Friday, December 6, 2013

Byzantine Pottery Tableware

This series of pottery was inspired by the beautiful pottery made in Byzantine Serres. There are several books that have examples but my favorite is Ceramic Art from Byzantine Serres  by  Demetra Papanikola-Bakirtzis.
All my examples are as close to the originals as I can make them. they are red earthenware covered with a white slip. I then carve designs in them, the designs are pretty thick so they are considered "champleve" rather than scraffito. After they have been bisque fired I glaze them with a lead-free transparent glaze (I guess that isn't exactly like the original) and loosely glaze them with green and yellow glazes. The green and yellow are also lead-free. The glazing is very loose and doesn't try to be precise, and that is like the originals.
I have two Byzantine Plates for sale on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/jeannepottery?page=3