Ive owned this Italian bird pottery bowl a very long time. It has been stashed away in my hutch for about 40 years. 
 
What I love about this bowl so much is that it is such a unique modernist style, both in the design of the bird and the unique glaze designs. 
 
Look at the bottom and you can see it is made of red earthenware clay and it is signed Italy. The black glaze on the bowl is a satin or eggshell glaze and does not have a high gloss shine. This is because the black isn�t a glaze at all. The clay is a burnished finish, or earthenware that was highly rubbed and polished with a pure silver spoon or other pure silver utensil. There is a small bright spot in the finish inside the bowl that is a natural imperfection.
 
A satin clear coat was applied after the bowl was burnished. 
I don�t know if you are familiar with this technique, but burnishing this one bowl took many hours. 
 
The entire bowl is in pristine clean like new condition with no crazing, cracks, chips, or repairs. The points on the tail have a tiny flea bite on each tip or corner that probably occurred when the bowl was being made. 
 
The bird is 7 �� long x 4 �� tall. The basin of the bowl is slightly smaller than about the size of half a cantaloupe.