Constantinopolitan glazed white wares (7th -13th centuries): an interdisciplinary approach to a group of early medieval ceramics

Yesiltas, Tulay (2022). Constantinopolitan glazed white wares (7th -13th centuries): an interdisciplinary approach to a group of early medieval ceramics. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

This thesis examines Byzantine Glazed White Ware pottery which was manufactured in Constantinople or its hinterlands from the late seventh to the late thirteenth centuries. The term “white” refers to the colour of the fabric which shows varieties in tones, such as pink, grey and beige. On top, there is a glaze which can either be functional, when used plainly, or decorative which allows various intriguing designs and styles across a broad colour scale from monochrome to polychrome. With rising scholarly attention beginning in the early twentieth century on the Byzantine Ceramics, Constantinopolitan Glazed White Ware pottery (CGWW) was classified as one of the two main ceramic groups: A. White Ware and B. Earthenware. Later, treatments on White Ware pottery focused either on the decoration or on the fabric of the vessels by taking the so-called art historical and archaeological approaches, respectively. Each of these approaches resulted in various classifications adding more groups and subgroups to White Wares until the development of the most conventional and well-known archaeological classification, GWW I-V and Polychrome Ware.

This thesis argues the insufficiency of the above-mentioned approaches when they are used individually on the CGWW pottery. To illustrate the problems of the earlier assessments, this thesis provides a broad review of the literature which is centred on CGWW beginning with the first systematic excavation through the present day. It is organised according to a geographic order prioritising the production centre, Constantinople, to examine the aforementioned classifications in their own context, and then the distributed sites in Europe, Anatolia and Russia and the Crimea to see how successful these classifications are.

For a wider view, this thesis evaluates the Constantinopolitan Glazed White Ware pottery with an interdisciplinary approach by combining the archaeological and art historical methodologies. Therefore, an “integrated approach” combines some analytical methods (XRF, XRD, SEM-EDS and TG/DCS) and implements them to analyse the archaeological samples, PAR batch, and two powdered kaolinitic clay samples of Istanbul, Şile and Ömerli. The analyses demonstrate that the samples are made of the same clay of the previously analysed examples which were assigned to be of Constantinopolitan origin. Furthermore, the raw clay samples are in agreement showing that the raw clays of the Asian side of Istanbul correspond to the archaeological samples. The glaze type is usually lead and high lead; however, some unusual compositions, such as tin-opacified and sulphur and arsenic sulphide, are detected in some samples. These elements are usually assigned to the Islamic Ceramics; therefore, PAR batch may possibly represent the first direct evidence of this technological influence in Byzantine Ceramics. The stonepaste bodies of these samples further support the evidence of the influence of Islamic Ceramics in manufacturing and probably imitation of Lustre Ware.

In this work, the art historical approach has contributed to the establishment of a new decorative classification of White Wares with a new methodology which separates the decorative painting and the decorative techniques. It also concentrates on the decorative components including the designs, styles and motifs to reveal the themes and the meanings behind them. Next, in order to relate the history of production and also the decoration of this pottery group, the archaeological data which come from the historical sequences of the primary excavations are used. Consequently, CGWW pottery is evaluated in three basic chronological stages: early-Glazed White Ware Decoration (7th-9th c.), middle- Glazed White Ware Decoration (9th-11th c.) and late-Glazed White Ware Decoration (11th-13th c.).

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):