Islamic pottery decorated with overglaze lustre dates from the ninth century. The place of manufacture of the early pieces and the spread of the manufacturing technique are problems that are approached here by chemical fingerprinting using neutron activation analysis. Fingerprinting is based on the concentrations of 18 to 20 elements. Nine earthenware potsherds of the 9th-11th centuries and seven faience sherds of the 11th-13th centuries were investigated. The results make it likely that the Egyptian and Iranian 9th-10th century earthenware sherds have an Iraqi origin. The comparisons are less definite for the faience samples; the synthetic faience bodies form groups whose compositions are not as homogenous as for pottery. However, the work suggests that by the end of the 12th century lustre painting was being done in Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Iran.