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This article offers a great amount of information on early Mesopotamia pottery. I really appreciate the patterns seen in the works featured!

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The theme of my exhibit is pottery from ancient Mesopotamia. Archeologists have been able to find many different pieces of pottery from different time periods. Mesopotamia was a region that had Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians, and Babylonians, and existed from the beginning of written history in 3100 BC to when Alexander the Great overthrew it in 332 BC. The name Mesopotamia is from two ancient Greek root words μέσος (meso), which means middle and ποταμός (potamos), which means river, put together they mean between rivers.

Depending on how the pottery looks and the style of it determine what time period it is from. Some of the earlier pottery pieces are earthenware with incisions on it and are much more fragile than later pieces made that are covered in alkaline glaze. Although all of the pottery pieces are from ancient Mesopotamia the area that they came from also shows a variety of styles. Some have different colored paints than others while some have none. So far the earliest pottery archeologists have found is from 7000 BC, from a site called Hassuna. The pottery from there is hand shaped, not glazed and has simple geometric patterns of line incisions. The next oldest pottery to be found is from 5300-4000 BC and from Ubaid. The pottery from this time where made from a darker clay and often had a green or brown tint to them. They also used a wheel to make pots have a wide rim. After Ubaid was the Uruk, they where the first to mass produce pottery with the wheel and used cedar oil and ground up pigments as paint. In 3200 BC was the Jemdet Nasr era. The pottery from this era had black or a dark red paint and was thick.

During the Assyrian Empire in 1813-609 BC, pottery had become very important, and blue glaze was used. In 612 BC was the Achaemenid Persian Empire. During this time the pottery was considered to be the most complex. The common process used to make most of the pottery pieces was to take the fine clay and shape it by hand or use a pottery wheel once they were invented. Next the artist would wait for the clay to dry out some until it appears to have leather like consistency. Then if they were going to make incisions or carvings into it this is when they would because the clay is not entirely dry but much tougher. Next they would put the piece in a kiln of some sort and make sure that it is extremely hot inside it so that the pottery piece is baked properly. After the piece is fired and the kiln cools down they would then take the piece out. Depending on if they had glazes or not then the piece would be glazed, glazes were made from crushed quartz and ashes from burnt plants. The piece would then be put back in the kiln and fired once again with the glaze on it and then done when cooled down and removed from the kiln.

It is amazing to see the art from so long ago and how it has survived for so long. The uses for pottery back then were for storing food, and ritual purposes. Depending on the design of how the pottery piece looks helps archeologists have a clue with what its purpose was.

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Lydia M: Mesopotamia Pottery - Google Arts & Culture

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The theme of my exhibit is pottery from ancient Mesopotamia. Archeologists have been able to find many different pieces of pottery from different time periods. Mesopotamia was a region that had Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians, and Babylonians, and existed from the beginning of written history in 3100 BC to when Alexander the Great overthrew it in 332 BC.

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Franz Anton Bustelli worked with porcelain to create sculptures in the Rococo style. Rococo is known for its elaborate ornamentation, popular in the 18th century. Do you find it visually appealing?

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Franz Anton Bustelli was a Swiss-born German modeller for the Bavarian Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory from 1754 to his death in 1763. He is widely regarded as the finest modeller of porcelain in the Rococo style: "if the art of European porcelain finds its most perfect expression in the rococo style, so the style finds its most perfect expression in the work of Bustelli".
Bustelli was born in Locarno in Italian-speaking Switzerland, and died in Munich, Bavaria, just after his 40th birthday. Few details of his life are known, but he trained as a sculptor, probably mostly in wood, in Italy. He spoke and wrote German fluently, and may have grown up in Bavaria.

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Franz Anton Bustelli - Google Arts & Culture

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Franz Anton Bustelli was a Swiss-born German modeller for the Bavarian Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory from 1754 to his death in 1763.

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Nok Art describes art found in the village of Nok in Nigeria. It dates back to the 2nd-5th centuries of the iron age. Many of the pieces found are heads that were part of an entire human sculpture. They are incredibly varied suggesting they were inspired by specific people.

