General Information

Sgraffito wares were one of the most common decorative styles for table vessels in the early Medieval era, made in many locales in Asia Minor, Cyprus, and along the eastern Mediterranean littoral. All share a style of decoration in which a potter first incised lines using a sharp tool in/on the vessel surface and then added paint or glaze in one or more colors followed by an application of colorless glaze. The most common shapes are wide, flat dishes or bowls without handles or stems. Generally the incised contours were deeply expressed in order that the glaze could pool inside, which allowed the designs to be legible thanks to the darker colors. This technique was of Islamic origin, mostly inspired by precious metalwork; Byzantine/medieval potters drew upon the decorative vocabulary of the Islamic world. Sometimes motifs were simple linear patterns, and sometimes they were pictorial, such as birds or fish. In the later 12th century, polychrome sgraffito wares replaced the earlier monochrome styles.