Lustreware

Lore & Background

The technique of lustreware on pottery was first developed in Mesopotamia under the Abbasid Caliphate in the early 9th century, around Baghdad, Basra, and Kufa. Most early pieces were small bowls, up to about 16 cm wide, and used three or four different lustre colours from silver and copper compounds. By the 10th century, an Iraqi style emerged with designs dominated by one or two large figures. After the Fatimid conquest of Egypt in 969, Fustat (Cairo) became a great centre of lustreware production until the potter's quarter was burned in 1169, and the Fatimid Caliphate fell in 1171. It is thought that the Fustat potters dispersed to Syria and Persia, where lustreware appears about that time. The technique also spread to al-Andalus, where Hispano-Moresque ware was produced in Christian Spain, especially in Valencia and Manises.

Reader's Guide

Lustreware holds significance as one of the earliest and most technically demanding ceramic decorations, prized for its metallic sheen that mimics gold and silver. Its development in 9th-century Mesopotamia marked a major innovation in pottery, and its spread across the Islamic world and into Europe demonstrates its cultural and commercial importance. In Fatimid Egypt, lustreware was the only luxury type of pottery, produced for a rich court. The technique later became a specialty of Italian towns such as Gubbio and Deruta around 1500, and saw a revival in England and other European countries in the late 18th century. The process has always been expensive and unpredictable, requiring two firings and often costly materials like silver and platinum. The metallic layer is very thin—perhaps 10 or 20 atoms thick—and delicate, making lustreware suitable for display rather than heavy use. Despite these challenges, lustreware has been produced continuously in various forms, from Abbasid polychrome bowls to Safavid Persian vases and bottles densely painted with plant-based designs.

Did You Know?

• The earliest recipe for luster production appeared in the 8th-century 'Kitab al-Durra al-Maknuzna' by Jabir ibn Hayyan.
• A fragment of lustre glass from Fustat is dated to 779–780, and a bowl in the Corning Museum of Glass was made in Damascus between 718 and 814.
• The mihrab of the Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia is adorned with lustreware tiles dating from 862–863, probably imported from Mesopotamia.
• Lustreware normally uses only one colour per piece; a 'gold' derived from silver compounds was historically the most common.