sgraffito

1 9.9

A way of decorating pots or walls by scratching the top layer to show a different color underneath

noun
/skrəˈfiːtoʊ/

Specialized

: sgraffito

She decorated the walls of her studio with intricate sgraffito patterns that contrasted beautifully against the background color.
sgraffito technique
porcelain and sgraffito

Examples

The pottery showcased a unique sgraffito effect, where different layers of glaze were scratched away to create stunning designs.
In this marriage between tradition and change, she created high-fired glazed stoneware inscribed with sgraffito designs of stylized animals, for which she received international recognition through Cardew's promotion of her work in Europe and America.

Academic text (2007)
It walks around the neighborhood, past foreign embassies, Renaissance palaces with sgraffito facades, gardens with statues and stucco decorations, and always comes back to Malostranske.

Fiction book (1996)
The artist used a sgraffito technique to reveal the vibrant colors hidden beneath the surface of the ceramic vase.

Antonyms

smooth

1 5.8

An act of making a surface even by rubbing or pressing

Surface Forms

sgraffito singular

sgraffitos plural

Etymology

Sgraffito comes from the Italian verb sgraffiare, which means 'to scratch'. It is like the word graffiti and refers to a way of decorating walls or pots by scratching a top layer to show a different color underneath, so the word names the actual 'scratching' technique.