12022-06-15T11:55:58-07:00Where was this produced?19plain2023-01-15T10:22:47-08:00 It is likely that this bowl was made in or near Chersonesus, an ancient city off the Black Sea that was long controlled by medieval Byzantium. In the map above, Chersonesus is indicated with a red star. The distinct slip-painting of the outside of the bowl was characteristic of this area. This ancient city is in modern-day Ukraine, and just as this region plays a significant role in production and exportation from the Black Sea today, the ancient city of Chersonese also was a major producer and exporter of portable goods during the crusades. The Black Sea serves as the link between eastern Europe and the rest of world markets from the eastern Mediterranean, a persistently invaluable trading place. The map above shows parts of the Byzantine empire, like Anatolia (modern day Turkey) and the Chersonese region on the Black Sea. It was the invasions of the Muslim Seljuk Turks into Byzantine territories that led to the call for the First Crusade in 1095. After the Seljuk Turks conquered formerly-Byzantine areas, these areas were also open to diverse peoples from Iran and central Asia who were primarily Muslim. Byzantine inhabitants and their incoming Muslim neighbors often fought but also exchanged ideas and designs, as we see in this bowl.
