Note this is meant to be a generic guide, NOT a definitive work. Many pieces overlapped, styles and origins.
Pottery one of the great areas were art and function share the same form to enrich our lives.
Pre-Islamic art is a bit of a mystery (Met), but seems to be well established (9-10) but after the expansion of the Islamic empire that changed. This extensive empire stretched from Spain, Northern Africa, the Middle East and Turkey. The commonality of the Islamic religion, provided for the development of similar styles throughout the Islamic lands (HMSO, 9-10). First their styles were adaptation of the styles of the people they conquered and later became more distinct (Met), It is widely believed that the importation of Chinese ceramics through the empire greatly influenced the direction of Islamic pottery.

Pieces were thrown but there was some were molded even from early on (met). Many molds have been found. Some were pieces were combined molded portions and thrown portions.

Major influences –
Orient- mostly influenced shape and glaze. By 800 C.E. oriental pottery had reached the Caliphs court (HMSO). Pottery up to this point did not have that glossy glaze. This they got from the Chinese, loved it, copied it, and spread it (Watson) They made great technological advances in painting and glazing techniques. As the Arabs in great pottery centers were copying the oriental pieces, potters in other areas were copying pieces from the great Arabic centers (Met). By 11th C , regional styles had begun to develop (Met).

Islam- the Islamic religion has various rules for diet, preparation and service of food. These three rules had influences on pottery. Firstly, Islam forbids the use of metal vessels for liquid. This has supported an industry for beautiful ceramic vessels that sometimes try to imitate metal. Secondly, Islam forbid the use of human or animal forms in religious objects and architecture. This means that ceramic decoration was a prime place for representations of this kind. Still human forms are somewhat rare, but animal forms are common. Thirdly, the belief in the cyclicness of nature and fondness for geometry shows makes repeating geometric shapes the predominate style.

Climate – vessels for liquid were often left unglazed to take advantage of evaporative cooling. This provided a natural form of refrigeration.

Native materials – All the clays are earthenwares (Watson). Many of the clay bodies of the Middle East are salmonly, buff or brown in color. Basra clay is quite pure and a pale yellow in color. There is a wide variety of reddish clays that contain iron and are very strong, but this is color is incompatible with the desired white pottery of China. This was corrected one of two ways, by turning the small amount of white/very light colored clay into a slip/frit that could be use to coat the surface to be decorated, sometime crushed quartz was added to whiten it. White can also be made by adding tin to a clear glaze. The tin turned the clear glaze to an opaque white surface. The only other common opaque colored glaze is turquoise (Watson). When adding other minerals to clear glaze, rich semitransparent colors develop, copper yields green, iron yields mustard yellow, a substance called muzarrad made black and manganese produces a black, brown or purple. This is the basic color palette of most early pottery. There are also rich blues that were made by cobalt and used in blue and white pottery before the 12th C (Watson). and a lush turquoise from copper in an alkaline glaze. Lead was used in flux and helped oxidize tin (Watson)

The basic chronology:

Early Pieces- up to 10th C
661 CE – 750 CE Umayyad –influenced by classical models

Raised relief ware –– etching a pattern into the body of the object and glazing it was done since Roman times. Clays were a light color. The earlier, earlier clays were finer. The glazes were mostly yellow or green monochrome. Sometimes the yellow will have a lustrous appearance, but it is not luster ware. It is a reaction of a chemical in the glaze. (XXX) The raised technique is called Barotine. Barotine technique has circles or strips of clay are applied to the outside, then incised (scratched, usually with slanted lines, sometimes dots) (Met). Numerous stamps have been found. Some pieces had thick wall that had carvings into them.

Splash ware - is a polychrome technique. Splash wares are bi or tri colored usually on a white lead based base. The colors are splashed or applied into the upper portion of the object and allowed to run down into it. Sometimes it was colors on a light clay and the colors in a clear. It is one of the most widespread styles (Watson). Think the horse sculptures of the Tang Dynasty, but whether or not this was influence by the Chinese is coming into doubt. During the 9th C it was just splashed glaze in the 10th C they started incising designs.

The shapes were primarily shallow bowls (with or without feet) and flat plates. There were also plates with depressions that are supposed to be used for condiments or spices. Another unique shape is a wide flattened container with a foot, and an offset spout and handles. This is now believed to be a table vessel not a pilgrims canteen as once thought (Watson). The 10th-12th C had a unique object that’s purpose is not known and disappeared after this period. It has been hypothesized as anything from a bomb to a beer container to a perfume sprinkler. It has thick walls, of dense clay and is impermeable with a tiny neck with a very very small opening. It was made at several levels. (Watson).
A wide variety of filters was also made. Most are assigned to the egytians and during the 10th to 12th C. They were unglazed, fit over the rim of a jug, and had elaborate pieced patterns including inscriptions and occasionally an animal. They were more about keeping things from getting into the jar than from straining out chunks going into the jar.

Common motifs for this period are: 4 petaled rosettes, palmettes, pine cones, inscriptions (earlier scripts are finer), and the wandering vines of classic times. Later the clay became coarser, the variety of motifs broader and raised designs became higher (possibly to try to control the glaze). Animals became more common but were confined to the bottom flat parts of the bowl.

