Khamsa bowl
Type:
Bowls
Date:
Early thirteenth century
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Spain
Medium:
Lusterware
Dimensions:
8.3 × 23.5 cm
Description:
This early thirteenth-century lusterware bowl from Almohad Spain shows two figures (a couple?) flanking a large khamsa. This open-right-hand motif was sometimes associated with Muhammad's daughter Fatima or with Abbas, the son of Muhammad's son-in-law and cousin 'Ali. It was especially popular in western Islamicate lands, especially North Africa and Iberia, where it was used as an apotropaic device and associated especially with women and childbirth. The Almohads, an Amazigh dynasty, introduced the motif into al-Andalus; it is not found there before their reign. The bowl may have been made in Murcia or Málaga.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
10
Repository and Online Resources:
• The bowl is in the Detroit Institute of Art, inv. no. 26.181.
Image Credits:
Detroit Institute of Art, City of Detroit Purchase, 26.181
