Artwork

Farfurie de formă tronconică, adâncită, cu buza dreaptă. Decorul este format din motive florale plasate pe interiorul vasului. Smălțuită la interior și la exterior. Cromatică: fond: crem; motive: maro; verde.

Farfurie de formă tronconică, adâncită, cu buza dreaptă. Decorul este format din motive florale plasate pe interiorul vasului. Smălțuită la interior și la exterior. Cromatică: fond: crem; motive: maro; verde., by Unknown, 1850
Farfurie de formă tronconică, adâncită, cu buza dreaptă. Decorul este format din motive florale plasate pe interiorul vasului. Smălțuită la interior și la exterior. Cromatică: fond: crem; motive: maro; verde., by Unknown, 1850

Farfurie de formă tronconică, adâncită, cu buza dreaptă. Decorul este format din motive florale plasate pe interiorul vasului. Smălțuită la interior și la exterior. Cromatică: fond: crem; motive: maro; verde. is a photography by Unknown. It dates from 1850 and is held in the collection of the ASTRA National Museum Complex. A conical ceramic bowl with a deep interior and straight rim, this piece is glazed both inside and out.

About this work

Overview

A conical ceramic bowl with a deep interior and straight rim, this piece is glazed both inside and out. Its surface displays a cream-colored ground with decorative motifs in brown and green, applied within the vessel. A small blue-ink label on the base bears the number "28," along with handwritten annotations "CRAIOVA" and "21.674 AL," indicating cataloging by a collecting institution.

Subject & Meaning

The interior decoration consists of stylized floral patterns, common in regional ceramic traditions of the Balkans. These motifs likely served ornamental rather than symbolic purposes, reflecting local aesthetic preferences rather than religious or narrative content. The simplicity of the design suggests domestic use, possibly for storage or serving food in a rural household setting.

Technique & Style

The vessel was wheel-thrown and coated with a uniform glaze, applied to both interior and exterior surfaces. Pigments in brown and green were painted by hand before firing, producing muted, earthy tones. The craftsmanship is functional yet deliberate, with no evidence of mass production. The glaze shows slight unevenness, consistent with handcrafted, pre-industrial methods.

History & Provenance

The handwritten labels on the base link the bowl to Craiova, a city in southern Romania, and a catalog number likely from a regional ethnographic collection. The notation "21.674 AL" suggests it was documented in a mid-20th-century inventory, possibly by the Museum of Ethnography in Bucharest or a similar institution. Its survival implies preservation as a representative example of folk pottery.

Context
Similar vessels have been found across Oltenia and Muntenia, often distinguished by floral motifs and monochrome glazes.

This bowl aligns with rural Romanian ceramic traditions from the late 19th to early 20th century, where households produced utilitarian wares using locally sourced clay and natural pigments. Similar vessels have been found across Oltenia and Muntenia, often distinguished by floral motifs and monochrome glazes. Its form and decoration reflect a continuity of craft practices before industrial ceramics became widespread.

Legacy

As a documented artifact from a regional collection, this bowl contributes to the study of Romanian folk material culture. It represents a phase of domestic craftsmanship that declined with urbanization and industrialization. Its preservation in institutional archives ensures its role as a reference for understanding pre-modern ceramic production in Southeastern Europe.

Artist & collection

Artist

Unknown

entity whose identity is not known