Container in the form of a bull bearing a pot
12th to early 13th century, Stonepaste; glazed in opaque white, luster painted (with later repairs), Iran or Iraq (Persia), Seljuq dynasty (ca. 1040–1157) or slightly later, 38.139
Listen to Seattle chef Rachel Yang discuss this artwork.
Produced by Acoustiguide © Seattle Art Museum
This figure has been reconstructed from at least thirty fragments. Do you see areas of glossy iridescence, such as on the eye and on the vase on the animal’s back? These are intact lusterware surfaces, formed by firing a metallic glaze in a low-oxygen (reducing) environment. Areas of surface loss and restoration appear matte and blanched (faded) in comparison.
© Geneva Griswold, Seattle Art Museum
The patchwork restoration pattern is accentuated by viewing the figure under ultraviolet (UV) illumination to activate materials such as pigments, paint binders, and coatings. In the fluorescence process, UV energy is temporarily absorbed by a material and then reemitted as lower-energy radiation in the visible light region:
- The brown underglaze design quenches the UV energy to appear dark, while the luster glaze fluoresces purple on the original fragment on the figure’s front left leg.
- Bright white fluorescence on three bands on the vessel, the belly, and the base correspond to areas of white overpaint.
- Orange fluorescence, characteristic of an organic resin, corresponds to matte, umber-colored areas of fill.
Today, conservators seek to preserve rather than restore what remains. What would you do?
© Geneva Griswold, Seattle Art Museum