Posted at Oct 14/2007 07:36PM:
Sebastian Gallese: Lustreware (also called luster-paint(ed))

A ceramic with a metal sheen or coat constitutes lusterware; "...a unique contribution of the Islamic world...an important paint for ceramics from about 800AD." Production began in Basra, spread to Fustat, and then later was introduced to Syria. Used originally in clay body ceramics, moved toward wares made of stone paste.

Patterns and motifs on this pottery could be very intricate on often viewed parts of the pot (creative/principle) or simple and easily repeatable on non-focal points of the pot (conservative). "Each stylistic grouping amongst the luster-painted wares appears to be short-lived... with some as long as 50-years." Motifs influenced by production centers as a whole, not just specific ceramic making sites.

Luster wares can be categorized according to rim, base, petrofabric, motif, and technology (region specific, secretive, potter group movement).

Raw materials used for pottery can also help determine region of manufacture by scarcity/abundance or trade (e.g., costly rare clay vs. cheap quartz sand).

"Lustre pigment is a compound of silver, copper and iron oxide in a refractory earth kept together by gum. It is applied to the glazed surface of a previously fired vessel."

From Ceramics: An Overview Title and New Looks at old Pots: Results of Recent Multidisciplinary Studies of Glazed Ceramics from the Islamic Worldby R. B. Mason

Posted at Oct 15/2007 03:02PM:
Ian: Key aspects to focus on with this term are its role as distinctly Islamic period contribution to luxury ceramics and its importance for looking at trade and the politics of empire in the Islamic world. that is to say wherever lustre-ware was produced would indicate a rich center of political patronage and elite culture.

Posted at Oct 16/2007 06:29PM:
Karl Su: A couple of nice pictures courtesy of our friends in Yale.

http://yalepress.yale.edu/YUPBOOKS/book.asp?isbn=9780300119435