Glazed bowl

Bamiyan, Afghanistan
London, British Museum (1977,0720.2)
Sgraffiato ware; H 8.5, D 15.7 cm
11th-13th centuries AD

This complete glazed bowl had been discovered in Bamiyan, Afghanistan. It’s made in “Sgraffiato Ware”, a ceramic produced by Islamic potters where the decoration consists in incisions of patterns through the slip, revealing the differently coloured body beneath. From here the name sgraffiato (“scratched”). Sgraffiato ware was mostly produced during the 11th and early 13th centuries and occurs also at the site of Salut which, during the 12th and 13th centuries AD, reveals important occupational traces. (AP)