Fragment of a Bowl

Fragments of Byzantine pottery preserve a variety of geometric and abstract floral motifs, and even personalized monograms. Such decorations were often created by cutting through the white slip, or glaze, to reveal the red earthenware beneath, a technique known as a sgraffito. Color washes in a range of greens and browns were then placed over the incised decoration, a method first introduced in the 12th century. Later, Byzantine pottery such as this circulated throughout the eastern Mediterranean, increasingly competing with ceramics from Italy, the Islamic world, and China. These techniques and decorative motifs continued to be used in regions of Greece, Anatolia (now Turkey), and the Balkans even after the end of the Byzantine Empire in 1453.