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#10: Searching for Nok culture

Hundreds of Nok cultural sites have been illegally dug in search of terracotta sculptures. Archaeological discoveries have given depth to the Nok culture, though a proper knowledge of their contexts remains uncertain. The Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art holds two examples of Nok art and can be seen by visiting the museum.

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10 Facts You Need to Know About Nok Art - Google Arts & Culture

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10: Searching for Nok culture Hundreds of Nok cultural sites have been illegally dug in search of terracotta sculptures. Archaeological discoveries have given depth to the Nok culture, though a proper knowledge of their contexts remains uncertain. The Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art holds two examples of Nok art and can be seen by visiting the museum.

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The Jōmon period spans a very long period of time described as Japan's Neolithic period. The people who lived here during this time were semi-sedentary and hunted, gathered, and fished for their food. The pots made were all done by hand using a coil method. They did not have the help of the wheel for their creations!

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The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

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The Jōmon period, which encompasses a great expanse of time, constitutes Japan's Neolithic period. Its name is derived from the "cord markings" that characterize the ceramics made during this time. Jōmon people were semi-sedentary, living mostly in pit dwellings arranged around central open spaces, and obtained their food by gathering, fishing, and hunting. While the many excavations of Jōmon sites have added to our knowledge of specific artifacts, they have not helped to resolve certain fundamental questions concerning the people of the protoliterate era, such as their ethnic classification and the origin of their language.

All Jōmon pots were made by hand, without the aid of a wheel, the potter building up the vessel from the bottom with coil upon coil of soft clay. As in all other Neolithic cultures, women produced these early potteries. The clay was mixed with a variety of adhesive materials, including mica, lead, fibers, and crushed shells. After the vessel was formed, tools were employed to smooth both the outer and interior surfaces. When completely dry, it was fired in an outdoor bonfire at a temperature of no more than about 900°C.

Because the Jōmon period lasted so long and is so culturally diverse, historians and archaeologists often divide it into the following phases:

Incipient Jōmon (ca. 10,500-8000 B.C.)
This period marks the transition between Paleolithic and Neolithic ways of life. Archaeological findings indicate that people lived in simple surface dwellings and fed themselves through hunting and gathering. They produced deep pottery cooking containers with pointed bottoms and rudimentary cord markings-among the oldest examples of pottery known in the world.

Initial Jōmon (ca. 8000-5000 B.C.)
By this period, the gradual climatic warming that had begun around 10,000 B.C. sufficiently raised sea levels, so that the southern islands of Shikoku and Kyūshū were separated from the main island of Honshū. The rise in temperature also increased the food supply, which was derived from the sea as well as by hunting animals and gathering plants, fruits, and seeds. Evidence of this diet is found in shell mounds, or ancient refuse heaps. Food and other necessities of life were acquired and processed with the use of stone tools such as grinding rocks, knives, and axes.

Early Jōmon (ca. 5000-2500 B.C.)
The contents of huge shell mounds show that a high percentage of people's daily diet continued to come from the oceans. Similarities between pottery produced in Kyūshū and contemporary Korea suggest that regular commerce existed between the Japanese islands and the Korean peninsula. The inhabitants of the Japanese islands lived in square-shaped pithouses that were clustered in small villages. A variety of handicrafts, including cord-marked earthenware cooking and storage vessels, woven baskets, bone needles, and stone tools, were produced for daily use.

Middle Jōmon (ca. 2500-1500 B.C.)
This period marked the high point of the Jomon culture in terms of increased population and production of handicrafts. The warming climate peaked in temperature during this era, causing a movement of communities into the mountain regions. Refuse heaps indicate that the people were sedentary for longer periods and lived in larger communities; they fished, hunted animals such as deer, bear, rabbit, and duck, and gathered nuts, berries, mushrooms, and parsley. Early attempts at plant cultivation may date to this period. The increased production of female figurines and phallic images of stone, as well as the practice of burying the deceased in shell mounds, suggest a rise in ritual practices.

