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Bowl
unknown - Enlarge image
Bowl
- Place of origin:
Basra, Iraq (probably, made)
- Date:
10th century (made)
- Artist/Maker:
unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Earthenware with an opaque white glaze; in-glaze painting in blue and decoration in lustre
- Museum number:
C.350-1930
- Gallery location:
Islamic Middle East, room 42, case 2W
This bowl represents an early development in Iraqi lustre ceramics. In the initial phase of lustre production, potters used two metallic pigments. Here the potter has used only one, but now it has a more reflective surface. The decoration was inspired by the silverware of the period, which was sometimes decorated with humans and animals. Even the dotted background reproduces the texture of silver.
Potters in Iraq invented the technique of lustre decoration on ceramics in the 9th century. First they made a glazed vessel or tile with little or no decoration in the normal way. When the piece had cooled, a design was painted over the glaze in metallic compounds. The pot or tile was then fired again, this time with a restricted supply of oxygen. In these conditions, the metallic compounds broke down, and a thin deposit of copper or silver was left on the surface of the glaze. When polished, this surface layer reflected the light.
