Dish with a bird feeding its young

Lustred ceramics were a must-have luxury item of the fashionable Renaissance home. Lustre is made when a glazed and fired ceramic is painted with metal oxide pigments and fired again, at low temperature with restricted air supply. This process results in a metallic film that shimmers beautifully in candlelight.

The technique of lustre originated in Iraq and Egypt and was brought to Spain by Arab potters in the 12th century. Around 1500, Italy developed its own specialist centres of lustred pottery in Deruta and Gubbio, two small towns in the central region of Umbria.