The Haban pottery from the Belgrade fortress: Archaeological contexts, chronology, decorative designs

Abstract

Haban pottery, named after its makers, members of the Anabaptist reform movement, flourished in Central-European countries from the end of the 16th until the 19th century. It is tin-glazed earthenware marked by distinctive decorative expression dominated by floral patterns. Archaeological excavations within the area of the Belgrade Fortress have recovered some eighty pieces of Haban pottery from well-defined and precisely dated contexts. The pottery occurred in two separate phases of Austrian rule over Belgrade. The earlier lasted for only two years, 1688-90, while the later began with the Austrian capture of the city in 1717 and lasted for over two decades, until 1739. These finds make it possible to establish the chronology and repertoire of Haban pottery in Belgrade, contributing to our better knowledge of this distinctive category of earthenware.