Byzantine, second half 12th century

With Fortuna Fine Arts, New York, 1997, where acquired by the present owner

C. Stiegemann (ed.), Byzanz. Das Licht aus dem Osten. Kult und Alltag im Byzantinischen Reich vom 4. Bis 15. Jahrhundert, exh. cat. Diözesan-Museum, Paderborn, 2001, pp. 352 and 362, no. IV.106

Byzantine glazed vessels were highly popular during the 12th and 13th centuries and were mainly used for serving or display. Unaffected by the Church or Court they reflected popular taste and depicted a variety of scenes and motifs. The type shown here is commonly called sgraffito ware, earthenware partially covered with a pale slip layer and coated with a transparent glaze. The patterns are formed by cutting through the slip with a sharp point or by scraping it away to reveal the darker ground, hence the name ‘sgraffito’ which comes from the Italian verb ‘sgraffiare’, to scratch or engrave. The recovery of a great number of Byzantine ceramics from shipwrecks around the Mediterranean indicates that they served an important role in Byzantine trade and were frequently exported.

Of flared shape and decorated with concentric bands and stylised vine, the present bowl bears comparison to an example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. no. 1994.306, see exh. cat. 1997, no. 181), placing it among a group of Byzantine pottery derived from Iranian bronze vessels.

RELATED LITERATURE

E. D. Maguire, ‘Ceramic Arts of Everyday Life’, in H.C. Evans and W. D. Wixom (eds.), The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era, AD 843-1261, exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997, pp. 254-272