The history of Ornamental Arts

Pottery reached its highest development between the 800's and the 1300's.Muslim artists developed many techniques that are still used today.For example,they engraved in to slip,an earthy coating under the glaze.This technique was imitated by Byzantine and Italian ceramists.Islamic potters also painted with a metallic pigment on a white or blue glaze to produce so-called luster-painting.This difficult technique,practiced in the Middle East and Spain from the 800's through the 1600's,was also taken over by the potters of the Renaissance period in Italy.Builders used bright tiles decorated with geometric or arabesque designs for wall surfaces and fountains.Outstanding examples of tilework decorate mosque walls,domes,and minarets in Isfahan,the capital of Iran in 1600's.Tilework was an ancient persian art.Pictures of royal life in the 400's B.C.appear on tile facings of palaces in the ancient persian capital of Susa.Muslim tilework may have developed from pre -Islamic Persia.