Where was this produced?
By Gracyn Benck '23
The exact location of production of the So-Called Crusader’s Bowl is unknown. However, it was certainly made in Islamic lands that were being Crusaded during the eleventh century. The Crusader’s Bowl likely came from an area where there was a large Christian population who were the patrons of objects like these (Atil et al, 1985). Objects with Christian themes around this period commonly came from Syria and Egypt due to the large Christian communities there (Bilotto, 2012). In Egypt, Cairo had a substantial Christian population. Multiple objects produced in the twelfth century have inscriptions stating they were made in Cairo. Since there is no specific documentation, it is impossible to know exactly where the So-Called Crusader’s Bowl was made, but it most likely came from Cairo around a century earlier than these other known objects. The Christian presence in Cairo would have been the patrons for these kinds of objects based on the Christian and pseudo-Islamic themes decorating the bowl. It is also likely to have come from Cairo due to its similarity to other objects from the Fatimid caliphate. This bowl resembles other Fatimid bowls in Egypt showing a design made for both secular and Christian uses (Bilotto, 2012).