Bowl depicting a peahen or lapwing

Muslim potters from Islamic North
 Africa settled on Sicily in the first decades of the AD 900s and introduced new glazing techniques. Their most significant innovation was the use of lead glaze, as seen on this bowl. The potters fired the vessel, painted it with green, yellow and brown pigments, then fired it again. Animals became popular motifs on pottery. The bird on this pottery fragment may be a peahen or a lapwing, common birds on Sicily.