Late Jōmon (ca. 1500-1000 B.C.)
As the climate began to cool, the population migrated out of the mountains and settled closer to the coast, especially along Honshū's eastern shores. Greater reliance on seafood inspired innovations in fishing technology, such as the development of the toggle harpoon and deep-sea fishing techniques. This process brought communities into closer contact, as indicated by greater similarity among artifacts. Circular ceremonial sites comprised of assembled stones, in some cases numbering in the thousands, and larger numbers of figurines show a continued increase in the importance and enactment of rituals.

Final Jōmon (ca. 1000-300 B.C.)
As the climate cooled and food became less abundant, the population declined dramatically. Because people were assembled in smaller groups, regional differences became more pronounced. As part of the transition to the Yayoi culture, it is believed that domesticated rice, grown in dry beds or swamps, was introduced into Japan at this time.

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Jōmon Culture (ca. 10,500-ca. 300 B.C.) | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

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The increased production of female figurines and phallic images of stone, as well as the practice of burying the deceased in shell mounds, suggest a rise in ritual practices.

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FOLKS! You can go see this exhibit at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh. How awesome is that?! This brief video examines why and when ceramic pots were used in Ancient Egypt.

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Ancient Egypt Through Its Pottery - Dig Deeper Episode 1

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This website features a really fascinating video from the 50's featuring traditional and modern Japanese approaches ceramics. It's fairly long so feel free to skip around!

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Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a teapot or a massive, hand-built vase? In this mesmerizing short film about Japanese pottery and porcelain, traditional and modern techniques coexist at the manufactory. The human hand and machine work in harmony here, producing beautiful wares for everyday use. Follow the creative process from start to finish-gathering and preparing raw clay, wedging, throwing, firing, glazing, and later presenting finished works in the showroom. Music by Tadashi Hattori, who worked with acclaimed director Akira Kurosawa.

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Japanese Pottery and Porcelain, 1955 | Perspectives | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a teapot or a massive, hand-built vase? In this mesmerizing short film about Japanese pottery and porcelain, traditional and modern techniques coexist at the manufactory. The human hand and machine work in harmony here, producing beautiful wares for everyday use.

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https://youtu.be/teJBP-R9O8A

Here is a look at the Native American tradition of using horse hair to create a unique finish to ceramics works.

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How A Native American Potter Uses The Tradition Of Horsehair Pottery | For The Culture

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1500s
Delftware begins to be produced in the Netherlands. We can think of Delftware as an imitation of the desirable Chinese porcelain.

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'Delft blue': Dutch souvenir shops are full of it. Like tulips, clogs and windmills, the blue-and-white pottery has become a symbol of the Netherlands. But the items in the shops are rarely 'genuine' antique Dutch delftware, which was made in a particular way, in Delft, and is often - though not always - blue and white.

Antique Dutch delftware has five key characteristics:

It was made between roughly 1620 and 1850.

It was made in Delft.

It has a tin glaze.

It sometimes has a mark.

It is often painted blue and white.

Delftware was made between 1620 and 1850
The first ships carrying Chinese porcelain arrived in the Netherlands around 1600. The new luxury pottery was very popular, and makers in Delft soon started trying to develop a good imitation.

Charger, (ascribed to) Willem Jansz. Verstraeten, ca. 1650 - ca. 1660, collection Rijksmuseum. Although the painter was definitely inspired by Chinese porcelain, he added some imagined elements, like the pulpit and parts of the landscape.

The Chinese porcelain was made of very fine white clay known as Type of clay essential for the production of porcelain. kaolin kaolin , but that was not available in the Netherlands. So to make ' Hollants porceleyn ' (Dutch porcelain) the potters in Delft used tin glaze - an opaque white glaze containing tin oxide.

Potters in Delft tried to make a good imitation of porcelain

Tin glaze came to the Dutch Republic from the Middle East, via Italy and Antwerp. This technique was used in Delft until around 1850. That is why we refer to objects made between 1620 and 1850 as antique Delftware. After 1850 Delftware was made using another technique, and is known as modern Delftware.

