Damiana Hand-Painted Fayoum Pottery Platter

The Damiana Hand-Painted Fayoum Pottery Platter is inspired by the wonderfully expressive faces that appear in ancient Coptic textiles. With their wide eyes, elaborate hairstyles and beautiful jewellery, these figures can feel remarkably fresh and full of personality centuries later. Damiana marks a first for us: our first pottery design to feature a face. We were excited to explore something more figurative in our Fayoum pottery, and the result owes so much to the painterly hand of Sarah, the talented potter and painter who brings each Damiana to life. Working with confident, instinctive strokes, Sarah gives each face its expression and character — from the dark curls and wide eyes to the rosy cheeks and jewellery. Every platter is painted individually by her, so no two are ever identical. Yet each has the same beautifully assured quality that comes from the hand of a skilled painter. Framed by a border of hand-painted leaves, Damiana has a deliberately naïve and joyful quality. Generously sized and highly decorative, she makes a natural centrepiece on a coffee table or console, or can be hung on the wall as a piece of ceramic art. A contemporary piece of Egyptian pottery that celebrates the character of ancient Coptic portraiture and, just as importantly, the hand of the artisan who paints it today.