About the Artwork
This ceramic basin shimmers as light hits it at different angles. Potters achieved this effect through a complex technique that requires two rounds in the kiln. First, they covered the rough earthenware body in a tin glaze and fired it to create a smooth, white surface. Next, they painted its intricate ivy leaf designs with metallic pigments known as luster, then fired it again to create a reflective surface resembling metal.
Invented in Iraq in the 800s, luster techniques were brought to Manises, Spain, by Muslim artists who continued working as the region transitioned from Islamic to Christian rule in the 1200s. By the 1400s, Manises had become premier center for lusterware production.
The basin, similar in shape to metal ones used in Egypt and Syria, was probably used for handwashing. Reflecting the intercultural practice of cleansing one’s hands before, during, and after meals, it shows how creativity and dining culture crossed geography and faith in the 1400s.
Luster-Painted Basin
c. 1480
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Spanish
Islamic
Tin-glazed earthenware with luster
5 × 19 inches (12.7 × 48.3 cm)
Ceramics
European Sculpture and Dec Arts
Founders Society Purchase, General Membership Fund
63.23
Public Domain
Markings
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Provenance
(Bacri Freres, Paris, France);William Randolph Hearst [1863-1951], (New York, New York, USA);
1951-1963, William Randolph Hearst Foundation (New York, New York, USA);
1963, (New York, New York, USA);
1963-present, purchased by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
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Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Suggest FeedbackPublished References
Parke-Bernet Galleries, "Attic Terra-Cotta Vases, Hispano-Moresque Ware, Rare Silver, Chinese Porcelain, Gothic and Renaissance Furniture, Architectural Elements, Rugs. Collected by the Late William Randolph Hearst. Sold for the Account of the Hearst Corporation," 5-6 April 1963, p. 73, no. 213 (ill)
Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington, Islamic Art Across the World, June 18 - October 1, 1970, cat. no. 201
M. Levkoff, Hearst, the Collector (Los Angeles 2008), p. 46
Bulletin of the DIA 87, no. 1/4: Italian Renaissance and Later Ceramics (2013): cat. no. 3.
Komaroff, Linda, ed. Dining with the Sultan: The Fine Art of Feasting. Exh. cat., Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles and New York, 2023, pp. 327-328, cat. no. 123d (ill.).
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Credit Line for Reproduction
Islamic, Spanish, Luster-Painted Basin, c. 1480, Tin-glazed earthenware with luster. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, General Membership Fund, 63.23.
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