There are also lamps: they are usually terra-cotta, and unglazed. The shape is off the classical. It’s molded in two pieces. The footed model is the classic genie lamp. There is also a double flame model that’s shaped like a horseshoe.

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Eastern 9th-10th C
Luster ware. 9th & 10 C. under Abbasid Caliphs developed luster ware. The pigment is composed of silver and copper and was painted on pre-glazed items at a low temp. Luster ware is undoubtedly the prize of Middle Eastern ceramics. Almost it is one of the few techniques for which we have a primary source. It is speculated that the prevalence of luster ware, aside from it’s beauty, is that Islam forbid metal drinking vessels. Therefore, a technique that provides the beauty of a metal drinking vessel, without actually being metal, was prized. It passed to Egypt under Fatimid rulers (969-1171) (HMSO) Abbasids- Centered in Africa and were more influenced Persians kings. This is a very detailed area of study and this is the extent I will cover it.

Slip painting – Slip is a thin creamy form of clay that can be painted on the vessel or the whole vessel is dipped in black and the lighter areas are carved off. Occasionally, a terracotta colored slip would add a third color to a black and white piece Rarely, the top rim will be black and white and the body of the vessel turquoise and black. This style is almost exclusively found in the east such as Saminid (878-999) Persia and Turkestan (HMSO) The glaze is clear or turquoise. The glaze doesn’t necessarily have to go all the way to the bottom on the outside. A specialized style of this is called shilloette ware.
Shilloette ware- normally black with turquoise or clear (black and white). The bottom portion is commonly covered with vertical ribs, topped by a band of shiloettes, occasionally the rim will have script..

Ayyubid- Saladins court 1171-1280. Influenced by both.

Early Polychrome.- sometimes called Coptic wares
This technique takes tin glazed pottery and paints motifs on it in other colors. Usually stripes and bold motifs. Sometimes on a white tin background. The exterior may not be glazed. It is best developed in Raqqa (Syria) in the 12th –14th C, Damascus and Egyptian Mamluk in the 12th-14th C, and later Iznik Turkey (16th C).

Enameling
Enameling produces an effect similar to maiollica. The piece is glazed, usually with tinglaze, then painting a detailed scene with more stable lower-firing-temperature glazes. The piece is then refired at a lower temperature in a special kiln (Watson). Eventually the ideal was stable colors under a clear glaze. This was the predominant technique after the 12th C (Watson).

Pierced ware
Jealous of the translucent porcelain of the orient, Middle Eastern potters sought to imitate these pieces one of two ways. During the 12th C a new material called stone paste was developed. It was made of crushed quartz, glaze and a small amount of white clay. It can be very fine and translucent or thick and durable. It made decoration easy. It was used only with glazes and was a high end item. Thin refined pieces were sometimes pierced with intricate patterns near the rim of the vessel. A coating of clear glaze is applied and usually seals over the tiny holes, while still letting light through. I have never seen a piece of colored piece ware.

Ceruda Secca
Literally dry string, is a style developed in the Moorish influenced southern Spain. A piece of string, soaked in a greasy substance, sometimes with lamp black or manganese is laid in a pattern on bisque tile(s). The design is made so that the string closes off areas. The areas are then filled with glazes and the piece fired. The string and oil burns away leaving a black or white The glaze, unable to cross the greasy lines, pools and mound up slightly looking like gems in a setting or stained glass and lead line. This is a form of resist technique that may have developed from early polychrome styles of the Fayyumi. The technique is similar to cloisonné. It was commonly used on huge intricate tile works. Some scholars believe that the resist was laid down in a different way and that cord was not always used.

Influence of the orient.
Sgraffitto _ Inexpensive lead glazed or more “rustic potteries” “sgraffiato” was the “prevailing technique” (HMSO).

Typical shapes
Bowls slant sided often with big foot, bowl with big feet and fairly deep, Plates,
Mugs -“ onion shaped” Big foot, bulb, cylinder top.

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Beakers
Small- slightly arabello

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Canteens- Pilgrim dough nut canteen- Based on roman model, sometimes with cut work center, early period (Met) also what we call a canteen. Made from molds.

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Typical decoration (Met)
Calligraphic script
Floral –stylized only (HMSO)
Arabesque combination of plant and geometric (HMSO)
Geometric
Humans and animals are only banned from buildings or objects of religious use HMSO)
Pre 12th C. “bold and imposing” (HMSO)
Post 12th C “delicate and complex” and appearing to have motion (HMSO)

Firing
Kilns were cylindrical. Both 2 step and raw-glazed were used. Pots were hung or placed on pegs or tripods. The wood was soft or had the bark removed. The pots were taken out after a week.

Medieval Near Eastern Pottery, Small Picture Book #42, Victoria & Albert Museum, HMSO, London, 1967.

Jenkins, Marilyn, Islamic Pottery, A Brief History. Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Spring 1983, Vol XL no. 4. New York NY 1983.

Philon, Helen. Early Islamic Ceramics: 9th to 12th Centeries. Benaki Museum, Athens. Islamic Art Publications 1980. Sotheby Park, Bernet N.J.

Watson, Oliver, Sheikh Nasser Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah. Ceramics From Islamic Lands. Thames & Hudson NY 2004.