CHINESE-IRANIAN RELATIONS
xi. Mutual Influence of Chinese and Persian Ceramics
Chinese influence on Persian ceramics. Chinese ceramics were the single most important stimulus to the development of fine pottery in the Islamic world, arriving first in the 3rd/9th century. Previously Islamic potters had produced mainly simple kitchen and storage wares, unglazed or with low-fired turquoise glazes. The first meeting with fine Chinese wares taught them that pottery making need not be restricted to serving mere utilitarian ends but could be developed into a skilled artistic enterprise, producing goods for the luxury market (Crowe, 1976). Contemporary textual references reflect the esteem in which the Chinese wares were held (Kahle, 1934; idem, 1940-41). Vast quantities of them came to the Middle East directly through a trade that has continued virtually uninterrupted until the present. By the mid-3rd/9th century potters in the Islamic world had transformed the quality of their products, creating a market in which their goods approached the status of fine or precious metalwork, even if they did not directly compete with it. The burgeoning urban classes had a new manufactured commodity, in addition to textiles, metalwork, and glass, on which to spend surplus income.