page_title: Islamic pottery
section_title: Chinese influence
hierarchical_section_title: Islamic pottery / Early Medieval (622–1200) / Chinese influence
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Teller mit Drachenmotiv, Iran, inspiriert durch blau-weißes Porzellan des 15. Jahrhunderts. English: Plate with dragon, Iranian artwork inspired from 15th century Chinese blue and white ceramic. Français&#160;: Plat au dragon. Œuvre iranienne inspirée de la céramique chinoise bleue et blanche du XVe siècle. Vitrine 90D
context_page_description: Medieval Islamic pottery occupied a geographical position between Chinese ceramics, then the unchallenged leaders of Eurasian production, and the pottery of the Byzantine Empire and Europe. For most of the period it can fairly be said to have been between the two in terms of aesthetic achievement and influence as well, borrowing from China and exporting to and influencing Byzantium and Europe. The use of drinking and eating vessels in gold and silver, the ideal in ancient Rome and Persia as well as medieval Christian societies, is prohibited by the Hadiths, with the result that pottery and glass were used for tableware by Muslim elites, as pottery also was in China, but was much rarer in Europe and Byzantium. In the same way Islamic restrictions greatly discouraged figurative wall-painting, encouraging the architectural use of schemes of decorative and often geometrically-patterned tiles, which are the most distinctive and original speciality of Islamic ceramics.
  The era of Islamic pottery started around 622. From 633, Muslim armies moved rapidly towards Persia, Byzantium, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Egypt and later Andalusia.
context_section_description: During the Abbasid dynasty pottery production gained momentum, largely using tin glazes mostly in the form of opaque white glaze.  Some historians, such as Arthur Lane, attribute the rise of such industry to Chinese influence. Evidence from Muslim manuscripts, such as Akhbar al-Sin wa al-Hind (circa 851) and Ibn Kurdadhbih's Book of Roads and Provinces (846-885), suggest that trade with China was firmly established. Lane also referred to the passage in a work written by Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Baihaki, (circa 1059) where he stated that the governor of Khurasan, ‘Ali ibn ‘Isa, sent as a present to the Caliph Harun al-Rashid (786-809), “twenty pieces of Chinese Imperial porcelain (Chini faghfuri),  the like of which had never been seen at a Caliph’s court before, in addition to 2,000 other pieces of porcelain”.
  According to Lane, the influence of Chinese pottery progressed in three main phases.  The first contact with China took place in 751 when the Arabs defeated the Chinese at the Battle of Talas.  It has been argued that imprisoned Chinese potters and paper makers could have taught the Muslims the art of pottery and paper-making.  In 800's Chinese stoneware and porcelain reached the Abbasids.  The second phase took place in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, a period noted for the decline of pottery industry following the fall of the Seljuk dynasty.  This period also saw the invasion of the Mongols who brought Chinese pottery traditions.
  The influence of ceramics from the Tang Dynasty can be seen on lustrewares, produced by Mesopotamian potters, and on some early white wares excavated at Samarra (in modern-day Iraq). Ceramics from this period were excavated at Nishapur (in modern-day Iran) and Samarkand (in modern-day Uzbekistan).
  By the time of the Mongol invasion of China a considerable export trade westwards to the Islamic world was established, and Islamic attempts to imitate Chinese porcelain in their own fritware bodies had begun in the 12th century. These were less successful than those of Korean pottery, but eventually were able to provide attractive local competition to Chinese imports.  Chinese production could adapt to the preferences of foreign markets; larger celadon dishes than the Chinese market wanted were favoured for serving princely banquets in the Middle East.  Celadon wares were believed there to have the ability to detect poison, by sweating or breaking.
  The Islamic market was apparently especially important in the early years of Chinese blue and white porcelain, which appears to have been mainly exported until the Ming.  Again, large dishes were an export style, and the densely painted decoration of Yuan blue and white borrowed heavily from the arabesques and plant scrolls of Islamic decoration, probably mostly taking the style from metalwork examples, which also provided shapes for some vessels.  This style of ornament was then confined to blue and white, and is not found in the red and white painted wares then preferred by the Chinese themselves.  The cobalt blue that was used was itself imported from Persia, and the export trade in porcelain was handled by colonies of Muslim merchants in Quanzhou, convenient for the huge Jingdezhen potteries, and other ports to the south.
  The start of the Ming dynasty was quickly followed by a decree of 1368, forbidding trade with foreign countries.  This was not entirely successful, and had to be repeated several times, and the giving of lavish imperial diplomatic gifts continued, concentrating on silk and porcelain (19,000 pieces of porcelain in 1383), but it severely set back the export trade. The policy was relaxed under the next emperor after 1403, but had by then greatly stimulated the production of pottery emulating Chinese styles in the Islamic world itself, which was by now reaching a high level of quality in several countries (high enough to fool contemporary Europeans in many cases).
  Often Islamic production imitated not the latest Chinese styles, but those of the late Yuan and early Ming.  In turn, Chinese potters began in the early 16th centu
caption: Plate with dragon. Persia, 17th century, inspired by 15th-century Chinese blue and white porcelain
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