New observations on the Fine – Sgraffito ware and Aegean ware in western Asia Minor. A revision

Abstract

This brief article deals with one aspect of Byzantine material culture, that of pottery and, more particularly, with two specific categories of Byzantine pottery, the so-called the “Fine sgraffito ware” and “Aegean ware”, presenting related examples from museums in western Turkey. Τhe whole argumentation of the paper mainly derives from the presentation of 21 glazed clay vessels from the collections of the Archaeological Museums of Izmir, Aydın and Fethiue, incorporating comments on similar objects from Asia Minor and elsewhere. It thus offers some additional examples to “Fine sgraffito ware” and of “Aegean ware” from western Turkey, although some of they have been published previously. Τhe authors attempt to incorporate these vessels to the general category to which they belong and to compare them with others with similar decoration, in order to offer a more general point on “Fine sgraffito ware” and “Aegean ware”. Based on these examples, a date of late 12th to the early decades of the 13th century AD can be suggested for these wares.