How was this made?
To achieve the ornate design on our bowl, the potter would have used the sgraffito technique. Byzantine potters were masters of this technique, which was developed by Middle Eastern and Muslim potters. The sgrafitto technique is when a white slip is laid down first on the shaped clay, then the design is scraped into the slip, and finally a monochromatic glaze (green in this case) is painted over it. After firing in the kiln, the product would have a beautiful shine and bright green color. The bowl’s striking green was the result of a pigment derived from copper.
The sgraffito technique was not only important to the design of the bowl but also allows us to connect this bowl to specific locations that were producing these ceramics.