NARRATOR: The light-colored bowl with a large eagle inside is an example of luster ware ceramics from Egypt, under the Fatamid Dynasty.

STEFAN HEIDEMANN: It depicts an eagle and, in contrast to what we might have seen in earlier cases, it is much more lively, much more realistic. The tradition of Egyptian painting goes, on the one side, back to Coptic book paintings, and so it connects with the earliest Byzantine and Roman times. On the other hand, it connects to… other Islamic arts. If we look at the wings and at the tail feathers, there's a little strip on it. We find this kind of ornamentational and sometimes inscribed strips and bands on textiles and garments.

ELLEN KENNY: But the style with which it's painted is certainly a more free or painterly kind of hand at work. Now let's look at the lidded container here which is also decorated with luster painting.

NARRATOR: That’s the little brown and white object, with the row of partridges circling the lid. It’s a later piece, from Syria, made from stoneware.

ELLEN KENNY: And I notice that this luster piece is distinctly different tone or coloration than the kind of luster ware that we've been seeing from Egypt.

STEFAN HEIDEMANN: You can achieve different tones of luster by adding more silver oxide or copper oxide. If it's as in the piece from Egypt, more silver oxide in it, it gets much more bright, and much more golden.

NARRATOR: To hear a bit more about the technique and use of Islamic luster ware, press PLAY.