champlevé ware
Impressive Byzantine ceramics. Their decoration (oftenly figurative themes) was executed with the removal of portions of the slip so as whole areas of the fabric could be seen below the glaze. The light-coloured figures were set against a darker background. This decorative technique is introduced to Byzantine pottery in the 12th c. and by the first decades of the 13th c. is already established.

fabric (pottery)
The clay of a vessel or tile, as seen in cross-section if the vessel is broken.

Glazed Pottery
Glaze: vitreous material applied to vessel or tile prior to firing in a kiln, in order to give a glossy surface after firing.

incised
(pottery) Decoration technique using broad lines cut through the slip into the clay of the vessels.

Kufic script
Old Arabic script, its name taken from the city of Kufa where the first copies of the Koran were written. Motifs imitating its elements were used as decorative pattern on the outer walls of Byzantine churches as well as on Byzantine ceramics.

sgraffito
(pottery) Decoration technique which uses thin lines scratched through the slip into the surface of the vessel. Ware with such decoration is usually glazed.

slip
Thin wash of liquid clay applied to the vessel or tile prior to firing in a kiln, in order to win a smooth surface after firing.

Zeuxippus ware
Vessels of fine hard fabric with decoration cut into the slip and shiny colourless or coloured glaze. The main shape is a bowl with a ring foot. The incised decoration of floral motifs or figurative themes was usually arranged in a central basal metallion. The high quality of this ware and the great quantities that were found during the excavations at the Baths of Zeuxippus in Constantinople encouraged a strictly constantinopolitan attribution of the production; however, ample distribution of such ware from Egypt to the Blach Sea region and Bulgarian territory contradict such an attribution.