sgraffito
Syllables: sgraf·fi·to/sɡɹəˈfiːtəʊ/US/sɡɹəˈfiːtoʊ/
sgraffito noun: a technique in ceramics, art and wall design, where the top layer of pigment or slip is scratched through to reveal an underlying layer.
Noun
sgraffito (countable and uncountable, plural sgraffiti or sgraffitoes or sgraffitos)
- A technique in ceramics, art and wall design, where the top layer of pigment or slip is scratched through to reveal an underlying layer.
- Through color and tone Byzantine potters gave to sgraffito pottery qualities that go beyond the contrasts possible in metalwork. And the history of the colors in their use on Byzantine sgraffito ware again takes us back to Tang China.1992, Dēmētra Papanikola-Bakirtzē, Eunice Dauterman Maguire, Henry Maguire, Ceramic Art from Byzantine Serres (Illinois Byzantine Studies; III), Urbana and Chicago, Ill.: University of Illinois...
- Sgraffito is a valuable design technique for working with slips[…], but did you know that this technique has other applications? With leather-hard clay you can incise (cut into) the clay surface. […] To make smooth lines in a raw-glazed surface, first cover the area with liquid wax. Then, using any...2008, Maureen [Elizabeth] Mills, Surface Design for Ceramics, New York, N.Y.: Lark Books, →ISBN, page 100
- An instance or sample of sgraffito.
- [I]n the corner room a sitting platform, 3 ft. broad, as well as a large fireplace, were brought to light, while in the hall (E. iii.), open towards the south, the rough plaster surface of the partly well-preserved east wall proved to be covered with sgraffiti both Tibetan and Chinese.1907, [Marc] Aurel Stein, Ancient Khotan: Detailed Report of Archaeological Explorations in Chinese Turkestan Carried out and Described under the Orders of H. M. Indian Government, Oxford: Clarendon...
- The few surviving examples of early sgraffiti are thought to be late 14th century and have a mediaeval quality about them. Ugo Procacci points out that the technique of two contrasting colours was seldom used and most of them are pure and simple sgraffiti.1985, Leonardo Ginori Lisci, The Florentine Palazzi: Their History and Art, volume I, Florence: Giunti Barbera, →OCLC, page 53
Verb
sgraffito (third-person singular simple present sgraffitos or sgraffitoes, present participle sgraffitoing, simple past and past participle sgraffitoed)
- To produce a design using this technique.
- Use a ceramic tool or any pointer to sgraffito the lines in the enamel powder.1972, Ceramics Monthly, volume 20, Columbus, Oh.: Professional Publications, →OCLC, page 31
- A West African woman sgraffitoes a traditional pattern […]1983, Ceramics Monthly, volume 31, →OCLC, page 5
Examples of sgraffito in a sentence
- Sgraffito is a valuable design technique for working with slips[…], but did you know that this technique has other applications?2008, Maureen [Elizabeth] Mills, Surface Design for Ceramics, New York, N.Y.: Lark Books, →ISBN, page 100:
- Sgraffito is not only weather resistant but also requires less artistic skill than alfresco painting.2012, Colum P. Hourihane, editor, The Grove Encyclopedia of Medieval Art and Architecture, volume I (Aachen to Cecco di Pietro), Oxford...
- I did murals there as well, designs for windows, bas relief and otherwise, sgraffitoes – a very special technique cut in stucco.1994, Hilda Kirkwood, Between the Lines, Ottawa: Oberon Press, →ISBN, page 71:
- [Josep] Puig [i Cadafalch] wanted to emphasize the ornamentation of the stone window frames of the facade by contrasting it against the white stucco sgraffitos.2001, Raúl García i Aranzueque, Barcelona and Gaudí: Examples of Modernist Architecture, Spain: Kliczkowski Publications, →ISBN, page 61:
Forms of sgraffito
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | sgraffiti |
| plural | sgraffitoes |
| plural | sgraffitos |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | sgraffitos |
| third-person singular present | sgraffitoes |
| present participle | sgraffitoing |
| past participle | sgraffitoed |
| past | sgraffitoed |
Origin of sgraffito
Borrowed from Italian sgraffito, from s- (“out”) + graffito (past participle of graffire), ultimately from Ancient Greek γράφειν (gráphein, “to write or scratch”).
Words formed from sgraffito
Questions about sgraffito
- What does sgraffito mean?
- Sgraffito means a technique in ceramics, art and wall design, where the top layer of pigment or slip is scratched through to reveal an underlying layer.
- How do you use sgraffito in a sentence?
- Sgraffito is a valuable design technique for working with slips[…], but did you know that this technique has other applications?
- What part of speech is sgraffito?
- Sgraffito can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce sgraffito?
- Sgraffito is pronounced /sɡɹəˈfiːtəʊ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of sgraffito?
- The plural of sgraffito is sgraffiti.
Words near sgraffito in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sgraffito (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-sgraffiito.wav.
Cite this entry: “sgraffito.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sgraffito. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.