Byzantine ceramic ware with sgraffato decoration

There is no doubt that the sgraffito is one of the most typical types of decorated ceramic ware of the Byzantine world. The technique was probably imported from the Persian world, where sgraffato was an attempt to imitate luxury objects made of metal, and was taken up by the Byzantines. It is one of the authenticated examples of a technique that Byzantine craftsmen borrowed from the work produced in the Islamic world. The Byzantines did not consider this type of ceramics as luxury ware, and the majority of the population used it daily.

The sgraffito fabrication technique involves firing in two stages. The original colour of the clay is reddish. The interior, and sometimes the outer surface of the vessel, which is turned, is covered with a white slip. The design is incised through this layer onto the clay using a tip that may be more or less fine, revealing the colour of the clay base. A translucent, yellow or green glaze is then applied, and this is used not only to waterproof the clay but also for a final decorative touch. Byzantine ceramics generally used leaded glazes, which are shiny and translucent, and which could be fired at low temperatures (700-800°C). After the second firing, the incised parts, from which the slip had been removed, are darker than those still covered by the slip.

The most frequent designs on this type of ceramic ware are geometric and decorative motifs, as well as living creatures such as birds, fish and humans. There are many similar categories of this type of ceramic ware. They may be defined using either chronological or technical criteria (such as the combination with another type of design). The techniques of incision and sgraffito were frequently combined, and motifs painted with glazes were often added. Sgraffito ceramics developed in the Byzantine world in the eleventh century; their quality reached its peak in the twelfth century. Production continued through the Ottoman period. The technique was also used in medieval Italy. Many Byzantine pieces are analogous to the works of Islamic culture in terms of the delicacy and precision of the lines, the iconography, whether geometrical, figurative or pseudo-epigraphic, and even of the confusion of the glazes that run together beyond the design. It is clear that exchanges between these countries took place, despite political relations that were often bellicose.

The image shown on this glazed dish is a bird. It is made of hard red clay and has a low upward curving base, a curved belly, and a rim that is also curved. The sgraffato pattern is engraved on a layer of white slip that covers the inside surface. A large bird moves towards the right, holding a worm in its beak. Parallel lines run around the edge; green marks enliven the sgraffato design. The interior has a shiny, transparent glaze. The marks of the tripod used in firing to separate the vases and prevent them from amalgamating while they were in the kiln are visible. The technique, shape and decoration all suggest that this dish was produced in the workshops of Paphos.