Polychrome Luster Tile Fragment

Unknown

9th century · Earthenware; polychrome luster-painted on opaque white glaze · Islamic Art

This earthenware tile was covered with a white glaze, fired, painted with metallic pigments in three colors, re-fired, and then polished. Designers of Abbasid period put this new glazing technology, known as luster painting, to innovative use at Samarra to replicate the sheen and mottling of semiprecious stones using locally available materials.

Artist

Unknown

Date

9th century

Medium

Earthenware; polychrome luster-painted on opaque white glaze

Department

Islamic Art

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1923