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Bringing the Holy Land Home: The Crusades, Chertsey Abbey, and the Reconstruction of a Medieval Masterpiece

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What is this? By Grace Morrissey '22

This figural Islamic bowl from the Worcester Art Museum is an example of a luxury lusterware ceramic. This bowl was created by artisans from Rayy, Iran between 1200-1299 during the height of lusterware production. Lusterware ceramics are incredibly complex to manufacture as they require specialized metallic oxide glazes and multiple firings in the kiln. The materials and time intensive nature of production made lusterware an expensive luxury item. Lusterware's shimmering surface quality and metallic sheen made these ceramics aesthetically attractive which fostered an appreciation across cultures. Members of the Islamic royal courts, and later European crusaders used these ceramics as luxury feast ware.

The WAM's figural Islamic bowl is unique in that it's shimmering luster glaze and repetitive patterning creates a sense of visual rhythm and energy on the bowl’s surface. However, its material and patterning also speak to its function as a piece of luxury court dinnerware. The underlying geometric organization, repetitive patterning, and lusterware materiality constitute the three most striking visual elements of this bowl, and these elements come together to create a rich visual dynamism. The bowl's interior decoration is marked by a clear underlying geometry, as its pattern can be broken up into eight trapezoidal segments, delineated by radiating bands that originate from two concentric circles at the bowl's center. These underlying geometric elements create a sense of aesthetic consistency, order, and visual rhythm within the piece, while also establishing an organized visual clarity in the bowl's surface decoration. This clarity is further established by the bowl's monochrome reserve coloring. Reserve coloring is a term used to refer to a lustreware done in only two colors, with white acting as the base color. In this example golden brown luster is painted onto a creamy white base, thus reserving the bowl's figure and decorative elements in white. Monochrome reserve coloring has predominated Islamic lustreware since the 10th century. The use of a single luster color enabled ceramicists to create clearer figural decoration, as new motifs such as animals, birds, and human figures, were being incorporated with traditional geometric and vegetal motifs at this time.

The WAM bowl's decorative patterning is characterized by a fusion of geometric elements with organic scroll forms and a centrally located figure. The center of the bowl's decorative composition is anchored by a singular seated figure in a roundel. The seated figure gazes off to the viewer's left, and is shown wearing a headdress and garments with an intricate scroll and dot pattern. This figure is ambiguous in terms of its gender, but scholarship on lusterware iconography points to the figure's identification as a seated ruler or royal.
The scroll patterning of the figure's clothing is mimicked by scroll flourishes on the bowl's exterior, visually linking this patterning across the entirety of the three-dimensional ceramic form. Three-dimensionality is an important element of this bowl, as it's patterning would have been seen differently depending on the viewer's angle or if the bowl was filled or empty. This bowl is 8 inches wide and 3 1/8 inch tall, making it slightly larger than an average cereal bowl. Its shape is characterized by its straight flaring sides and small foot on which it is elevated. The date, patterning and shape of this bowl provide evidence that it was manufactured in the Kashan style which was developed in the last years of the 12th century by Seljuk luster potters. Kashan style ceramics are known for their straight flare sides, and complex red-brown luster designs. Kashan patterns often featured motifs of seated figures of nobles in roundels embellished by tendrils and tiny scratched scrollwork, similar to the decorative scheme in this bowl. These elaborate decorative patterns were not only painted on the bowl’s interior, rather complex reserve compositions carried over onto a ceramic’s exterior as well.

Finally, the bowl's lusterware materiality also develops the work's visual rhythm and gives viewers a sense of its luxury status. Covering ceramics in luster glaze creates an iridescent, metallic sheen across their surface. This shimmer not only complements the WAM bowl's dynamic patterning and reserve coloring fostering a sense of visual rhythm, but also speaks to the bowl's luxury use. From the beginning of lusterware production in the 9th century, these ceramics were intended for use in Islamic royal courts, as their brilliant surfaces reflected the richness of gold and silver. These bowls were primarily used as luxury feast ware, that served and held food at lavish royal banquets and feasts. Lusterware was highly valued for its shimmering surface quality, and was described by medieval viewers as "reflect[ing] like red gold and shin[ing] like the light of the sun." Thus the WAM bowl's patterning, coloring, and sheen not only create a dynamic aesthetic, but also speak to its luxury status, as the figuration of a ruler and golden shimmer clearly denote this bowl as a luxury item. Taking the complexity of technique and materials needed to create lusterware into consideration, the bowl's materiality also speaks to its expensive prestige. Thus the WAM's Figural Islamic Bowl stands out in terms of both its aesthetic decoration and its materiality, both of which speak to the bowl's luxury status that was valued by Crusaders and Islamic populations alike.
Figural Bowl (WAM 1918.18) By Grace P. Morrissey '22

