Plate with a Portrait of a Gentleman

c. 1500–1510

Plate with a Portrait of a Gentleman, c. 1500–1510. Italy, Ferrara, early 16th Century. Red earthenware, incised slipware; diameter: 32.4 cm (12 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Damiron 1966.128 This plate is an example of incised slipware—a technique in which clay was coated with a pale-colored slip and decorated by scratching away part of the slip to reveal the darker body beneath. Although produced in the same kilns as maiolica, slipware did not require the additional expense of importing tin. Incised slipware is an ancient technique of decorating ceramics that dates back to the Tang dynasty in China (618-907).