MATERIALS

Materials

Ceramics

Ceramics

Within the field of ceramics, China was the great source of inspiration for the Middle East. Although Muslim potters never managed to make coveted porcelain, they did invent tin-glazed earthenware: faience. They further developed fritware, introduced lusterware and underglaze painting, and mastered many other decoration techniques.

In 13th-century Iran, there were so many different types of ceramics that no comparable variation was found until the 19th century, in Europe.

Although ceramics can break, it does not decompose and cannot be recycled, so this is the group of works of art from the Islamic world that is best preserved.

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ISLAMIC ART: CERAMICS

Islamic Art: Ceramics

Item no. 8 of 52
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Earthenware bowl, covered with a white slip and painted in manganese, yellow, and green under and in a transparent glaze

Tunisia; 10th-11th century
H: 6.5; Diam: 21.2 cm

North African pottery from the 10th and 11th century bears many similarities to contemporary pottery from Spain, especially with regard to its palette. Related bowls – many of them with birds or other animals as motifs, like this piece – have been found in Sicily, which was under North African or local Muslim dominance until the final Norman conquest of the island in 1091.

The pottery that was made in North Africa – the Maghreb – was not particularly refined, and the rich technical development that took place first in Egypt and then in Spain was not found in the Maghreb until much later.

Inv. no. 4/2002