Lustreware
It is thought that the Fustat potters dispersed to both Syria and Persia, and lustreware appears there about this time; later the devastating conquests of the Mongols and Timur disrupted these industries.
[1] Lustre appears in Italian maiolica around 1500, and became a speciality of two relatively minor pottery towns, Gubbio, noted for a rich ruby-red, and Deruta.
[2] Around 1550 an even smaller town, Gualdo Tadino, also began to make some, for about a century,[3] which was the last Renaissance lustre, Gubbio having stopped about 1570, and Deruta around 1630.
[4] Meanwhile, Persian lustre, after very little production since the 14th century, revived under the Safavids between about 1650 and 1750, for elegant vessels, especially vases and bottles, densely painted with plant-based designs.
[6] In the classical process to make lustreware, a preparation of metal salts of copper or silver, mixed with vinegar, ochre, and clay is applied on the surface of a piece that has already been fired and glazed.
[13] Lamm (1941) and Clairmont (1977) placed the origin of motifs appearing on lusterware decoration in Coptic Egypt, however, this hypothesis is disputed.
[16][17] The earliest recipe for luster production appeared in 8th century AD "Kitab al-Durra al-Maknuzna" by Jabir ibn Hayyan.
[20] A similar technique was used to make iridescent Art Nouveau glass, with more of a "rainbow" effect than a single shiny colour, from the late 19th century.
[21] The first lustreware pottery was probably made under the Abbasid Caliphate in modern Iraq in the early 9th century, around Baghdad, Basra and Kufa.
Most pieces were small bowls, up to about 16 cm wide, but fragments of larger vessels have been found, especially at the ruins of the Caliph's palace at Samarra, and in Fustat (modern Cairo).
There was a movement of goods generated between Iraq and China which triggered artistic emulations both ends, as well as some transfers of technologies, notably in the realm of ceramics.
At this point in time, there was an aesthetic preference for completely covering the surface of objects with ornamental decoration, and this is also the case for lustreware ceramics.
[24] The Fatimid court in Egypt was large, rich, and extravagant, producing one of the great periods for lustreware, which was the only luxury type of pottery at the time.
The decoration was very varied, partly reflecting the mix of influences from the earlier Mesopotamian tradition, and the Fatimids' own origins to the West, in North Africa and Sicily, as well as the existence of a number of different workshops.
[29] Lustreware began to be made in Persia when it was part of the Seljuk Empire, whose ruling dynasty and top elite were ethnically Turkish.
Firstly the fritware body and the glazes used on it were greatly improved, which allowed thinner walls and some of the translucency of Chinese porcelain, which was already imported into Persia, and represented the main competition for local fine wares.
Although an influx of craftsmen from Fustat is usually predicated, these may have been painters rather than potters, as local vessel shapes and the Seljuk "white ware" body are always used.
[31] Though the Mongol invasion, reaching Kashan in 1224, seems to have greatly reduced production until the 1240s, to judge by dated pieces, it continued, initially with little change in style.
A large part of Persian lustreware production was in the form of tiles, usually star-shaped, with central animal or human figures, mostly single or in pairs, and ornament around the edges, and sometimes inscriptions.
[33] Tile and vessel production continued under the Mongol Ilkhanids, with some decline in the quality of the body, glaze, lustre finish and painting, the "drawing became slightly heavier, and the mood less lyrical".
They begin near the end of the reign of Nur ad-Din of Aleppo (d. 1174), and the court may have deliberately fostered the bringing together of the craftsmen, perhaps including some from Persia.
The designs are "mostly freely painted flowing compositions based on themes of good omen: sun-faces, fishes, crescent moons, figures of courtiers" and others.
In Raqqa ware the painting is mostly plant-based forms and inscriptions or "mock-lettering", geometrically structured to give "a dignified, monumental character".
The glazes were either clear, revealing an off-white body or white slip, or given various rather dark colours, usually thought to show later wares.
[38] After the fall of Raqqa the lustre technique later appeared in Damascus, until Timur sacked the city in 1401, bringing Syrian lustreware to an end.
Referred to as obra de malica, or "Malaga work", their creations found a dedicated clientele among affluent families in Florence, Italy.
[40]Metallic lustre of another sort produced English lustreware, which imparts to a piece of pottery the appearance of an object of silver, gold or copper.
[46] Under the impetus of the Aesthetic Movement, William de Morgan revived lustrewares in art pottery, drawing from lustred majolica and Hispano-Moresque wares, with fine, bold designs.