Dutch delftware was made in Delft

Tin-glazed earthenware, or faience, was also made elsewhere in the Netherlands and Europe in its heyday, but that produced in Delft is acknowledged as the best. Dutch delftware is only referred to as such if it was actually produced in Delft. Take care, because in the late 19th century Delftware became very popular again, and manufacturers who were not based in Delft also put the word 'Delft' on the base of their products.

Mark of Cornelis Brouwer, owner of the pottery De Witte Ster (1724-1738). Collection Kunstmuseum Den Haag.

Planter, model 'Maastricht' with the decor 'Delfts' by Petrus Regout, collection Centre Ceramique * Source

Dutch delftware can be recognised by its white glaze

Delftware was made using a clay that turned yellow when fired. It was then dipped in a bath of white, opaque tin glaze to cover it completely. The earthenware objects were fired at around 1000 degrees Celsius.

This was not enough to fuse the clay and the glaze completely, so the glaze could easily flake off. This caused slight damage, where the yellow of the clay can often be seen. This is a good way of identifying antique Delftware.

Chips in the glaze can show the yellow or red clay underneath

The same goes for Scar on the front of a piece of majolica caused by the spur used to support it in the kiln. Traditional term for tin-glazed earthenware. Earthenware objects with a thin body that are completely covered with a layer of tin glaze (generally white). The objects have a smooth front. On the bottom of chargers the imprints of the pegs on which the objects rest inside the saggars during firing can be seen. Probably references the name of the city of Faenza, an Italian centre of production. small scars small scars left by triangular pegs on the base or back. The pots were stacked in saggars in the kiln to protect them from flames and smoke during the firing process. The items were separated in the saggar using triangular pegs. These left small imprints in the glaze on the base or back of the pot. These imprints are therefore a distinctive feature of antique faience faience .

On the edge of the shoes, some parts of the glaze have chipped off, revealing the yellowy clay underneath. Miniature shoes, Delft, collection Museum Arnhem.

But the clay of Dutch delftware can also have a more reddish colour, as can be seen from the edge of this cup. Collection Kunstmuseum Den Haag.

Dutch delftware might have a mark - but not necessarily

Dutch delftware sometimes has one or more marks on the base or back. These marks were used increasingly from the late 17th century onwards. This was good for trade: the marks were a guarantee of distinctiveness and quality, particularly abroad.

Since factories often had several owners, the marks also indicate when the object was made. However, only a few of the maker's marks have ever been officially recorded, and at least half the antique Delftware made never had a mark. So if a piece does not have a mark, it does not necessarily mean that it is not Dutch delftware. This list includes all known Delft and non-Delft marks.

A mark guaranteed distinctiveness and quality

Dutch delftware is not always blue and white

The first items of Dutch delftware were based on imported Chinese porcelain, which was always blue and white. That is why the combination of blue and white became popular in Delft.

However, cheaper domestic items had only a tin glaze, so they are completely white. And later Delftware was sometimes painted in several colours.

The tin glaze of this tea canister is completely black, instead of the usual white colour, and has been decorated with several other colours. Black Delftware is the rarest earthenware that was made in Delft. Collection Kunstmuseum Den Haag.

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'Delft blue': Dutch souvenir shops are full of it. Like tulips, clogs and windmills, the blue-and-white pottery has become a symbol of the Netherlands. But the items in the shops are rarely 'genuine' antique Dutch delftware, which was made in a particular way, in Delft, and is often - though not always -...

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221-207 BCE
The Terra Cotta Army is created during
the reign of Shihuangdi, the founder of
China’s Qin dynasty. Check out this video to learn more about this impressive army.

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The incredible history of China's terracotta warriors - Megan Campisi and Pen-Pen Chen

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620-480 BCE
Greece’s black-figure pottery is produced and followed by Red-figure pottery. This website offers information on how greek ceramic vessels were created and their role in ancient greek culture.

