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Pottery is one of the most durable survivals of any historical culture, and often serves to define its identity for modern scholars. These pieces of eleventh and twelfth century sgraffito- and splash-ware pottery were reproduced by Alex de Vos from documentation supplied.
Other pictures of tableware from the eleventh century Serce Limani shipwreck can be see via this off site link.
The Antiquities Museum of the University of New England displays some examples of thirteenth century tableware from Cyprus. Their shape shows the alteration in form which took place early in that century.
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Wealthier Romans ate from metal tableware. Bronze and brass were used quite widely, and silver for the richest.
The greatest endulgence at the very top of the social scale was the use of a fork. Matched sets of spoon and fork are known from as early as the fourth century, and seem to have become more widespread in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, yet even then confined to the higher levels of society.
In the first decade of the eleventh century a noblewomen married to the Doge of Venice, Maria Argyropoulina, outraged Venetian clergy by her habit of using a fork.3
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The set above are the later type as illustrated in scenes of Job’s Banquet and the Last Supper in cave churches of Cappadocia with details supplied from examples held in the Louvre, Paris, while examples at left are based upon earlier styles, primarily the set held in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection.4