KOUTALITZII

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The koutalitzii (crockery storage case), also known as protsokoutalothiki, koutalistra or koutalionas, was a wooden case for the storage of spoons, forks and knives of the household. Often the internal storage space of the case was divided in two equal, rectangular neighbouring compartments. The posterior wooden panel of the koutalitzii often bore a perforation close to the top of it for wall-mounting the case. Some of the surviving samples of this piece of furniture had a wider disc-shaped base, where small ladles or glasses could be stored. The more elaborate artefacts of this kind bear complex carved and/or painted décor. Simper forms of koutalitzii were made either from the bottle-shaped type of gourd, where an opening was cut to the one side of the belly to transform it into a case, or from wide mature cane, where holes were drilled to create small storage pockets along its length.