Islamic Pottery; During the early Islamic period there were three major types of wares: the tin-glazed, the luster-painted and the slip-painted wares. Tin-glazed wares, which initially were produced in Egypt and Iraq, were influenced by the Chinese white porcelain and stoneware. It was the whiteness, the translucency and the elegant shapes of these vessels that makes them remarkable. Documented records shows that such Chinese white porcelain and stoneware were already imported into the Islamic world during the reign of the famous Abbasid Caliph, Haroun al-Rashid, towards the end of the 8th and beginning of the 9th century.

While the composition of the porcelain remained a secret of the Chinese potters for many more centuries, craftsmen of the Islamic world tried to reserve it with fine white clay, which was then covered with a tin glaze. The tin glaze provided a grayish-white opaque surface which may not have equaled the white porcelain or stoneware of the Far East, but nevertheless was quite close to it. Tin-glazed vessels were discovered in large numbers at several sites in Egypt, but mainly in Iraq, particularly at Samara, some hundred kilometers north of Baghdad, which during the 9th century was the capital of the Abbasid Empire. By then the empire stretched from the Atlantic in the west to Central Asia and India in the east. Though no pottery kilns were discovered in Samara, the excavations at Basra produced evidence that this ware was manufactured, among many other places in the city.

Some of the finest and most inventive ceramics ever produced in the Islamic lands were made in Iran. Iranian potters in the 12th and 13th centuries produced two types of over-glaze-painted ceramics. The first was lusterware, in which potters painted designs in silver or copper oxides in an already glazed piece, which was then re-fired in a special reducing kiln. The carefully regulated heat softened the glaze, and the oxygen-poor atmosphere took oxygen from the metallic oxides, leaving a thin film of metal on the surface of the glaze. The construction of a special kiln, the expense of the additional materials, particularly the metallic oxides, the extra fuel required for a double firing, and the difficulty of controlling all the possible variables made these ceramics the acme of the potter's art. Lusterwares had already been produced in Egypt and, like Fatimids lusterwares, Iranian luster were decorated in one color of luster. In the Seljuks period, however, Iranian  potters extended the traditional shapes (bowls, plates and jars) to include such new ones as figurines, stands and, most importantly, large expanses of wall tiles. Only the center of production has been identified: the city of Kashan in central Iran.

Islamic Pottery part Two >

lusterware A type of pottery with an over-glaze finish containing copper and silver or other materials that give the effect of iridescence. The process may have been invented and was certainly first popularized by Islamic potters of the 9th cent. The most beautiful and brilliantly colored ware pottery that was made between 836 and 883 for the Abbasid caliphs has been found at Samarra. During the reign (10th-12th cent.) of the Fatimids in Egypt a high standard was maintained. Iranian and Egyptian potters continued to produce lusterware, while in Europe it was manufactured chiefly in Spain and then in Italy, where in the 15th cent. it was sometimes used to enhance majolica. In England the technique came into vogue in the 19th cent. and was utilized by Josiah Wedgwood and Josiah Spode.

kiln Furnace for firing pottery and enamels, for making brick, charcoal, lime, and cement, for roasting ores, and for drying various substances (e.g., lumber, chemicals). Kilns may be updraft or downdraft; round, conical, annular, or rectangular; arranged for intermittent or continuous firing; and of the muffle (double-wall) or direct-contact type, as required. Rotary kilns are much used in continuous processes, including cement manufacturing and the drying of granular materials. They consist of long tubes lying almost horizontally that are rotated slowly as heat is applied to the material being treated inside the tubes. The fuel used may be electricity, oil, gas, or coal. The temperature of firing and the length of time required depend on the design of the kiln and the type of material being fired.

ISLAMIC ART

Mosque Lamp, Iznik 1549, London, British Museum. This mosque lamp was produced by a master craftsmen named Musli in Iznik and was donated to the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem in the course of the restoration work on the harem complex undertaken by Sulayman the Magnificent. Beside the religious inscriptions it shows dainty ornamental cloud scrolls,  which are framed by delicate arabesque painting. While the decoration looks back to earlier models, the coloring is typical of Iznik pottery of the 1540's. Quality ceramic from Iznik, a city some 100 km from Istanbul, had no competition in the whole of the Ottoman empire.

Ceramic bowl, Iran, late 13th-or 14th-century, Washington, Free Gallery of Art. This bowl, under-glaze-painted in blue and green and over-glaze-painted in red, dark green, white & gold, was made by the expensive lavardina technique. The radial pattern is comparable to patterns found on Kashan under-glaze-painted wares of the 13th century, indicating that the Kashan potters continued to work in new techniques in the IIkhanids period.

Ceramic Bottle, Medina al-Zahra, late 10th century, Cordoba, Museo Arqueologico Provincial. This bottle from Medina ak-Zahra shows the striking script decoration used by the Umayyad court. Fine ceramics, painted in green or manganese, were produced not only in Cordoba but several other areas of southern Spain; they were society's "best" china for the most prosperous. Vessel decorators used applied leaf motifs as well as script designs.

Iznik: The Artistry of Ottoman Ceramics (Hardcover) Walter B. Denny, Professor of Art History at the University of Massachusetts, offers new perspectives on one of the most popular Islamic art forms. Covering both Iznik pièces de forme and the famous Iznik tiles that decorate Ottoman imperial monuments, the book integrates the entire spectrum of Iznik production, both titles and wares, with the broader artistic tradition in which it originated.