Glossary Pottery and vessels
White-filled
Also called: white infill, lime-filled
Incised or impressed decoration packed with a white paste, so that the pattern shows up pale against a dark or red surface.
White filling turns fine incised lines into a crisp two-colour design. The paste is usually described as lime or another calcareous material, and because it sits loose in the grooves it has often fallen out of excavated pots, leaving the pattern visible only as empty cuts.
It is characteristic of Early and Middle Bronze Age Red Polished pottery. The elaborate bowls, jugs and animal vessels from the cemetery at Vounous are covered in white-filled geometric patterns, and the same treatment appears on tulip bowls, spindle whorls and plank figures of the period.
Related terms
- Incised decoration
Lines or patterns cut into a surface with a sharp point; on pottery this is usually done before firing, while the clay is still soft.
- Burnishing
Rubbing the surface of an unfired pot with a smooth pebble, bone or tool to compact the clay and give it a sheen after firing.