This Islamic Figural Bowl’s shimmering lustreware glaze and repetitive patterning create a sense of visual rhythm and energy on the bowl’s surface. However, its material and patterning also speak to its function as luxury court dinnerware.
Why was this made, and how was it used? By Grace P. Morrissey '22

Lusterware ceramics, like this Figural Islamic Bowl, were first created in response to Islamic potters' contact with Chinese porcelains. During the 9th and early 10th centuries, Abbasid rulers imported highly valuable Tang Dynasty porcelains from across the Indian Ocean and up the Persian Gulf. The Abbasid court deeply admired the beauty and exoticism of these Chinese wares, and as a result of these cross-cultural transactions pottery objects became accepted as worthy of royal use for the first time in Islam. Islamic potters shared the court's affinity for Chinese porcelains, and were deeply impressed by the elegance, strength, and whiteness of these imports. As such, they sought to mimic the milky white surfaces, thin walls, elegant profiles and durability of Chinese ceramic white wares.

Chinese ceramicists use clay with kaolin deposits which results in a fine, white consistency used in the production of porcelain. However the earthenware clay available to Islamic potters in Mesopotamia was not equipped to create ceramics of either Chinese color or consistency, due to a lack of kaolin deposits in the region’s soil. Thus Islamic potters had to experiment with earthenware and a variety of glazing techniques, in order to approach the white glaze and thin forms used by Chinese potters. Lusterware comes as a result of these experiments. Early Islamic potters realized that covering an earthenware ceramic with a lead and tin oxide glaze would create an opaque white surface, similar to those of Chinese ceramics. This white base was then painted with silver and copper metallic oxide glazes to create the monochrome on white aesthetic they were looking for. However firing these metallic oxides had the added benefit of creating a unique shimmer and iridescence on the ceramic's surface.

From the beginning, lusterware were created as luxury ceramics and were intended for use in Islamic royal courts. Due to the complex nature of the lusterware firing and glazing process, these ceramics were incredibly expensive and were not widely produced. Thus, only members of the wealthy court classes could afford to purchase and use them as dinnerware. However these ceramics’ aesthetics also reflected their luxury use as feast ware. Abbasid luster ceramics, created for the royal courts at Baghdad and Samarra, were decorated to reflect the power and prestige of the caliph. Decorative motifs frequently included rulers feasting, royals being entertained, righteous battles, animals associated with good luck, and auspicious inscriptions bestowing blessings on the caliph.
Later lusterware was also created for the Persian Seljuk and Il-Khanid courts, however by this time an emerging wealthy middle-class also coveted the deluxe dinnerware, and images of courtiers enthroned, feasting, and hunting like royals, became prevalent. Lusterware ceramic's shimmering surfaces, emblazoned with symbols of courtly wealth and success would have adorned the banquet tables of rulers. These ceramics served both a practical role storing and serving food, but they also served as symbols of wealth and prestige. Set alongside opulent vessels of gold and silver, royals feasting from lustreware bowls and plates would've felt as though they were eating off the rays of the sun.

The figural element included on this bowl provides further evidence that this object was used in a secular feasting context, as figural depictions are not used in Islamic religious art.Further, the metallic quality of the lusterware visually mimics gold, which is significant because in Islamic religious practice Muslims are not supposed to eat off of golden ware. Thus, lusterware's ceramic materiality provided a loophole for luxury dinnerware.

