Rare Sgraffito Redware Slip Decorated Pottery Charger Large Plate, 19th Century

This is a large 11.75 inch diameter plate / charger or dish raised on a low foot.

This bold pattern has slip colors of dark red, yellow, green and blue in a stylized floral radial pattern all against a thick creamy yellow-beige ground glaze, producing a very decorative piece.

There are two small holes that have been drilled in the foot-rim to enable the plate to be hung. We are not sure whether these holes were drilled at the time of making or later.

There are no makers marks to the base that we can see and we are not sure of the place of origin of this piece.

We date this piece to the first half of the 19th century.

Sgraffito Slip Decoration
Sgraffito (in Italian “to scratch”) is a pottery decorating technique produced by applying layers of color or colors (underglazes or colored slips) to leather hard pottery and then scratching off parts of the layer(s) to create contrasting images, patterns and texture that reveals the clay color underneath.