A mug with a geometric decoration

This beautiful piece with a singular shape, called «jug» or more generally «cup», has a bulb shape, with a broken curvilinear profile, a small flat handle and a low neck. The decoration, in yellow on a white background, is made with a metallic luster, a technique that in Persia reached its highest expressions during the 12th and 13th century and that the Islamic masters already used in the 8th and 10th century, adding, with a third firing, a mixture based on sulfur, silver and copper oxides; these metals precipitating on the surface of the artifacts gave them a sparkling patina, the "luster" in fact. The decoration of the cup is not perfectly preserved, but the three decoration bands with thick floral scrolls can be recognized, among which a cursive inscription in graphic characters linked to the Kufic script, an elegant calligraphic style of the Arabic language, is camouflaged.