Style Guide: Renaissance Influences from Beyond Europe
Initially, the lands around the Islamic cultures of the
Mediterranean were the main source of imported luxury goods.
This changed in the 16th century, when Europeans established sea
routes to China and Japan. Eastern craftsmen sometimes adapted
their goods to western taste and lifestyles. European producers,
meanwhile, were influence by the form and decoration of the
imported goods, and also tried to reproduce the techniques used
by their eastern counterparts The leaf motifs that decorated
Islamic objects originated in ancient Rome. Middle Eastern
artists copied and adapted the scrolling vines and acanthus
foliage that could be seen on Roman buildings. Muslim potters
working in Christian Spain continued these decorative
traditions, as did artists elsewhere in Europe In the 16th
century, these spiral patterns, with plant stems and curved,
pointed leaves, became known in the West as ‘arabesques’. Blue
and White Wares Patterns in blue and white were popular