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• 1 2021-11-03T13:51:10-07:00 When was this made? 23 plain 2022-06-13T11:34:47-07:00 By Grace P. Morrissey '22

  The Worcester Art Museum's Figural Islamic Bowl is dated from the thirteenth century, between 1200-1299. This date is significant because it overlaps with the Golden Age of Persian (modern day Iraq and Iran) lusterware production, from 1195 to the Mongol invasions of 1223.

  Lusterware production has a long history of production, beginning in the 8th century when Egyptian Islamic craftsmen attempted to apply the metallic pigment to glasswares. However application on glass was aesthetically unsuccessful with the luster paint leaving dark stains on the glass surface, as opposed to shimmering lustrous designs.It is not until the 9th century, that we see luster painted ceramics being produced by Mesopotamian potters under the Abbasid Caliphate (719-258). The Abbasid Caliphate is the second caliphate of successors to rule after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam. It is important to situate lustreware production within the cultural context of Islam, as traditionally "minor" or decorative arts were held in high esteem in Islamic art. Islamic artisans were known to transform humble everyday objects into captivating works of art, through their use of elegant forms and richly patterned surfaces. The development of lustreware's shimmering surface quality is considered to be one of the greatest inventions ever made by Islamic potters. Persian lusterware from the late 12th and early 13th centuries is considered the pinnacle of lusterware production in terms of aesthetic design, new ceramic forms, material quality, and development of technique. Under the Persian Seljuks - Turkish nomads from Central Asia, and the Il-Khanids - members of the Mongol empire, lusterware ceramic production was taken to new heights. Persian wares drew on previous Egyptian Fatimid examples, but developed new shapes and decorative techniques. Lusterware has since traveled from its point of origin in Basra in Southern Iraq, to Iran, Egypt, North Africa, and Spain. It was later adopted by European and American ceramicists, and lusterware ceramics are still produced today. 

  Over the course of its production the aesthetics and designs associated with lusterware have developed as the practice has moved from region to region. The earliest Abbasid luster ceramics were intricately decorated in polychrome, with up to three or four colors at a time. However this early mixing of luster designs, ranging in color from deep-red to yellow-brown, resulted in congested vegetal patterns and visually overwhelming compositions. Thus, by the 10th century, artisans began producing monochrome luster which allowed for greater clarity of design. Artisans also began experimenting with different aesthetic decorative motifs, incorporating new figuration in the form of animals, birds, peacock eyes, and human figures with traditional geometric and floral patterns. Despite lusterware ceramics being an Islamic art form, figuration was permitted on these dishes and bowls due to their use in secular, royal contexts.

  However, shifts in color and patterning were not the only developments in lusterware aesthetics, as design compositions, scale, and ceramic shapes also evolved considerably. Lusterware production in the early 12th century under the Egyptian Fatimids was characterized by a new more naturalistic style. After the destruction of the Arab Nasrid Dynasty by Christian rulers, potters in Málaga - Spain's first important luster production site - produced elaborate works with European Gothic motifs. Under the Persian Seljuks, the potters of Kashan developed a new ceramic body made of ground quartz, white clay, and potash. This enabled the production of thin-walled vessels that could be sculpted into a variety shapes and sizes, with a range of elegant profiles. These Persian ceramics were then decorated in the early "Monumental style," characterized by its clear reserve coloring and large scale figures, or the "Miniature style" which dates from the last quarter of the twelfth century. The Kashan "Miniature" style is derived from manuscript illumination techniques and the intricate decorative techniques of mina'i enamelware pottery. Miniature style lusterwares retained the rendering of figures in reserve, seen in the Monumental style, but the brushwork was more rapid and freeform and rendered on a much smaller scale. The last aesthetic style of the Seljuk potters, known as the "Kashan" style, developed in the final years of the 12th century and soon became the dominant style of luster painting. There is even a recorded master of the Kashan style, Abu Zaid, who's signed works still survive in both the Kashan and miniature styles. The Kashan style is an amalgamation of the Monumental and Miniature styles, and is known for its elaborate compositions painted onto both the interior and exterior of flare-side bowls. Kashan decorative schemes - often depicting rulers seated in centrally located roundels - are rendered in clear reserve coloring with moderately scaled figures, however they also incorporate detailed tendrils and tiny scratched scrollwork into its designs. The Worcester Art Museum's Figural Bowl is an example of luster done in the Kashan style, as  exemplified by the hybridity of its patterning and use of line, and straight flaring sides.  

  Around the year 1220, lusterware manufacture in Kashan began to decline with the invasion of the Mongols into Western Iran, and the retirement of Kashan's two preeminent potters. Production of lusterware never returned to the quality and quantity achieved during the Persian Golden Age. However, despite the closing of Kashan's kilns, the technique of lustreware has not been lost and its earliest examples have remained highly sought after by both museums and private collectors.

• 1 2021-11-03T13:52:25-07:00 Where did this go? 18 plain 2022-06-14T08:43:30-07:00

  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.