Robert Mason
Royal Ontario Museum, Department of World Cultures, Faculty Member
- University of Toronto, Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, Faculty Memberadd
- Archaeology of Mediterranean Trade, Archaeology, Medieval Islam, Ceramic Petrography, Archaeology of Medieval Monasteries, Monasticism, and 26 moreByzantine monasticism, Ceramic Technology, Medieval Archaeology, Ceramic Analysis (Archaeology), Archaeometery, Ceramics (Archaeology), Middle East Archaeology, Islamic Military Architecture, Military Architecture, Early Medieval Archaeology, Roman Army, Roman military archaeology, Bronze Age Europe (Archaeology), Late Bronze Age archaeology, Bronze Age (Archaeology), Roman military history, Bronze Age Archaeology, Use Wear Analysis, Dress and Personal Adornment (Archaeology), Roman military equipment, Prehistoric weapons, Bow and Arrow Technology, Islamic Archaeology, Near Eastern Archaeology, Medieval Warfare, and Medieval Fortificationsedit
Persian Pottery in the First Global Age: the Sixteenth and Seventeeth Centuries studies the ceramic industry of Iran in the Safavid period (1501–1732) and the impact which the influx of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain, heightened by the... more
Persian Pottery in the First Global Age: the Sixteenth and Seventeeth Centuries studies the ceramic industry of Iran in the Safavid period (1501–1732) and the impact which the influx of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain, heightened by the activities of the English and Dutch East Indies Companies after c. 1700, had on local production.
The multidisciplinary approach of the authors (Lisa Golombek, Robert B. Mason, Patricia Proctor, Eileen Reilly) leads to a reconstruction of the narrative about Safavid pottery and revises commonly accepted notions. The book includes easily accessible reference charts to assist in dating and provenancing Safavid pottery on the basis of diagnostic motifs, potters’ marks, petrofabrics, shapes, and Chinese models.
The multidisciplinary approach of the authors (Lisa Golombek, Robert B. Mason, Patricia Proctor, Eileen Reilly) leads to a reconstruction of the narrative about Safavid pottery and revises commonly accepted notions. The book includes easily accessible reference charts to assist in dating and provenancing Safavid pottery on the basis of diagnostic motifs, potters’ marks, petrofabrics, shapes, and Chinese models.
The glazed ceramics produced in the Islamic world are of tremendous importance to the fields of art-history, archaeology and the history of technology. Unfortunately their study has been beset by three major problems. Firstly, problems... more
The glazed ceramics produced in the Islamic world are of tremendous importance to the fields of art-history, archaeology and the history of technology. Unfortunately their study has been beset by three major problems. Firstly, problems existed with the chronological and typological ordering of the various types, particularly in the relationship between different regions. Secondly, debilitating problems existed regarding the identification of centres of production for these wares. Although there is some documentary and archaeological evidence it has not been enough in the overwhelming majority of cases to link ceramic types to particular centres with any certainty. Thirdly, technical studies of these wares have previously focused on a few types, while most important technological questions have gone unanswered. Such questions include the origins of tin-opacified glazes, stonepaste bodies, underglaze painting, and other techniques.
This study is aimed at approaching these three problems, focusing on the period from the beginning of the Islamic period, up until circa 1250. Three chief methodologies have been used. Standard archaeological approaches to pottery classification are used to create a seriated ceramic typology, including study of forms and motif assemblages. The application of the scanning electron microscope with attached facilities is aimed at unraveling technological questions. Petrographic analysis is the chief means of characterization and identification of kiln-sites. For the petrographic study, new criteria for separating petrographic groups were developed for study of the stonepaste-bodied wares. The special strength of this work is its multi-disciplinary nature, as the three strands of the research correlate closely. For instance without an accurately dated ceramic typology it would have been impossible to put the provenance and particularly the technological findings into context.
The resulting picture is of an artistically and technically dynamic industry centralized in a very few specialized centres, with the rest of the ceramic industry forming a traditional and derivative backdrop.
This study is aimed at approaching these three problems, focusing on the period from the beginning of the Islamic period, up until circa 1250. Three chief methodologies have been used. Standard archaeological approaches to pottery classification are used to create a seriated ceramic typology, including study of forms and motif assemblages. The application of the scanning electron microscope with attached facilities is aimed at unraveling technological questions. Petrographic analysis is the chief means of characterization and identification of kiln-sites. For the petrographic study, new criteria for separating petrographic groups were developed for study of the stonepaste-bodied wares. The special strength of this work is its multi-disciplinary nature, as the three strands of the research correlate closely. For instance without an accurately dated ceramic typology it would have been impossible to put the provenance and particularly the technological findings into context.
