Les ateliers de potiers en Asie centrale, entre Samarqand et Nīshāpūr : approche critique, de la conquête musulmane au XIIe siècle

Pierre Simeon (1)

1 OM-IM - Équipe Islam médiéval

The current situation of research workshops on ceramics productions centers in Central Asia is paradoxical. Indeed, all the historians and archaeologistsagree on the fact that the medieval ceramics of Central Asia are a major craft domain, characterized by a high technical and artistic quality, particularly underthe Sāmānids (228-383/850-1005). ese ceramics, whose the most famous ones possess an epigraphic or pseudo-epigraphic decoration made with metaloxides (iron ore are still dominant) on a white slip (rich in alumina and silica) under a transparent lead glaze, are also well represented in private and publiccollections outside Central Asia. Although these ceramics are becoming better characterized, they are still imperfectly known, and still poorly understood,as far as their origins and workshops for instance. However, Western scholars frequently refer to the ceramic of Samarqand and Nīshāpūr. Both sites are stillheld as productions centers for the main types of ware, often hastily determined on the basis of incomplete and biased documentation, without the presenceof kilns or wasters clearly associated to them. In continuation of our PhD research and from these findings, we draw a critical overview in order to stimulatedebate in this field.

Mots clés: Asie centrale; archéologie; céramologie

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire

Pierre Simeon. Les ateliers de potiers en Asie centrale, entre Samarqand et Nīshāpūr : approche critique, de la conquête musulmane au XIIe siècle. IXe Congrès International de l'AIECM2, association internationale pour l'étude des céramiques médiévales méditerranéennes, Nov 2009, Venise, Italie. pp.15-21. ⟨halshs-00874795⟩