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Greek pottery has four main types: Geometric, Corinthian, Athenian Black-figure, and Athenian red-figure pottery. Pottery vessels were made for everyday use such as the two-handled amphora for storage, the single-stem kylix cup for drinking wine, and the three-handled hydra for holding water. Greek pottery was often decorated with geometric designs or images from Greek mythology.

The pottery of ancient Greece from c. 1000 to c. 400 BCE provides not only some of the most distinctive vase shapes from antiquity but also some of the oldest and most diverse representations of the cultural beliefs and practices of the ancient Greeks. Further, pottery, with its durability (even when broken) and lack of appeal to treasure hunters, is one of the great archaeological survivors and is, therefore, an important tool for archaeologists and historians in determining the chronology of ancient Greece. Whatever their artistic and historical value though, the vast majority of Greek vases, despite now being dusty museum pieces, were actually meant for everyday use and, to paraphrase Arthur Lane, it is perhaps worth remembering that standing on a stone pavement and drenched with water, they would have once gleamed in the Mediterranean sun.

Materials & Production

The clay ( keramos) to produce pottery ( kerameikos) was readily available throughout Greece, although the finest was Attic clay, with its high iron content giving an orange-red colour with a slight sheen when fired and the pale buff of Corinth. Clay was generally prepared and refined in settling tanks so that different consistencies of material could be achieved depending on the vessel types to be made with it.

Greek pottery was invariably made on the potter's wheel and usually made in separate horizontal sections: the foot, the lower and upper body, the neck, and finally the handles, if necessary. These sections were then joined together with a clay 'slip' after drying and it is possible in many cases to see the prints of the potter impressed on the inside of the vessel. The piece was then put back on the wheel to smooth the join marks and add the final shaping. Therefore, all vases were unique and the small variations in dimensions reveal that the use of simple tools and not cut-out templates was the norm.

Pots were fired several times (in the same kiln) in order to achieve the required finish & colouring.

Next, the pot was decorated. This process depended on the decorative style in vogue at the time, but popular methods included painting the whole or parts of the vase with a thin black adhesive paint which was added with a brush, the marks of which remain visible in many cases. This black paint was a mix of alkali potash or soda, clay with silicon content, and black ferrous oxide of iron. The paint was affixed to the pot by using a fixative of urine or vinegar which burned away in the heat of the kiln, binding the paint to the clay. Another technique, used more rarely, was to cover the vessel with a white clay paint. Alternatively, only lines or figures were added in black using a thicker version of the black paint mentioned above and applied with a stiff brush or feather; in consequence, a slight relief effect was achieved. Minor details were often added with a thinned black paint giving a yellow-brown colour, a white pipe-clay, and a dark red of ochre and manganese. The latter two colours tended to flake off over time.

The finished pot was then ready to be put in the kiln and fired at a temperature of around 960 °C, which is relatively low and explains the 'softness' of Greek pottery (in comparison to, for example, Chinese porcelain). Pots were fired several times (in the same kiln) in order to achieve the required finish and colouring. First, the pot was fired in an oxidising fire where good ventilation to the kiln ensured that the orange/red of the clay came to the fore. Then the pot was re-fired in a kiln starved of oxygen (reduction process) by adding water or damp wood inside the kiln. This ensured that the painted colours, particularly the black, darkened in colour. A third firing, again with good ventilation, re-reddened the clay of the pot whilst the painted areas, now protected by a thin wash, kept their original colouring. This complicated process obviously required excellent timing from the potter so as not to spoil the vase with unseemly discolouring.

Greek Potters & Painters

Painter and potter ( kerameus) were usually, although not always, separate specialists. However, lasting partnerships existed such as between the potter Ergotimos and painter Kleitas. Many individual potters and less frequently, painters, have been identified with certainty through their signatures (most commonly as "...made this") although the majority of Greek vases are unsigned. However, Professor J. D. Beazley, working in the 20th century CE, identified more than 500 unsigned artists distinguishable through their particular style. Beazley's systematic and comprehensive cataloguing of Greek pottery has also allowed for the study of its evolution in techniques, designs, and decoration.

A good Greek vase probably cost only a day's wages.

