Ceramic 23 - Brooke's Fox plate

Dish - Egypt. 13th - 14th C. Mus Numer - W.40.1950 Wooden dish, with painted decoration of a long-eared quadruped, probably a jackal. Place of Origin Egypt Date 13th century - 14th century Dimensions Thickness: 2.5 cm, Diameter: 28.5 cm Object history note Purchased in London, said to have been found in the ruins of Fostat, Egypt. Located in the V&A. Item no. W.40-1950

 

I've been looking to make a fox plate for Brooke for a while. The only foxes I've been able to find are in illuminations and one on a cruciform tile from 13th century Iran. So when I found this Egyptian plate I HAD to make it.

 Fox in progress.

The extant plate has been turned out of ficus sycomorous, painted with gesso and sealed with a varnish. The colours in the original plate will not have been available to ceramic artists of the time as these are coloured pigments painted onto a wooden object, rather than minerals fused onto a ceramic

I changed the colors around a little on this one and edited the shape of the quadruped's ears to make it more foxy. I changed the background behind the fox from an orangy red, to a green to contrast with the orange of the fox better. Also, my friends favorite colours happen to be lime green, emerald green, bright blue and orange. I really hope she'll enjoy eating off this.

I found the curlicues a fun challenge on this one. I started by painting the entire section red, then scratching the curls through onto the bisque. I then backfilled with yellow glaze. The challenge was maintaining the thinness of the lines while applying the three coats. I think it worked quite well.

Again, this is posted out of sequence so as not to spoil the surprise - it'll take me months to get it to her, because she lives in ACT and I'm not sending it via Auspost. I ended up sending it via SCA-post - Thanks Mirriam/Waldo and Neil!!