Fragment from the Base of a Bowl with "K" Monogram
13th-14th century
Medium
Glazed terracotta
Dimensions
H.: 2.8 cm (1 1/8 in.); At widest point: W.: 7 cm (2 3/4 in.)
Classification
fragment
Department
Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
92539
Art Historical Context
This modest yet captivating fragment from the base of a bowl, dating to the 13th-14th century, offers a glimpse into the refined world of late medieval ceramics from the Byzantine Empire. Crafted in glazed terracotta—a durable clay body coated with a glossy vitreous layer for both aesthetic appeal and practical waterproofing—the piece measures just 2.8 cm high and 7 cm wide. Its prominent "K" monogram, likely an incised or stamped owner's mark or christogram, hints at personal or devotional use in everyday life. In the Byzantine era, under the Palaiologos dynasty, pottery like this flourished...
About the Artist
Byzantine
"Byzantine" is the collective attribution given to anonymous artists working within the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, whose creations spanned from the 4th to the 15th centuries, primarily in Constantinople and its cultural sphere. These masters produced a vast body of art that defined an era, with museums like the Walters Art Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago cataloging numerous works un...