. This raw unglazed ceramic is sprinkled with black dots. The cavetto has a carefully drawn arabesque palmette, representing the beginning of the untold story. This floral vegetal pattern, is a signifier and a trend of Damascene craft. It lives in the space between a "fleur-de-lys and the yuan lobed leaf"², revealing a hint of the diverse cultural exchanges up to this point in time. The second band pays homage to the style of Raqqa, with the presence of horror vacui. Quickly drawn vertical blue arcs are surrounded by radiating lines of black. The arcs are filled with dots of round circles, a symbol of classic Raqqa fillers. Unlike the floral motif in the first band, this second band is quickly drawn, vibrating with life and a sense of time and/or urgency. The body contains loose, vertical bands of cobalt blue, divided by the empty space that awaits the craftsman's brush.
1. Damascus Tiles (PG. 44). (2015). Arthur Millner.
2. Damascus Tiles (PG. 80). (2015). Arthur Millner.
Lot #004, Blueprint
Theme: The Tawrizi Presence
3D Ceramic Profile: Pear shaped jar
Period of research: Late 15th century
Ghaybi might have been a Persian, or perhaps, as some believe, a Syrian Arab who was abducted by Timur but later allowed to return home. Whatever the truth of Ghaybi's origins, his name echos in the legacy of Damascus ceramics as a pioneer of a new art movement, him and his son became specialists whom worked with mosques, courtyards, mausoleums. Tawrizi's legacy extended later on to glass mosque lamps in Cairo, after creating his blueprint in Damascus. It almost seems as there was a school in the advancement of tile making in his era. Tawrizi's approach to tile making was so influential, the protagonist of his artistic movement was the hexagonal tile and the unique combination of cobalt blue and turquoise, which at the time, has not yet been experimented with. The artistic idiom of Tawrizi's era lives to this day, as his tomb, which exists today in Damascus, contains his legendary tiles representing his life's work. "The mosque and tomb of Ghars al-Din Khalil al-Tawrizi, is the most important monument for the history of Mamluk tiles". ¹
The function of this large ovoid jar is purely decorative, meant to be placed in the centre of an indoor room, allowing the viewer to walk around it and easily experience every hexagonal tile. The lip of this jar is covered with a band of saturated turquoise, followed by a a battlement style border of deep cobalt blue and manganese purple. The body contains five hexagonal tiles. The individual diversity of each tile is a homage to the already rich historical artistic references to the various cultures that have influenced Damascus, from Raqqa-esqe motifs, to the evocation for chinoiserie, and at this time in history most recently added to fusion was Tawrizi's Persian influence. The story of this ceramic ends with a quick spray of Turquoise, vibrating with life.
1. Damascus Tiles (PG. 27). (2015). Arthur Millner.
Lot #005, Polychrome
Theme: The Ottoman Influence
3D Ceramic Profile: Elongated neck bottle
Period of research: Early 16th century
"As with other arts of the Islamic world, Damascus tiles reflect the complex interaction of Arabs, Persians and Turks which operated on many levels: political, social, religious and artistic".¹ Ottoman Damascus was a symbolic fusion between two legacies, the artistic character of Damascus and the Iznik stylistic spirit. This period marked an adventurous use of colour and an inventive combination of Damascene floral motifs, with the calculated designs of Iznik, and a hint of the Chinese influence peaking through. "With the arrival of the Ottomans, the polychrome experimentation of Iznik exerted influence during the first half of the sixteenth century, while designs in Damascus also made more adventurous use of color, and another pigment joined the repertoire. Apple green, the most characteristic colour of Damascus tiles throughout the Ottoman period".² Iznik ceramics are known for their orange-red pigments, while Ottoman-Syrian pottery began to introduce shades of Apple green into the already colourful and vibrant mix. "This palette is characteristic of glazed fritware from Damascus and the prevailing stylistic mode of the Ottoman imperial capital at Istanbul".³
The function of "Polychrome" is to exist in a garden, surrounded by sounds of a courtyard fountain and luscious shades of green. "Floral forms are the dominant theme in Damascus tiles. Gardens have a special place in the imagination of the peoples of the Middle East, belonging to a tradition with the most ancient of origins, closely linked to the notions of paradise". ¹ The cavetto of this bottle begins with a horizontal column of turquoise circles hugged by interlocking manganese purple lines. The tall slender neck is vertically striped with waves of Apple green, inspired by the discipline of Chinese design. A turquoise stem and leaf motif spirals over and under the green lines. The globular body is alive with a luscious garden that lives on a bed of deep cobalt blue. At the top, two saz leaves with a vibrant shade of green point down towards the second design. A symbolic white flower with an animated dagger-like border, living between two turquoise flower motifs, and over a fish-scale pattern, a clear signifier of Iznik design. The motif on the top is filled with overlapping leaves, stems, flowers and pomegranates, an indicator of Damascene identity.
1. Damascus Tiles (PG. 11). (2015). Arthur Millner.
2. Damascus Tiles (PG. 27). (2015). Arthur Millner.
3. The Tile Book (PG. 93). (2019). Terry Bloxham.
Lot #006, Ablaq
Theme: Classic Damascus
3D Ceramic Profile: Pear shaped jar
Period of research: Late 16th century
Damascus is known for the scent of jasmine, and the classic black-and-white strips echoing the city with the legacy of this pattern (known as Ablaq) which influenced architectural identity all over the world. This pot is a return to the classic Damascene identity. One of the many iconic architectural structures under the Ottoman period is the Sulaymaniyah mosque, which "marks a distinct change in architectural style in Syria, not just in the form and overall appearance, but in the decoration. It was designed by Sinan, the most celebrated of Ottoman architects, but construction was undertaken by local craftsmen who continue to use traditional local features such as ablaq (black and white striped) masonry and plaster decoration."¹
The function of the jar is to be filled with jasmine flowers, a celebration of this return to Damascene identity. This jar is a sensory memory of what it feels like to walk through the streets of Old Damascus. The body is a blueish cool white mixed with shades of a pale turquoise color. Vertical black bands orbit around the pot. This jar pays homage to the city I was born and raised in, and its black-and-white streets.
1. Damascus Tiles (PG. 123). (2015). Arthur Millner.