The resulting picture is of an artistically and technically dynamic industry centralized in a very few specialized centres, with the rest of the ceramic industry forming a traditional and derivative backdrop.
Research Interests:
This article presents evidence for attributing a large series of Persian cuerda seca tile arches to the Safavid "Pavilion of the Stables" in Isfahan. The pictorial panels, stylistically datable to c. 1680, depict a wide range of subjects,... more
This article presents evidence for attributing a large series of Persian cuerda seca tile arches to the Safavid "Pavilion of the Stables" in Isfahan. The pictorial panels, stylistically datable to c. 1680, depict a wide range of subjects, drawn from both Persian literature and contemporary Safavid life. This is a work in progress for which the authors would appreciate feedback.
Research Interests:
"The microstructures and chemical compositions of stonepaste bodies from the Islamic Middle East, typically produced from a mixture of ten parts crushed quartz, one part crushed glass and one part white clay, are investigated using... more
"The microstructures and chemical compositions of stonepaste bodies from the Islamic Middle East,
typically produced from a mixture of ten parts crushed quartz, one part crushed glass and one part white
clay, are investigated using analytical scanning electron microscopy. For comparison, replicate stonepaste
bodies are produced in the laboratory at firing temperatures in the range 900e1200 C, and are similarly
examined. The stonepaste bodies are divided into four primary microstructural groups that reflect the
increasing reaction during firing of the glass fragments with the clay and quartz particles. The observed
microstructures are then used to assess the geographical and chronological variations in the production
technology of stonepaste ceramics from Egypt, Syria, Iran, Uzbekistan and Turkey, spanning the period
from 11th to 17th centuries AD."
typically produced from a mixture of ten parts crushed quartz, one part crushed glass and one part white
clay, are investigated using analytical scanning electron microscopy. For comparison, replicate stonepaste
bodies are produced in the laboratory at firing temperatures in the range 900e1200 C, and are similarly
examined. The stonepaste bodies are divided into four primary microstructural groups that reflect the
increasing reaction during firing of the glass fragments with the clay and quartz particles. The observed
microstructures are then used to assess the geographical and chronological variations in the production
technology of stonepaste ceramics from Egypt, Syria, Iran, Uzbekistan and Turkey, spanning the period
from 11th to 17th centuries AD."
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Introduction: The Abrahamic faiths, being Judaism, Christianity and Islam, have a long tradition of seeking God in the desert. Hence it is understandable that in the early Byzantine period a number of monasteries were founded in the... more
Introduction: The Abrahamic faiths, being Judaism, Christianity and Islam, have a long tradition of seeking God in the desert. Hence it is understandable that in the early Byzantine period a number of monasteries were founded in the desert for their residents to retreat from mundane existence and take up a life of reflection (Hirschfeld 1992). One of these is in the mountains of the Syrian desert, 90km north of Damascus, and is named after St. Moses the Abyssinian - Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi. Unusually, the monastery survived the uncertainties around the incorporation of Syria into the Islamic world in AD 634-635, and also the Crusades from 1098 onwards, until it was finally abandoned in the nineteenth century. A community was re-established at the site in the 1980s, and it is a functioning monastery again.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Transparent high lead and tin-opacified lead-alkali glazes have been extensively used throughout Europe and the Near East from their first appearance in the Roman era and the tenth- to eleventh-century Islamic world, respectively, up... more
Transparent high lead and tin-opacified lead-alkali glazes have been extensively used throughout Europe and the Near East from their first appearance in the Roman era and the tenth- to eleventh-century Islamic world, respectively, up until the present day. Using, to a large extent, information which is widely scattered through a diverse range of literature, the methods employed in the production of these two glaze types are first outlined and their merits are then compared with those of alkali glazes in terms of ease of preparation of the glaze mixture, ease of application of the glaze, ease of firing, cost of production, glaze-body fit and visual appearance. The principal advantages of transparent high lead glazes as compared to alkali glazes are shown to be ease of preparation and application of the glaze suspension, low susceptibility to glaze ‘crazing’ and ‘crawling’ and high, optical brilliance. Factors that influence the choice of tin-opacified lead-alkali glazes include ease of production of tin oxide by melting tin and lead metals together; a reduced risk of reduction of lead oxide to lead metal and consequent blackening of the glaze; and, again, low susceptibility to ‘crazing’ and ‘crawling’. Limits of current knowledge regarding these two glaze types and requirements for future research are outlined.
