- Title
- Bowl
- Date Made
- 9th century
- Medium
- Earthenware, overglaze polychrome luster painted
- Dimensions
- 2 3/4 x 9 1/2 in. (6.99 x 24.13 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.73.5.238
- Collecting Area
- Art of the Middle East: Islamic
- Curatorial Notes
The spectacular technique of luster painting was first introduced in the ninth century, probably by Egyptian artists familiar with the secret of luster-painted glass who had perhaps immigrated to Basra, in southern Iraq, where a new ceramic industry developed under the ‘Abbasid dynasty (750–1258). Lusterwares were luxury ceramics that required two firings. In the first firing, an opaque, generally white glaze was applied, and in the second, the design was rendered over the glaze with a paste of silver and copper compounds ground with sulfur. The second firing took place in a special kiln that restricted the flow of oxygen; this reducing atmosphere forced the metals to give up their oxygen, thereby creating a thin, lustrous film that fused with the glazed surface.
This deep bowl painted in yellow and brown luster over a white glaze and decorated with abstract and vegetal designs is an excellent example of the earlier, more colorful phase of the luster technique. Although the glazing technique used on this bowl reflects a key advance in ceramics, the decoration, which emulates the paired wings of the Sasanian crown, demonstrates continuity with Late Antique visual culture (see M.73.5.641).
2024
