S Italy Proto Maiolica Plate -13c

Plate from Southern Italy (proto-maiolica 1250-1300 A.D.). Proto-maiolica is a type of tin-glazed wares made in Sicily and Southern Italy shortly before 1200 until the 15th century. These ceramics were usually painted with various animals , fishes etc. in different colors before glaze was applied. The best known proto-maiolicas are from northern Apulia. They were traded extensively across the Adriatic and Aegean Sea. This plate was found in Corinth, an important commercial harbor in the Mediterranean, showing contacts between Greece and various regions of Italy from the thirteenth century (Archaeological Museum of Ancient Corinth, Greece).