Competition with popular Chinese imports influenced many innovations and developments in early Islamic ceramics. The shape of this tiny bowl is clearly influenced by porcelain bowls of the Chinese Tang dynasty (AD 618-906) , imported into the Middle East in this period. The relief-moulding may also show the influence of worked silverware also imported from Tang China, although relief-moulded ceramic objects (similarly inspired by silverwork) had been made in the Eastern Mediterranean area during the days of the early Roman Empire.
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