Imitation of the Late Byzantine Pottery Samples by the Local Production in the Genoese Castle of Cembalo

Abstract

The appearance of the local centres of glazed ware production in the Palaiologean Period allowed the development of local schools of parade table ware. In the Crimean Peninsula, the local production centres were active in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In the Genoese castle of Cembalo, there were glazed ware workshops from the second half of the fourteenth to the third quarter of the fifteenth century. Along with the manufacture of various forms of original pottery, the artisans of these workshops copied the ornamental compositions which were popular in the Mediterranean area. This article addresses the vessels attributed to the so-called “imitations” or “counterfeits”, which reproduced the samples of the Byzantine glazed pottery of the group of Elaborate Incised Ware, so widespread in the region. Among these vessels, there possibly were the pieces produced in the same workshop or by the same artisan: small handleless cups with small flaring ring-base, bowls, and tureens or dishes with the so-called “aslant” ring-base typical of the Byzantine pottery from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The finds in question testify to the popularity of the Byzantine Elaborate Incised Ware in the Northern Black Sea Area, and the Genoese castle of Cembalo in particular, in the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries.