sgraffito
/sɡraˈfiːtəʊ
/noun (plural sgraffiti /sɡraˈfiːti/) [mass noun]
A form of decoration made by scratching through a surface to reveal a lower layer of a contrasting colour, typically done in plaster or stucco on walls, or in slip on ceramics before firing.Here the last vestiges of the figurative, a few delicately poised hands, flowers and shells, are subsumed into patterned and highly coloured surfaces of glazes, scumbles, impasto, sgraffito, stipples, dots and splodges of paint....
- Façades were further decorated with virtuoso sgraffiti, the top layer of plaster etched away to reveal a contrasting colour beneath.
- It occupies the entire 6-foot-high composition, with ink spatters, sgraffito and handprints enlivening the surface.
Origin
Mid 18th century: Italian, literally 'scratched away', past participle of sgraffiare.