Hispano Moresque Style Spanish Porcelain Plate

Hispano-Moresque pottery is a style of pottery produced for the first time in a region dominated by Islam in Spain. It is characterized by a combination of Islamic and European elements in the period when Christianity was the main religion. By the fifteenth century, until the Italian Marjolica pottery industry developed in a sophisticated style, Hispano-Moresque ceramics were regarded as one of the most sophisticated and colorful ceramics in Europe and were exported across Europe. The industry was most booming in the 14th and 15th centuries. Around 711 AD, the Moors, an Islamic ethnic group living in northwestern Africa, conquered Spain and introduced two pottery techniques into Europe–glazing a ceramic surface with opaque milky tin, and making luster ceramics that imitates the metal surface by giving it a different color depending on the viewing angle. Hispano-Moresque ceramics are created by using both of these processes to glaze the ceramic surface twice and fire it twice.

In Islamic society, the use of gold and silverware, which was considered the ideal of a luxurious way of life in ancient Romans, Persians, and medieval Christian society, was forbidden to drink or eat, so the upper class of medieval Christians used plates made of precious metal. Even while cups were used, the Muslim upper class still used simple porcelain and glassware. This allowed for the development of luster ceramics in Islamic society. In the early days, typical Islamic patterns were worn around the Malaga region in the south, and by the 15th century the largest production was around Valencia. In addition to Manises ceramics, Hispano-Moresque ceramics made in other Valencian villages were made for the Christian market and exported to many countries. By the beginning of the 14th century, Valencia’s Manises became the most important production center for Moorish-style luster ware. They are entirely coated with a lead glaze containing tin oxide, which gives them a matte white or pale pink hue. By hand, copper and silver oxide are added to the surface, and the patterns appear pinkish purple or pinkish brown, which looks like the surface of metal. The schematic leaf pattern was the most widely used.