Archaeology: What's Hot Now: Lustreware

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Lustreware Oct 22nd 2011, 10:03 Lustreware is a decorative technique invented by 9th century AD Abbasid potters in what is today Iraq. The potters believed that making lustreware was truly "alchemy", because the process involves using a lead-based glaze to create a golden shine on a pot without gold in it. Lustreware grew out of an existing ceramic technology in Iraq, but its earliest form was clearly influenced by Tang dynasty potters, probably first through trade and diplomacy along the Silk Road. Tang dynasty potters and other craftsmen were held captive and working in Baghdad between AD 751 and 762. The secret to lustreware developed over the centuries, but was kept within one small group of potters who traveled together within the Islamic state until the 12th century, when three separate groups began their own potteries. Chronology of Lustreware Abbasid 8th c -1000 Basra, Iraq Fatimid 1000-1170 Fustat, Egypt Tell Minis 1170-1258 Raqqa, Syria Kashan 1170-present Kashan, Iran Spanish ?1170-present Malaga, Spain Damascus 1258-1401 Damascus, Syria Lustreware Bibliography See the photo essay Islamic Lustrewares: Origins and Technique for more detailed information and photographs. More photos of lustreware in Wikimedia includes several by Marie Lan-Nguyen. But to really experience them you need to go to a museum. A list of museums with lustres is compiled here. Caiger-Smith, Alan. 1985. Lustre Pottery: Technique, tradition, and innovation in Islam and the Western World. Faber and Faber, London. Jenkins, Marilyn. 2006. Raqqa Revisited: Ceramics of Ayyubid Syria. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC. Molera, Judit, et al. 2007 Key Parameters in the Production of Medieval Luster Colors and Shines. Journal of the American Ceramic Society 90(7):2245-2254. Pradell, T., et al. 2008 Temperature resolved reproduction of medieval luster. Applied Physics A: Materials Science & Processing 90(1):81-88. Pradell, T., J. Molera, A. D. Smith, and M. S. Tite In Press Early Islamic lustre from Egypt, Syria and Iran (10th to 13th century AD). Journal of Archaeological Science In Press. Pradell, T., J. Molera, A. D. Smith, and M. S. Tite 2008 The invention of lustre: Iraq 9th and 10th centuries AD. Journal of Archaeological Science 35(5):1201-1215. Watson, Oliver. 2004. Ceramics from Islamic Lands. Thames and Hudson, New York. This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology. Any mistakes are the responsibility of Kris Hirst.

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