Six Ceramics from the Online Collection You Need to See

Basra, Iraq, ninth century CE

Following the founding of the Abbasid dynasty, trade between the Islamic lands and Tang China intensified. Chinese porcelain began arriving in Iraq as a prized import. Local potters in Basra responded by developing their own equivalent: a fine blue-on-white ware that borrowed the palette of Chinese ceramics while remaining distinctly Iraqi in form and inscription.

This bowl is striking in its simplicity. The single line of bold kufic script reads "what was done was worthwhile"; a phrase of the kind often used by potters to invoke good fortune. Blue-on-white wares of this type were widely produced across the Abbasid realm and have been found at numerous archaeological sites including Hira, Kish and Samarra. Explore the full story: Abbasid Ingenuity: The Blue-on-White Bowl.

Photo: ©Qatar Museums, Museum of Islamic Art.

Kashan, Iran, 1179–1180 CE

Lustre glazing is a two-firing technique using metallic pigments of iron, silver and copper. It has its roots in Abbasid Mesopotamia and spread across the Mediterranean through Fatimid workshops. By the 12th century, the Iranian city of Kashan had become so associated with fine glazed ceramics that the word kashi or kashani entered Arabic and Persian vocabulary to describe glazed tilework generally. This bowl is the second oldest dated lustre-painted vessel known to survive. Its rim carries a rhyming poem attributed to the poet Sayyid Ashraf Ghaznavi, who served at several royal courts across the region. The inscription is an invitation to enjoy good company, possibly the very kind of gathering depicted on the bowl itself.

Photo: ©Qatar Museums, Museum of Islamic Art. Photo by Marc Pelletreau.

Raqqa, Syria, 1200–1225 CE

An albarello is a cylindrical medicinal jar, used to hold apothecary ointments and dried herbs. The form is thought to have originated in Egypt or Syria before spreading to Europe through trade, later appearing in Spain and Italy. This example was produced in Raqqa during the Ayyubid period. It is decorated in bronze lustre and cobalt blue on a bright white ground, with vertical bands of swirling floral patterns and geometric shapes typical of the city's pottery output at the time. Raqqa's lustreware workshops sat within the same technical tradition as Kashan, sharing the same method while developing a distinct decorative language.

Photo: ©Qatar Museums, Museum of Islamic Art. Photo by Samar Kassab.

Iznik, Turkey, 1530–1535 CE

Iznik pottery takes its name from the Anatolian town where it was first produced. Production began in the reign of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, whose admiration for blue and white Chinese Ming porcelain prompted local potters to create their own version. This large circular dish is an early example of that production. The rim is decorated with stylised waves and rocks, and its centre is filled with a willowy grape tree, its branches heavy with hanging grapes. The design reflects the strong influence of 15th century Ming porcelain on early Iznik work. A dish of this scale and quality would have been a centrepiece in a wealthy Ottoman household.

Photo: ©Qatar Museums, Museum of Islamic Art. Photo by Chrysovalantis Lamprianidis.

Iznik, Turkey, 1600–1610 CE

By the turn of the 17th century, Iznik potters had moved well beyond their Chinese-influenced beginnings into a fully independent decorative style. This dish shows a blue, snarling leopard, chained to a tree stump with a bell around its neck, pacing through a garden. The image may carry a symbolic reading: the leopard's contained ferocity set against the calm of the garden around it, suggesting the victory of good over evil. Leopards and chained lions appear repeatedly in Ottoman manuscript painting of the period, including the iconic Süleymanname (Book of Suleiman).

Photo: ©Qatar Museums, Museum of Islamic Art. Photo by Samar Kassab.

Manises, Spain, 15th century CE

The final piece in this selection shows how far the lustreware tradition had travelled. The technique reached Spain via the ports of Malaga and Murcia in the 12th century. By the 14th and 15th centuries, the town of Manises, on the outskirts of Valencia, had become a major centre of production. The Buyl family of Manises is credited with introducing the technique locally, having encountered Nasrid workshops during diplomatic visits to Granada. This dish bears a coat of arms featuring a rampant griffin at its centre, surrounded by interlaced floral motifs with alternating blue and brown ivy leaves, a design possibly linked to the Villani merchant family of Florence. Valencian lustreware of this kind was exported in quantity to noble households across Italy. The same ivy-leaf pattern appears in Renaissance paintings including Bastiano Mainardi's Annunciation fresco in San Gimignano and the Portinari Triptych by Hugo van der Goes.

Photo: ©Qatar Museums, Museum of Islamic Art.