Technology of production of Syrian lustre (11th to 13th century)

Lustre is a decoration consisting of a surface layer of silver and copper metal nanoparticles, a few hundreds of nanometres thick and incorporated into the glaze. It shows a colourful metallic and iridescent appearance which makes use of the quantum confined optical response of the metallic nanoparticles. Three apparently unrelated lustre decorations, yellow-orange golden (Tell Minis), a dark brown-reddish with iridescences (Raqqa) and yellow-brown golden (Damascus) were produced in the same area in successive periods over tin and lead-free glazes which is known to require specific strategies to obtain a metallic shiny lustre. The composition and nanostructure of the lustre layers are analysed and the materials and specific firing conditions followed in their production determined. The optical properties of the lustre layers have been analysed in terms of the nanostructure obtained and correlated to the specific processing conditions.