The Palmer Cup is a 1200–1215 CE goblet from northern Syria or Jazira region, and an example of early Islamic glass.
Inscription
The goblet is made of clear glass, enamelled and gilt, mounted on a foot of silver gilt embossed with
fleurs-de-lis. Near the edge, an inscription appears in gold on a blue ground: the line can be traced to the poet Kushajim (died around 961), and reads:
Depiction of a prince and his attendants
Below the inscription, a prince is seated between two attendants holding swords; beyond are three other attendants, including one holding a polo club. The figures are modelled in a thick white enamel, thinly gilt and having details in red and blue. The goblet has a flat foot-rim with a turn up inside. It is held in the mount by leaves; the stem is embossed with pairs of birds sitting on branches; ribbed crystal knop; the base is embossed with fleurs-de-lis in lozenge diaper. The goblet has a height of .
Glass from Mosul, Damascus, or Egypt
The original object was a glass beaker, transformed into a goblet with an elongated stem in France.
The glass is Islamic work, perhaps made at
Mosul,
Damascus, or in
Egypt, in the early thirteenth century. The decorated glass beaker itself can be securely attributed to the
Jazira region of northern Iraq and northern Syria, probably to
Raqqa or
Aleppo, where major glass workshops operated, and can be most likely dated to the period between 1200 and 1225.
Chalice from Paris
The mount is a silver-gilt chalice in filigree with a rock-crystal bead in the middle of the stem, and is most likely made in Paris, France, in the late 1250s or early 1260s.
This cup was long in the possession of the Palmer family, of Ladbroke in Warwickshire.
Fashion-style from Mosul
The ruler and attendants are similar to those found in the manuscript
Kitab al-Dariyaq from the
Mosul or North
Jazira region area, and wear the typical
sharbush type of headgear.
Their robes, headgear, attitudes are also similar to metalwork objects datable to the early 13th century with a provenance from
Mosul or the Northern Jazira area.
File:Islamic glass, Room 45, British Museum.jpg|The cup in the British Museum
File:Palmer Cup ruler (British Museum).jpg|Seated ruler
File:Palmer cup right attendants (British Museum).jpg|Palmer Cup, right attendants
File:Palmer cup left attendants (British Museum).jpg|Palmer Cup, left attendants
Sources
