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This impressive lion comes from the Raqqa area
of Syria, which is most famously associated with
the Abbasid caliph, Harun al-Rashid. The town
became an important Islamic stronghold in 639
when 'Iy-- ibn Ghanm took the Christian city
Kallinikos and renamed it ar-Raqqah. It became
important as a religious centre; many associates
of the Prophet Muhammad used to live there. It
was much fought over during the transition
between the Umayyad and Abbasid regimes, due
to its position between Syria and Iraq and on the
road network that ran throughout the Levantine
area. Ar-Raqqah and ar-R?fiqah merged into
one urban complex that became the official
home for caliph Harun al-Rashid in 796. He was
a cultured and enlightened man, under whose
tolerant direction the populace achieved
numerous literary and other cultural plaudits that
made it the most important city in the area, even
more so than Damascus. Subsequent caliphates
were less successful, however, and it fell into
decline in the late 9th century following civil
unrest in the area. The city enjoyed a
renaissance under the Ayyubids and Zangids in
the 12th and 13th centuries, due primarily to
artistic and industrial production, on the back of
refined agricultural methods. Of all
achievements, it is perhaps the blue “Raqqa
ware” that was its crowning cultural
triumph; it is believed to have risen to its
greatest standard under the patronage of al-
Malik al-Ashraf Musa (1201-1229), and there
was some export of these delicate and
extraordinarily decorative wares. This brief
flowering was abruptly halted when the town
was destroyed in the Mongol wars (c.1265) and
the remaining inhabitants massacred in 1288.
While some potters appear to have escaped to
Damascus after the first sacking of the city, their
subsequent work is far inferior to that of the
original Euphrates kilns. For this reason, Raqqa
ceramics are amongst the rarest and most
valuable in the Islamic world.
The current piece is remarkable in terms of its
size
and preservation (some damage has been
professionally restored), and depicts a seated
male lion in light-dark blue crackle glaze finish.
The representation is stylized, as is standard for
Islamic pieces of this type, with the proportions
depicted in a slightly expressionistic manner.
The forelegs are very tall, providing a powerful,
solid stance, while the back is very long to
compensate, ending with small, muscular back
legs curled almost under the body. The head is
also unanatomical, being elongated with a flat
frontal, a rather rounded muzzle, and “laughter
lines” around the edges of the mouth. The mane
and the space between the front legs are
represented with fine pennate latticework, from
which small, pierced triangular ears protrude
towards the apex of the head. The ground of the
body is smoothed. The mouth is open to expose
details of the dentition, notably four elongated
canines. The eyes are pointed ovals with pierced
pupils and ringed by brows depicted using
incised lines. The nose is elongated and straight,
ending in a small triangular apex and centrally-
slanted oval nostrils.
Censers or incense-burners are fairly common in
collections of Islamic art, as the habit of burning
aromatic spices – which were among the most
valuable of all trade imports – was widespread
among social elites. Sculptural forms
are rarer, and pieces such as this are the rarest
of
all. The function of the piece is questionable
owing to its uniqueness. Indeed, there is little
evidence that it was
used, and it might thus have been an ornamental
object that reflects the long aristocratic tradition
of hunting lions throughout the Levantine area.
Whatever the purpose of this piece, however, its
sheer rarity and sculptural presence guarantees
that it will find a home only in the most
exclusive of great Islamic collections.
- (DC.1857 (LSO))
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