Glazed Red Clay Ceramic Ware with Images of Birds Excavated at Sudak (The Collection of the Museum Preserve of Sudak Fortress)

Abstract

This paper presents a detailed analysis of the collection of red clay glazed ceramic ware featuring images of birds from the excavations of Sudak and now residing in the Museum Preserve of Sudak Fortress. The publication comprises 45 open-shaped vessels and one ceramic tile. Imported artefacts mostly from the Byzantine circle comprise 22% of them and Crimean products form 78%. Many finds are published for the first time. The products of the Byzantine circle dating back from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries mostly show a bird of the Accipitridae (probably eagle) and Columbidae. The dove is often depicted with palm branches and/or bunches of grapes which also have important meaning in Christianity. The dove most often occurred on the fourteenth- and fifteenth-century glazed ware ring of Crimean manufacture, where its image was probably associated with Christian symbols and Byzantine tradition. Original drawings of the birds demonstrate individual creativity of local craftsmen since there are many variants of such images. Some drawings allow the one to determine the breed of bird depicted by ceramic painters. Additionally, at the products of Crimean workshops represent at least four other species of birds, presumably swan, bustard, goose or duck, and heron or crane. The research undertaken allowed us to identify a few stylistic decorative series showing bird-shaped images, to discover the origin of artefacts, and to clarify the directions of various cultural influence on local ceramic production.