Painters often worked in collective workshops, generally under the supervision of one 'master' potter (which suggests form was actually more important than decoration for the Greeks). Although artists were free from centralised political control or restrictions, they no doubt were driven by the market demand for particular styles, subjects, and fashions. Many potters and artists were prolific in their output and in some cases over 200 vases may be attributed to a single artist. The majority of pottery workers would have been paid no more than any other manual labourer and a good vase probably cost only a day's wages. Certainly though, a few artists would have been in great demand and their goods were sold not only locally but far and wide throughout the Mediterranean. Potters themselves sometimes relocated to other cities, particularly colonies, often taking with them their regional style. There was also some rivalry between artists as indicated by one signed comment on a vase, "better than Euphronias could ever have done".

The Shapes of Greek Pottery

Although Greek pottery provides us with a wide range of shapes from cups to plates to massive amphorae, many of the forms remained relatively constant over centuries. This is primarily because Greek potters were producing wares for practical use - holding wine, water, oil, and perfumes - and once the optimum practical shape had evolved, it was copied and maintained. However, despite this restriction in form, the Greek potters and painters could express their versatility in the decoration of the vase.

The most common forms of pottery were amphorae for storing wine, large kraters for mixing wine with water, jugs ( oinochoai) for pouring wine, kylixes or stemmed cups with horizontal handles for drinking (especially practical if lifting a cup from the floor when reclining on a lounger at dinner), hydra with three handles for holding water, skyphoi or deep bowls, and lekythoi jars for holding oils and perfumes. Precisely because these objects were for practical use, handles (when present) are generally sturdy affairs, yet the potter, by using carefully considered shapes, often managed to blend these additions into the overall harmony of the vessel and was aided in this endeavour with subtle decorative additions by the painter.

Decorative Styles: Proto-Geometric Pottery

Greek pottery, particularly in terms of decoration, evolved over the centuries and may be categorized into four broad groups:

These groups or styles, however, did not pass abruptly from one to the other but rather in some cases ran contemporary for decades. Also, some city-states and regions were either slow to catch on to new styles or simply preferred the 'old' style decoration long after they had gone out of production elsewhere. In addition, some cities and regions were consistently a little eccentric in their decoration (notably Laconia- Sparta, Cyprus, Crete, and Boeotia) and preferred to follow their own artistic path rather than imitate the styles of the more dominant centres such as Athens and Corinth.

The first distinctive Greek pottery style first appeared around 1000 BCE or perhaps even earlier. Reminiscent in technique of the earlier Greek civilizations of Minoan Crete and the Mycenaean mainland, early Greek pottery decoration employed simple shapes, sparingly used. Proto-Geometric pottery, however, differs from Minoan and Mycenaean in shape. The centre of gravity of the vase is moved downwards (creating a more stable vessel) with the feet and neck more articulated.

The most popular Proto-Geometric designs were precisely painted circles (painted with multiple brushes fixed to a compass), semi-circles, and horizontal lines in black and with large areas of the vase painted solely in black. A new motif on the bases of vessels was the upright triangular points which would endure for centuries and become a staple feature of the later black-figure pottery design.

Geometric Pottery

From around 900 BCE the full Geometric style appeared and favoured the rectangular space on the main body of the vase between the handles. Bold linear designs (perhaps influenced by contemporary basketwork and weaving styles) appeared in this space with vertical line decoration on either side. It was in this period that the Maeander design first appeared (perhaps inspired by the practice of wrapping leaves around the rims of metal bowls), destined to become forever associated with Greece and still going strong on everything from plates to beach towels even today. The lower portion of Geometric vessels were often painted in black and separated from the rest of the vase using horizontal lines. An interesting Geometric style shape appeared which was the circular box with a flat lid, on top of which, one to four horses acted as a handle.

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The black stylized figures became more & more precisely engraved & were given ever more detail, grace & vigour.

