Lustre Pottery: Technique, Tradition and Innovation in Islam and the Western World

Abstract

The technique of lustre has been the inspiration for some of the most beautiful pottery in the world. During the thousand years since its first use on ceramics in early 9th century Iraq, its secrets have often been confined to a small circle of initiates. In this respect, as well as in its symbolism and its potters' quest to produce wares possessing the qualities of gold, it has strong links with alchemy. Alan Caiger-Smith, a potter with an international reputation who has made a special name for himself by successfully reviving the art of lustre, covers the whole subject from Abbasid Iraq to the late 20th century. The historical thread takes us from Iraq with its striking early polychrome lustre to the lively figurative vessels of Fatimid Egypt: then via Syria to the varied and sophisticated wares made in Persia from the 12th century onwards. By the middle of the 13th century, production of fine lustre had begun in Moorish Spain, and that tradition was to culminate in the magnificent Hispano-Moresque wares of the 15th century, and in the Italian wares of Deruta and Gubbio of the 16th century. The present revival of lustre has its roots in De Morgan's and Zsolnay's 19th century experiments. An important chapter on alchemy and symbolism is followed by three substained chapters on technique: two of them describe past and present methods of producing lustre, and in the third, Frank Hamet, the well-known ceramic scientist, answers a series of questions on the science of lustre. -- ICCROM

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