The “Gazelle Vase”, technical culmination of pottery in Al-Andalus

Opening hours: Saturdays at 12:00, during October.
Location: Room V, Museum of the Alhambra, Palace of Charles V.
The Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife presents the “Gazele Vase” as piece of the month. Every Saturday in October, from 12:00 on, the art historian Gaspar Aranda will reveal details and specialties of the only one of the so-called “Alhambra Vases” that has continually remained at the Monumental Complex, since its creation until entering the Museum as “Royal Treasure of the Alhambra”. Entrance and participation in this activity is free.
Furthermore, the Gazelle Vase is the only one of the Alhambra series that still shows the exquisite outline with convex-concave movement, the fantastic crafting of all its ornamentation in blue and gold, or its perfectly proportioned elements. The piece is dated during the plenitude of the third Nasrid artistic period, that is, under Muhammad V (1354-1359 / 1362-1391). During this period, the ornamentation reached an evolution to dramatic forms and an extremely refined style.
The piece reveals the technical and artistic mastery reached by the Nasrid potters: example and culmination of the long and complex evolution of glazed pottery in Al-Andalus, from the Umayyad, Taifa, Almoravid and Almohad period, and still until the Mudejar period.
This type of vases have the characteristic of being the golden earthenware pieces of largest size in all Islamic periods; also their refined technique makes them singular pieces. The “Alhambra Vases” represented real emblems of Power and Luxury of the Nasrid Dynasty; they were exclusive items manufactured continually from the 13th to the 15th century, they were made for palaces and exported from Malaga to the East.