A multidisciplinary programme of research on Islamic pottery has been focused on questions of the dating, provenance and technology of Islamic pottery. One particular question has been the development of stonepaste, a material made primarily of crushed quartz with added frit‐glass and clay. The combination of the different approaches of this study has revealed early foundations for the technology in ninth‐century AD Iraq, apparently originating in the clay ceramic rather than the ‘Egyptian faience’ tradition. Subsequent and final practice developed in tenth‐ and eleventh‐century AD Egypt. This technology becomes the primary body for all fine Islam