Trade Secrets Sackler Exhibit Shows Ceramic Innovations Between Iraq, China by Deryl Davis Who knew what surprises trade and technology could bring? Long before Japanese automakers visited Detroit and went home to build better, cheaper automobiles, and before General Motors woke up and improved upon the Japanese innovations, Iraq and China were doing the same sort of thing. Only their technological exchanges had to do with clay, not pistons, using kilns rather than assembly lines. All of this is elegantly and clearly laid out in a new Arthur M. Sackler Gallery exhibit, "Iraq and China: Ceramics, Trade, and Innovation," running through April. Using wall maps of maritime trade routes, brief informative placards, historical observations, and, of course, case upon case of beautiful, delicate plates, bowls and potsherds, the exhibit traces the radical innovations in ceramic design that occurred over a thousand years ago when Muslim and Chinese traders exchanged their wares. Strikingly, the hub of this innovation was the southern Iraqi city of Basra, well known to Westerners today because of events in the recent Iraq war. It was in the flourishing port of Basra that Iraqi potter s became the first to attempt to imitate Chinese white earthenware, later adding cobalt blue detailing to create a new ceramic aesthetic that would eventually lead to the great majolica crafts tradition in Western Europe and elsewhere. As the exhibit makes clear in detailed maps of early trade routes, it was commerce that led to this technological development. Long before Columbus set sail for what he assumed to be the Indies, Arab and Persian traders were making their way to China, bringing home luxury goods such as silk, tea and fine, white porcelain. Lacking the raw materials to exactly recreate the Chinese ceramics, local potters became inventive, covering their yellow clay earthenware with a glaze that became opaque after firing. Then, they added something new: the cobalt blue detailing that became so well known and so widely copied, eventually making its way to China, where it found dynamic expression in the blue-and-white porcelain of the Yuan and Ming dynasties. Later Iraqi experiments yielded the "luster" effect of metallic-looking ceramics derived from mixtures of copper and silver painted onto glazed pottery surfaces and then refired. One imagines Marco Polo admiring the results of the Iraqi pottersí innovations as he might have seen them in 14th-century China. Perhaps he saw one of the ninth-century luster bowls from Basra with its tints of blue, green and shades of pink, stylized palmettes on its side. Or perhaps he might have seen the beautiful, tall storage jar in the exhibitís front roomóits blue-green glaze yielding an eye-catching pattern of abstract designs. Or wouldnít it be fun to imagine if he actually drank from the lovely, delicate eighth-century drinking cup from Damascus, its yellow-brown stains reflected in the noon-day sun? Perhaps he even read the inscription on its side, which begins, "May Allah bless the one who drinks from this cupÖ" Itís not hard to imagine a connection here. Exhibit curator Jessica Hallett has provided helpful, concise information placards next to many of the display cases, but the stroke of brilliance is the inclusion of contemporary quotations that help us understand what this Sino-Islamic cultural exchange really meant. Near a case of simple, elegant white Chinese porcelain bowls, their rounded rims suggesting, ever so slightly, an orchid, we see this quotation from the Prophet Mohammed: "Seek knowledge even if you have to go as far as China." Clearly, his injunction was heeded. Another quotation, close to a green-glazed sweet-meal dish whose manufacturing reflects ninth-century experiments with glass pigments, reads: "Would someone inform the beautiful lady that her man is Ö drinking from glass and green-glazed pottery." One wonders what the beautiful lady had to say about that! Iraqi pride in such innovations is revealed in the many bowls that carry both inscribed blessings and signatures of the potters themselves. Some of these, painted in cobalt blue, are among the earliest known signed objects from the Islamic world. Itís just unfortunate that we donít know the name of the craftsman who created the cobalt blue flat plate with the stylized fish and seaweed design in the exhibitionís middle roomóthat, indeed, is a treasure. Many visitors will be taken by the ruby red and gold bi-chrome bowls in the exhibitís last room. This area is dedicated to the Iraqi pottersí experiments in the iridescent luster technique, which looked to the tradition of glass painting for shades and pigments. The discovery of the technique was itself a happy accident, much like the interchange of ceramics and ideas between Iraq and China. For both, we can be thankful. One display in the exhibit will be of particular interest to science buffs and those curious about how commercial secrets are passed on. Xeroradiograph pictures in a display case reveal striking similarities in the molding techniques used to create some early Chinese bowls and later Iraqi copies. Is this a case of stealing market ideas or simply knowing a good thing when you see it? As many modern American or Japanese automobile manufacturers know, it can be hard to tell the difference. What finally matters is the product, and these bowls, plates, glasses and jars testify to all the good things that can happen when our secrets are revealed. "Iraq and China: Ceramics, Trade, and Innovation" runs through April 24 at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 1050 Independence Ave., NW. For more information, please call (202) 633-1000 or visit www.asia.si.edu. Deryl Davis is a freelance writer in Washington, D.C.