Motifs and Symbols in Medieval Ceramics

The use of the white body in Islamic ceramics provided the ideal background for intricate and colorful designs. Once the techniques were created to improve the luster and surface quality of the earthenware, potters moved on to improve the quality of their motifs. They did so by applying the technique of underglaze painting, a practice created in Samarkand, to achieve designs with a lustrous finish. Motifs characteristic to this style were designs in aubergine, ochre, red-brown, and mustard with decorative dots applied to fill the spaces around sweeping arabesque designs, animals, and palmettes. In figure one, an example of lusterware from the 10th century, boasts some of these characteristics, the main design consisting of two facing peacocks  within a field of yellow dots, whose tail feathers plume decoratively around them.  The details in this bowl are quite similar to the details in figure two, where two harpies face one another against a white background. Two centuries of experimentation and innovation led to a wider range of décor that could be achieved on lusterware. After having attempted to mimic the Chinese Sancai three-color style (figure three), Medieval potters moved on to a monochrome style, where they could achieve better detail. During the 12th century, potters from Kashan produced a technique of creating a white body that would allow them to implement a greater variety of tones and lines. Dishes and other vessels were ornamented with "signs of the zodiac, sphinxes harpies, animals, and human figures. The harpies in figure two are elaborately designed with fine lines and at least four different pigments. Like the peacocks in figure two, the tails in of the harpies plume into a decorative arabesque motif, which is reflected at the bottom of the bowl. Within these details, we see how these dishes moved throughout Asia, and how design and motifs were appropriated along the Silk Road. 

Works Cited 

Grube, E. J. (1965). The Art of Islamic Pottery . New York, NY: Metropolitan Museum of Art .

Ettinghausen, Richard. 2001. Islamic Art and Architecture 650-1250. Yale University Press New Haven.

Wilkinson, C. K. (1961). The Glazed Pottery of Nishapur and Samarkand . New York, NY : Metropolitan Museum of Art .