sgraf·fi·to

(skră-fē′tō, zgrä-)

n. pl. sgraf·fi·ti (-tē)

1. Decoration produced (on pottery or ceramic, for example) by scratching through a surface layer to reveal a different color underneath.

2. Something, such as pottery, decorated in this manner.

[Italian, past participle of sgraffire, to scratch, from sgraffio, a scratch, from sgraffiare, to scratch, from Old Italian : s-, intensive pref.; see sforzando + graffiare, to scratch; see graffito.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sgraffito

(sɡræˈfiːtəʊ)

n, pl -ti (-tɪ)

1. (Art Terms) a technique in mural or ceramic decoration in which the top layer of glaze, plaster, etc, is incised with a design to reveal parts of the ground

2. (Art Terms) such a decoration

3. (Art Terms) an object decorated in such a way

[C18: from Italian, from sgraffire to scratch; see graffiti]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sgraf•fi•to

(skrɑˈfi toʊ; It. zgrɑfˈfi tɔ)

n., pl. -ti (-tē).

1. a technique of ornamentation in which a surface layer of paint, plaster, slip, etc., is incised to reveal a ground of contrasting color.

2. an object, esp. pottery, decorated by this technique. Compare graffito.

[1720–30; < Italian, past participle of sgraffire to do sgraffito work; see ex¹, graffito]

sgraffito

Ceramic decoration in which the topmost layer (glaze, plaster, etc) is carved with a design to reveal selected areas of the ground.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

sgraffito - a ceramic or mural decoration made by scratching off a surface layer to reveal the ground

decoration, ornament, ornamentation - something used to beautify

Translations

sgraffite

sgraffito

n → Sgraffito nt

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

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References in periodicals archive

There is very little on the types and evolution of ornament (the increasing use of the grotesque and the arabesque, for example), nothing on technique (pastiglia, embedded glass paste, cartapesta, sgraffito).

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These age-old indigenous designs have their origin in petroglyph art and sgraffito decoration on bark, as traditionally produced by the Maliseet of New Brunswick and Quebec, the Mi'kmaq of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island, Prince Edward Island, and the Gaspe peninsula of Quebec, and other neighboring Wabanaki groups.

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IN THIS LESSON, students constructed five- or six-sided boxes in which they employed the use of multiple surface decoration techniques--silk-screening, stenciling, photo decals, hand painting, and sgraffito.

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These reference Bluecoat's acclaimed potter, Julia Carter Preston (1926-2012) and explore her sgraffito technique.

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Workers travelled from say, Nishapur in north eastern Iran, to share their skills in the use of slip ware -- a semiliquid clay -- which was used for sgraffito, a form of decoration made by scratching through a surface to reveal a layer of differing colour, as well as carving and painting, while the craftsmen of Khashan, another Iranian city, introduced stone paste, a mix of ground glass and clay.

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She used a technique known as sgraffito, a term derived from the Italian for "scratched", incising designs with a needle-like tool.

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Originally constructed in 1908 and designed by Hiss & Weekes, The Belnord features an Italian Renaissance-style palazzo with a pair of gated arched entryways painted with sgraffito frescoes.

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Tenacious and single-minded, her innovative, distinctive and elegant wheel-turned pots, bowls and vases were minimalist, exploring materials, flowing form, surface texture, sgraffito decoration, colour, layered slips and glazes.

A genuine appreciation of ceramics; GALLERIES In the sixth in a special monthly series on Wales' celebrated artworks, David Moore looks at the Anita Besson Ceramics Bequest to the Derek Williams Trust which is at the centre of National Museum Cardiff's new exhibition

I see the black-and-white sgraffito on the surface of these monochrome works as my travel notes on the margin, scribbled during my journeys in search of these very forms.

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Their collaborative pieces on display depict biblical figures and are characterized by a sea-green matt glaze incised with sgraffito and inlaid oxides.

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This technique is known as sgraffito, the Italian word for scratched.

Masterpieces by the Da Vinci of the Potteries; Often overshadowed by his daughter, Frederick Rhead was a genius of ceramic artistry