Research Interests:
"Introduction: The study of ceramics in the mediaeval Middle East has traditionally been divided into two separate fields, those of archaeology and art history. Archaeologists have generally focused on the finds from their own sites,... more
"Introduction: The study of ceramics in the mediaeval Middle East has traditionally been divided into two separate fields, those of archaeology and art history. Archaeologists have generally focused on the finds from their own sites, seeking only precise comparanda for publication. High-quality glazed ceramics such as lustre-wares were made in a restricted number of centres and distributed over a very large area, and thus may be a small percentage of the total ceramic assemblage. No archaeologist constrained to analysis of material from their own site has ever had the opportunity to examine the fine wares as a complete corpus. Broad all-encompassing approaches to the fine wares have only been attempted by art historians utilizing traditional connoisseurship techniques and focusing on the whole vessels which have appeared on the art market since the nineteenth century.
This paper represents the reporting of a component of a larger study that is the first attempt at providing a chronology for Middle Eastern ?lite glazed wares dating from about 700 to 1340 (all dates are in the "common era" or ad) based on the methodologies of archaeological ceramic study. This forms part of a comprehensive multidisciplinary study, including the application of the scanning electron microscope (SEM) with X-ray spectroscopy and petrographic analysis.
Iraq was an important political centre of the early Islamic period, containing not only the largest Arab Muslim population in the first centuries but also the capitals of the Abbasid Caliphate from 750 to 1250. Pottery made in Iraq at this time had a very wide distribution, and the pottery available for study comes not only from sites in Iraq (Hira, Nippur, Samarra, Basra), but also from Iran (Susa, Istakhr, Siraf ), Syria (Rakka), Egypt (Fustat), Bahrain, Oman (Lasail), Saudi Arabia (Dhahran), Jordan (Aqaba), Yemen (Zabid), Central Asia (Samarqand), the Maldives (Male), Thailand (Ko Kho Khao) and South Africa (KwaGandaganda). Published material incorporated into the study extends this distribution to China, North Africa and Spain.
"
This paper represents the reporting of a component of a larger study that is the first attempt at providing a chronology for Middle Eastern ?lite glazed wares dating from about 700 to 1340 (all dates are in the "common era" or ad) based on the methodologies of archaeological ceramic study. This forms part of a comprehensive multidisciplinary study, including the application of the scanning electron microscope (SEM) with X-ray spectroscopy and petrographic analysis.
Iraq was an important political centre of the early Islamic period, containing not only the largest Arab Muslim population in the first centuries but also the capitals of the Abbasid Caliphate from 750 to 1250. Pottery made in Iraq at this time had a very wide distribution, and the pottery available for study comes not only from sites in Iraq (Hira, Nippur, Samarra, Basra), but also from Iran (Susa, Istakhr, Siraf ), Syria (Rakka), Egypt (Fustat), Bahrain, Oman (Lasail), Saudi Arabia (Dhahran), Jordan (Aqaba), Yemen (Zabid), Central Asia (Samarqand), the Maldives (Male), Thailand (Ko Kho Khao) and South Africa (KwaGandaganda). Published material incorporated into the study extends this distribution to China, North Africa and Spain.
"
Research Interests:
INTRODUCTION: The group of pottery revealed by the early excavations at Samarra was considered at the time to date to the historical occupation of the site by the 'Abbasid caliphs. Although this chronology has long been discredited,' the... more
INTRODUCTION: The group of pottery revealed by the early excavations at Samarra was considered at the time to date to the historical occupation of the site by the 'Abbasid caliphs. Although this chronology has long been discredited,' the assemblage is still often referred to as "Abbasid" or "Samarran". The ability of the field archaeologist to recognise "Samarran" pottery remains vitally important either on survey or in excavations. Along with most other forms of Islamic pottery, however, knowledge concerning this material suffers from two serious lacunae: when it was made, and where. In the absence of dateable inscriptions, excavation can provide a chronology for pottery; identification of kiln sites, and the characterisation of their products by physical methods, are necessary to determine the origins of this material. Only by physical characterisation can we be sure that we are dealing with the products of a particular kiln, and not with similar products from different kilns.