Composition of the lustre pigment used in the production of 13th century AD raqqa lustreware from Syria

Abstract

The very rare find of the relic of the original lustre pigment attached to the glazed surface of a sherd of 13th century AD Raqqa type lustreware from Syria has been analysed using a combination of analytical scanning electron microscopy (SEM), micro-X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS). The composition of the pigment relic inferred from these analyses is shown to match those of recipes for lustre production given in the early treatises by Jazbir Ibn Hayyan (c. AD 721–c. AD 815) and Abū’l Qasim (AD 1301). Similarities and differences between this 13th century AD Syrian pigment and pigments used in the ninth century AD in Iraq, in the 14th century AD in Islamic and Hispano-Moresque Spain, and in the 16th century AD in Renaissance Italy are discussed.