Bowl
early 13th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This bowl was said to have been found embedded in a church tower in the city of Pisa in Italy. Numerous ceramic vessels have been embedded in Italian church facades, especially in the coastal towns on the west coast and most commonly in Pisa. The earliest known imbedded vessels, or 'bacini' in Italian, were primarily imports from lands bordering the Mediterranean, east and west. It is significant that a large number of these bacini are found in and around Pisa because the Pisans and Genoese were prominent in the Mediterranean trade from the 10th century on into the 13th century. Undoubtedly, these bacini were brought back by Pisan and Genoese shipping merchants and were then given to local institutions who prized their decoration.
This bowl is covered with a thin layer of watery clay ('slip') with decoration of leaves and a geometric pattern on the border incised through the slip. This decoration is then enhanced with oxides of copper and iron and possibly also antimony.
Slip-decorated ceramics begin to appear in the Italian ceramic industry around the beginning of the 13th century. There has been much speculation over the origin of this North-west Italian incised slipware tradition. The technique was employed in the 12th century in the eastern Mediterranean in areas that were or had been under Byzantine control. Excavations in Constantinople, Cyprus and also the port area serving the old city of Antioch have uncovered fine incised slipware ceramics. These have also turned up in excavations in Liguria. It is known that Pisan and Genoese shipping merchants were engaged in trade with these areas. It is likely that these ceramic techniques were introduced, inadvertantly, into Italy by these shipping merchants.
Archaeologists have been excavating in and near Savona in the Ligurian region near Genova for over forty years. Ceramic finds indicate that slip-covered lead and tin-opacified lead glazing of ceramics began here around the year 1200. It seems likely that ceramics imported from the eastern Mediterranean into Liguria and Tuscany influenced the start of Italian decorated slip-covered ceramic production.
This bowl is covered with a thin layer of watery clay ('slip') with decoration of leaves and a geometric pattern on the border incised through the slip. This decoration is then enhanced with oxides of copper and iron and possibly also antimony.
Slip-decorated ceramics begin to appear in the Italian ceramic industry around the beginning of the 13th century. There has been much speculation over the origin of this North-west Italian incised slipware tradition. The technique was employed in the 12th century in the eastern Mediterranean in areas that were or had been under Byzantine control. Excavations in Constantinople, Cyprus and also the port area serving the old city of Antioch have uncovered fine incised slipware ceramics. These have also turned up in excavations in Liguria. It is known that Pisan and Genoese shipping merchants were engaged in trade with these areas. It is likely that these ceramic techniques were introduced, inadvertantly, into Italy by these shipping merchants.
Archaeologists have been excavating in and near Savona in the Ligurian region near Genova for over forty years. Ceramic finds indicate that slip-covered lead and tin-opacified lead glazing of ceramics began here around the year 1200. It seems likely that ceramics imported from the eastern Mediterranean into Liguria and Tuscany influenced the start of Italian decorated slip-covered ceramic production.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Slip-covered earthenware with incised decoration. |
| Brief description | Bowl of red earthenware covered with a white slip and with incised stylised leaf decoration; Italian (Ligurian), early 13th century |
| Physical description | Bowl, of red earthenware and of shallow form with a broad flat everted rim, covered with a thin white slip opacified with tin oxide, which is incised with a decoration of leaves and around the rim a geometric border pattern, heightened with copper-green and brown-iron oxide pigments under a clear lead-glaze. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label | 6 Bowl with stylised leaves
Italy, Liguria, 1200-35
The techniques and colouring of early Italian incised pottery closely resemble those of Eastern Mediterranean slipwares.
Museum no. 14-1871. Gift of C.D.E. Fortnum(2007) |
| Credit line | Gift of C.D.E. Fortnum |
| Object history | C.D.E Fortnum, dealer and collector of Italian maiolica, gave this dish to the museum in 1871. He stated at that time that it was Italian and that it came from the tower of a church at Pisa and it was probably not later than 1300 in date. Subsequent attributions in the museum state that it was datable to anytime between the 13th and 15th centuries. At one point it was attributed to North Syria and was 13th century. |
| Production | Possibly from the workshops in and around Savona |
| Summary | This bowl was said to have been found embedded in a church tower in the city of Pisa in Italy. Numerous ceramic vessels have been embedded in Italian church facades, especially in the coastal towns on the west coast and most commonly in Pisa. The earliest known imbedded vessels, or 'bacini' in Italian, were primarily imports from lands bordering the Mediterranean, east and west. It is significant that a large number of these bacini are found in and around Pisa because the Pisans and Genoese were prominent in the Mediterranean trade from the 10th century on into the 13th century. Undoubtedly, these bacini were brought back by Pisan and Genoese shipping merchants and were then given to local institutions who prized their decoration. This bowl is covered with a thin layer of watery clay ('slip') with decoration of leaves and a geometric pattern on the border incised through the slip. This decoration is then enhanced with oxides of copper and iron and possibly also antimony. Slip-decorated ceramics begin to appear in the Italian ceramic industry around the beginning of the 13th century. There has been much speculation over the origin of this North-west Italian incised slipware tradition. The technique was employed in the 12th century in the eastern Mediterranean in areas that were or had been under Byzantine control. Excavations in Constantinople, Cyprus and also the port area serving the old city of Antioch have uncovered fine incised slipware ceramics. These have also turned up in excavations in Liguria. It is known that Pisan and Genoese shipping merchants were engaged in trade with these areas. It is likely that these ceramic techniques were introduced, inadvertantly, into Italy by these shipping merchants. Archaeologists have been excavating in and near Savona in the Ligurian region near Genova for over forty years. Ceramic finds indicate that slip-covered lead and tin-opacified lead glazing of ceramics began here around the year 1200. It seems likely that ceramics imported from the eastern Mediterranean into Liguria and Tuscany influenced the start of Italian decorated slip-covered ceramic production. |
| Associated object | 15-1871 (Version) |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 14-1871 |
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| Record created | July 30, 2007 |
| Record URL |
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