Introduction

This chapter explores how trade connections between China and the Near East informed Near Eastern ceramic production, beginning in the eighth century. In China, certain ceramic technologies were far more advanced than in the Near East. Potters living in the region of present-day Iraq and Iran experimented with new materials and decorative techniques in an attempt to imitate prized Chinese wares. The ceramic works featured in this chapter reflect the ways in which Chinese materials, technical innovations, forms, and motifs inspired specific styles of pottery in the Near East.