The Twelfth Gerald Dunning Lecture: Islamic Pottery in Christian Europe from the10th to the 15th Century

In the later Middle Ages, wealthy Europeans were familiar with luxury objects made in the Islamic world, and urban communities around the northern shores of the Mediterranean were familiar with Muslim traders and their merchandise. Some of the merchandise – ceramica magrebina, for example – stimulated a demand for new kinds of tableware, and this affected the character of European ceramic production. Tin-glazing, often accompanied by decoration in brown and green, became firmly established in Christian Spain, Italy and southern France in the 13th century; pottery and tiles with lustre decoration were sought after all over Europe in the 15th century; and, perhaps under influence from Muslim Spain, fine ceramics became a vehicle for the display of wealth and status.