Hispano-Moresque ware in the context of "Iridescent"

Maiolica /maɪˈɒlɪkə/ is tin-glazed pottery decorated in colours on a white background. The most renowned maiolica is from the Renaissance period. These works were known as istoriato wares ("painted with stories") when depicting historical and mythical scenes. Its origins date from painted Hispano-Moresque ware from Spain, developing the styles of Al-Andalus. By the late 15th century, multiple locations were producing sophisticated pieces for a luxury market. In Italy, the production arose in the northern and central regions. In France, maiolica developed as faience, in the Netherlands and England as delftware, and in Spain as talavera. In English, the spelling was anglicised to majolica (/maɪˈɒlɪkə/).

Lustreware or lusterware (the respective spellings for British English and American English) is a type of pottery or porcelain with a metallic glaze that gives the effect of iridescence. It is produced by metallic oxides in an overglaze finish, which is given a second firing at a lower temperature in a "muffle kiln", or a reduction kiln, excluding oxygen.

The technique of lustreware on pottery was first developed in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) in the early 9th century. Initially mostly decorated with geometric patterns, by the 10th century an Iraqi style with the design dominated by one or two large figures developed. After the Fatimid conquest of Egypt in 969, it became a great centre of lustreware production until the Fatimid Caliphate fell in 1171, soon after the potter's quarter of the capital Fustat (Cairo) was burned in 1169. It is thought that the Fustat potters dispersed to both Syria and Persia, and lustreware appears there about this time; later the devastating conquests of the Mongols and Timur disrupted these industries. The technique had spread to al-Andalus (the Islamic Iberian Peninsula). Hispano-Moresque ware in lustre was mostly produced in Christian Spain, especially in the region of Valencia – in particular Manises – and later Barcelona.

Mudéjar art, or Mudéjar style, was a type of ornamentation and decoration used in the Iberian Christian kingdoms, primarily between the 13th and 16th centuries. It was applied to Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance architectural styles as constructive, ornamental and decorative motifs derived from those that had been brought to or developed in Al-Andalus. These motifs and techniques were also present in the art and crafts, especially Hispano-Moresque lustreware that was once widely exported across Europe from southern and eastern Spain at the time.

The term Mudejar art was coined by the art historian José Amador de los Ríos y Serrano in reference to the Mudéjars, who played a leading role in introducing Islamic derived decorative elements into the Iberian Christian kingdoms. The Mudéjars were the Muslims who remained in the former areas of Al-Andalus after the Christian Reconquista in the Middle Ages and were allowed to practice their religion to a limited degree. Mudéjar art is valuable in that it represents peaceful co-existence between Muslims and Christians during the medieval era, although all Muslims and Jews in Spain eventually were forced to convert to Christianity or exiled between the late 15th century and the early-to-mid 16th century.