Plate with Food Motifs

Plate with Food Motifs

Terracotta

Description: This African red slip ware plate is related to Hayes Forms 51 and 52. It has a shallow bowl with a flat floor that is slightly concave on its upper surface, a gently curving, slightly concave wall and a flat, everted rim (34mm wide) with a slightly rounded edge that is grooved on upper and lower surfaces. In the centre of the floor there are two fine incised concentric circles, 3mm apart with an outer circumference of 53mm. The bowl is set on a very thin foot pad consisting of an outer disc (70mm in diameter) with a roughly finished outer edge enclosing a central disc (46mm in diameter) outlined by a slight groove. The upper surface of the rim is decorated with ten appliques, baskets of grapes, or wine separated by running or crouching animals. The clay fabric is slightly grainy in texture (small bumps or pits can be seen at the surface) and orange-red in colour. A darker orange-red slip coats the upper face of the bowl, continuing over the rim edge and running down onto the lower surface. Brush-marks are evident in the slightly glossy surface and fine throwing marks in the form of horizontal concentric rings can be seen on the underside. Two large adjacent fragments broken from the rim have been glued back in place; otherwise the plate is in very good condition. Function: A plate used for serving and consuming food with decoration that is symbolic of the bounty of harvesting and hunting. Decoration: The rim decoration consists of low relief appliques, five profile animals and five similar baskets holding fruit or wine flagons, in the following order: A) a leaping antelope with long horns facing right B) a flat-bottomed basket with outward-sloping sides and a scalloped upper edge, filled in with criss-crosses, and laden with two rows of wine flagon C) a crouching hare, facing left with long ears and small bumps indicating fur D) a second, identical basket of wine flagons E) a leaping boar with rough fur and mane, facing left F) a basket filled with bunches of grapes with leaves on the right G) a second, identical hare H) a third, identical basket of wine flagons I) a third, identical hare J) a second, identical basket of grapes

Roman, from North Africa

Purchased from Charles Ede Ltd, London, 1973

AD 400 - 425

73.003

Purchased from Charles Ede Ltd, London, 1973.