Byzantine Sgraffito Bowl with a Falcon

£ 950.00

A large Byzantine terracotta bowl with sgraffito decoration featuring a falcon. The outer surface of the bowl is showing traces of bright orange glaze with a white rim, while the inner surface is covered in white, with incised bird in sgraffito technique. In this technique, the vessel was covered with white slip and a colourless lead glaze. The design was incised into the white slip to reveal the dark clay beneath. Variants of this technique were used in the Byzantine Empire from late 11th century onwards.

Date: Circa 11th–13th Century AD
Condition: Very fine, intact. Encrustations and crazing to the surfaces and minor chipping to the bottom.

SOLD

Product Code: BS-10
Category: Tags: , ,

The technique known as ‘sgraffito’ entailed the ceramic being covered by an overall coating of white slip and a colourless lead glaze. The design was then incised through the white coating to reveal the dark clay beneath. Variants of the sgraffito technique were used extensively across the Byzantine World from the late eleventh century onwards. The sgraffito technique was Islamic in origin, primarily inspired by precious metalwork. Some Byzantine motifs, such as birds and the Kufic border, resembled sgraffito ware from Iran and Syria. This is not overly surprising, given the geographical extent of international trade in pottery during the Middle Ages: close contact was maintained between Byzantium and the Islamic World. Pottery workshops specialising in glazed ware for domestic use were located throughout the Byzantine Empire. Designs on household ceramics often imitated those on vessels made of silver or other precious materials.

Dimensions H 8.4 cm
Pottery

Terracotta

Glaze

Colourless Glaze

Region

Southern Europe

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