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What does this tell us about the Crusades?

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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.

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  1. Bowl with a Seated Figure (WAM 1918.18) Brooke Hendershott

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