Byzantine sgraffito bowls
Type:
Bowls
Date:
late thirteenth–fourteenth century
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Greece
Medium:
Earthenware
Dimensions:
Lioness bowl (BZ.1958.93), 12 × 21 cm,
Pinwheel-palmette bowl (BZ.1958.97), 7.5 × 24 cm
Description:
Byzantine ceramic dinnerware was often decorated with animals or abstract patterns. The shallow bowl on the left has a pinwheel palmette in the center and leaves around the rim; the deeper one on the right features a roaring lioness. The technique used on these late Byzantine bowls is sgraffito; after the clay bowl was fired, it was painted with a white slip, and then the design was scratched into the surface. The artisans next applied green (copper oxide) and yellow-brown (iron oxide) glazes, before dipping the vessel into a transparent glaze that caused the colors to run when refired. A trio of unglazed spots—most visible on the lioness bowl—show where the vessel was separated from the next one in the kiln by a small tripod. These bowls are said to come from Mytilene (Lesbos), but the technique and decorative repertoire was widely used across the eastern Mediterranean region, and similar bowls have been found in Syria and Israel.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
9,
10
Repository and Online Resources:
• The lioness bowl is owned by Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC, but is on long-term loan to the Art Institute, Chicago.
• The pinwheel-palmette bowl is owned by Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC, but is on long-term loan to the Art Institute, Chicago.
Image Credits:
Flickr, Stephen Chappell (aka Chapps); Dumbarton Oaks
