MARYAM EKHTIAR: I'm Maryam Ekhtiar, I'm a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Islamic Art, and I'm joined by Denise Leidy from the Asian Art Department. In the case there is a ceramic with an opaque white ground with blue designs and Kufic inscriptions at the center. And another bowl, with green splash designs.

DENISE LEIDY: One of the things that's always fascinated me about the blue and white bowl with the calligraphy is the degree to which it may or may not have been influenced by Chinese art. What I see, looking at this from the East, is the interest in the white body, which comes out of technological innovations in ceramics that you see in China in the sixth to the eighth century, where they really start refining the clay until they get an almost porcelain-like body. So, how did the Islamic potter get the white body?

MARYAM EKHTIAR: The Iraqi potters had not developed a technology for porcelain or stone paste at this point, so they used earthenware. They used tin oxide to create this opaque glaze on which they would then paint the decoration.

DENISE LEIDY: So, the ceramic is actually glazed, and then it's painted over the glaze with the cobalt blue?

MARYAM EKHTIAR: Yes.

DENISE LEIDY: And the one on the green splash?

MARYAM EKHTIAR: I think that it's possible, that this has been inspired by Chinese splash ware, or San Cai?

DENISE LEIDY: San Cai, yeah. What I would think of right away would be the Tang Dynasty San Cai wares. Where they took the body of a ceramic piece, and they essentially splashed on three colors of the San Cai. So, it would be green, a blue, and an amber, or brown. So, I see a lot of influence from China in this bowl as well, although you would never, ever mistake it for a Chinese ceramic, which is interesting.

MARYAM EKHTIAR: Because of the symmetry of the design. Even though it's spontaneous, it's still got a symmetrical composition.

DENISE LEIDY: That's probably a good point.

NARRATOR: To hear more about cultural connections, via the route known as ‘The Silk Road,’ press PLAY.