From the Near East to the Far West: An Oriental Ceramic Fragment Discovered in a Residence of the Counts of Angoulême (Charente, France), Late Tenth–Early Eleventh Century

Abstract

A fritware fragment with a celadon bluish-green was found in western France in a late tenth–early eleventh century context during excavations of the castle at Andone. This object is obviously an imitation of the celadon wares imported into the Near East at this time from China. The fritware method of ceramic production was a recent invention in the Near East in the eleventh century and represented a technique very different from that used to produce the high temperature, long firing porcelains and stoneware of China. The surface glaze made from lead-based glass opacified with tin shows an early mastery of this glazing technique used in glass making of the period. However, this technique is employed here in a non-conventional manner, compared to the normal Near Eastern glazed fritware production of the period. The fritware compositions of the Andone sample can be compared most closely to those of Qal’at Ja’bar (Syria). Other objects found at the site, as well as documented travels, indicate the Count of Angoulême's relationship with the Near East.