Due to their luxury status, expensive lusterwares were valued across cultures. Europeans in the Spanish courts of Saville, and later European crusaders, sought out and used lusterware items, despite their Islamic production and form.
Where was this produced? By Grace P. Morrissey '22
Scholars at the Worcester Art Museum have been able to attribute this bowl to Rayy, a medieval city just outside of present day Tehran, Iran. A descendent of Ancient Rahgah - one of the earliest cities in Iran - Rayy was captured by Muslim Arabs in 640 and later served as the residence of the governors in charge of eastern Iran. By the 10th century Rayy had become one of the most prominent cities in Western Asia, and flourished under Seljuk rule. Alongside Kashan, Rayy was a famous center for silk and ceramic production. Archeologists have attributed both enamel and lusterwares of a variety of shapes, patterns and sizes to the Rayy region. However, mysteriously, no kilns have ever been excavated from the city.
Rayy is one of many in a long line of major lusterware production sites. Lusterware was first produced in Basra, Iraq, and later in Iran. Production then traveled around the Mediterranean moving west into Egypt under the Fatimid Caliphate, and spreading across North Africa into Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, and Libya. The ceramic technique was then introduced in Málaga, Spain, before returning to the near East under the Persian Seljuks.
Where did this go?
By Grace P. Morrissey '22
The Worcester Art Museum acquired this bowl via museum purchase in 1918, however the bowl's history before this is unclear. However, due to the extensive amount of trade and travel that took place during the Crusades, it is evident that this bowl traveled well beyond its site of production in Rayy.
Moving around the Mediterranean, Crusaders acquired an array of portable works including luxury textiles, ivory, carvings, and sacred reliquaries, however they also purchased mass produced marketplace objects, such as metalwork, ceramics, and glass. They used these objects during their time on Crusade and subsequently took them back home to Europe. Ceramic bowls, like the WAM's Figural Islamic Bowl, served both a functional and symbolic purpose during the Crusades. These works of lusterware were functional in that they could be eaten out of and used for storage, however their shimmering surface and Islamic aesthetics connected them to the Holy Land and Crusaders' Islamic encounters.
However it is not immediately apparent how this bowl, or others like it, would have been transferred from one cultural context to another. Scholars propose three plausible options for how Islamic ceramics were relocated into European contexts; first, via gifting, second, via plunder, and third, via trade, as these were the primary means of distribution for most objects traveling in the Medieval Mediterranean. Gifting of lusterware ceramics seems reasonable, as they were considered luxury items by both Islamic and European audiences; however, catalogs from the time documenting objects circulating among Mediterranean courts only mentioned Chinese porcelain vessels, and not other ceramic wares. Similarly, Medieval lists of war booty record gold, silver, jewelry, and luxury textiles, but make no reference to ceramics. As a final option, trade becomes the most likely. The sheer quantity and consistency of quality of the Islamic ceramics that now exist in European collections speaks to the fact that these wares were likely exchanged on the commercial market. Artisans in and around the Holy Land were known to produce wares for sale as lucrative souvenirs for European crusaders, and luster ceramics could fit within this narrative.
What does this tell us about the Crusades? By Grace P. Morrissey '22
This bowl's connection to the Crusades is not visually evident, there is no use of religious imagery, no clear evidence to suggest a specific transfer from Muslim merchant to European Crusader, and no presumed change in its use. Instead this bowl asks viewers to consider what is valued across cultures; namely beauty and money.

Visually striking, the Worcester Art Museum's Figural Islamic bowl is characteristic of Islamic ceramics as seen in its dynamic geometric and figural patterning, bold reserve coloring, and luster sheen. This figural bowl's visual rhythm and shimmering surface were valued by Islamic courts and Crusaders alike, simply in terms of beauty. However lusterware bowls also had financial value. Technically complex, time-intensive, and requiring the use of specialized materials, these ceramic wares were expensive to make and in limited supply. Recognized as prestigious throughout the Mediterranean, and even secondary lusterwares sold for good prices. This bowl was also universally valuable in terms of its use. Abbasid Caliphs and Crusaders alike, used these bowls for luxury feasting; eating and storing food in them the same way we use bowls today.
For traveling Crusaders, ceramics such as this lusterware bowl were valued for both their visual connotations and financial value. The bowl’s aesthetic exoticism and visual connection to the Holy Land would have made this bowl an important souvenir for a returning Crusader. Cross-cultural objects like this lustreware bowl would have visually referenced a Crusader’s travels reminding them of the mix of cultures and peoples they encountered while on Crusade. However lusterware bowls luxury status and innate monetary value also would have attracted European Crusaders. Both Islamic and Crusader cultures recognized the symbolic power of lusterware, and used it to connote power, prestige, and wealth. The shimmering iridescence that gave this bowl its prestige with Medieval viewers, continues to attract onlookers today. Evidently everyone is intrigued by an everyday object that has been dipped in the light of the sun.