Ceramic fragment

This small fragment of a bowl (or plate) is a rare artifact from Vilnius Castles’ archaeological findings. This is a Hispano-Moresque ware example of pottery from a very important historical period of the Middle Ages in Spain. When Christian rulers took back Spain ruled by the Arabs, Muslim ceramic craftsmen still kept the traditions of this craft and supplied their creations to Christian buyers.
Hispano-Moresque ware was of great quality and found its way into many European countries. Due to high praise of these items, especially lusterware, by the Italian noblemen from the beginning of the 15th century ceramics of the Middle Ages became not just ordinary objects of everyday, but were considered as pieces of art. Lusterware became a luxury item, items made by Muslim craftsmen were ranked higher than by the locals.
This surviving piece has white glaze with blue ornaments as well as shiny brown glaze (luster). From this piece it can be concluded that the item was an open-type dish – a plate or piala, decorated on both sides. Some decorative elements allow to make a guess that this fancy dish from the end of 14th or the beginning of 15th century could have reached the territory of Vilnius Castle from the city of Manises in Valencia (Spain).
The fragment, which is currently on display in the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, has a popular ornament of Arabic art on the inside of it. It is a stylized Tree of Life, recognizable in Arabian ceramics, textile, jewelry, wood carvings and architecture.