From the 8th century BCE, Geometric pottery decoration began to include stylized human figures, birds, and animals with nearly all the surface of the vase covered in bold lines and shapes painted in brown and black. Towards the end of the period in the 7th century BCE, the so-called Orientalising style became popular in Corinth. With its eastern trade connections, the city appropriated the stylised plants (e.g. lotus, palm, and the tree of life), animal friezes (e.g. lions), and curved lines of Egyptian and Assyrian pottery to produce its own unique Greek version. The rest of eastern Greece followed suit, often preferring red on a white slip background. Athens also followed the new trend and it became widespread with, for example, the Cyclades also producing pottery in this new freer style, often on very large vases and with more spacious decoration.

At the end of the 7th century BCE, Proto-Corinthian pottery reached new heights of technique and quality producing the finest pottery yet seen, in firing, shape, and decoration. The black stylized figures became more and more precisely engraved and were given ever more detail, grace, and vigour. The celebrated black-figure pottery style was born.

Black-figure Pottery

Although first produced in Corinth, then with fine examples made in Laconia and southern Italy (by Euboean settlers), it would be the potters and painters of Attica who would excel above all others in the black-figure style, and they would go on to dominate the Greek market for the next 150 years. Not all figures were painted black as certain colour conventions were adopted, such as white for female flesh and purple-red for clothes and accessories. A greater interest in fine details such as muscles and hair, which were added to the figures using a sharp instrument, is characteristic of the style. However, it is the postures of the figures which also mark out black-figure pottery as the zenith of Greek vase painting. The finest figures are given grace and poise and often illustrated in the moments before actual movement or resting after exertion.

The famous vase by Exekias, with Ajax and Achilles playing a board game during the Trojan War, is an excellent example of the dignity and energy black-figure painting could achieve. In addition, black-figure vases often told, for the first time, a narrative. Perhaps the most celebrated example is the Francois Vase, a large volute krater made by Ergotimos and painted by Kleitas (570-565 BCE) which is 66cm high (26 inches) and covered in 270 human and animal figures depicting an astonishing range of scenes and characters from Greek mythology. Typical other vessels of the black-figure style are amphorae, lekythoi, kylixes, plain cups, pyxides (small lidded boxes) and bowls.

Red-figure Pottery

The black-figure technique was replaced by the red-figure technique (red figures created by painting their outline with a black slip background) around 530 BCE which would endure for the next 130 years or so. The two styles were parallel for some time and there are even 'bilingual' examples of vases with both styles but the red-figure, with its advantage of the brush over the graver, could attempt to more realistically portray the human figure and eventually it became the favoured style of Greek pottery decoration. Perhaps influenced by contemporary wall painting techniques, anatomical detail, diverse facial expressions, greater detail in clothing (especially of folds, following the new fashion of the lighter chiton dress which also fascinated contemporary sculptors), greater attempts at portraying perspective, the overlapping of figures, and the depiction of everyday life such as education and sporting scenes are all characteristic of this style.

The shapes of red-figure vessels are generally those of the black-figure style. An exception is the kylix which becomes shallower and with a shorter foot, almost becoming a third handle. In addition, the painted narrative is to be read by turning the cup in the hand. Other minor modifications are the hydra, which becomes a little fuller in figure and the slimmer neck-amphora. Lekythoi of this period commonly had a white background as did (more rarely) cups and boxes.

Into the fourth century BCE, perhaps in attempting to copy the innovations in perspective of contemporary fresco, the red-figure style would reveal its limitations and vases would degenerate into over-packed scenes with strange floating perspectives. Significantly, pottery painting would no longer be linked intrinsically to the form which it decorated and so ceased to exist as an art-form in its own right. Consequently, artistic attention and excellence would turn away from the confinements of pottery to other more open media such as wall-painting.

Conclusion

In conclusion, then, we may say that not only has Greek pottery given us some of the most distinctive, influential, and beautiful shapes and designs of antiquity but it has also given us a window into the lives, practices, and beliefs of a people long gone and of whom we very often have no contemporary written record. These everyday objects, unlike those other archaeological survivors literature, sculpture, and architecture, allow us to feel a little closer to the ordinary people of the ancient world, those who could not afford fine art or precious jewellery but could indulge in possessing a finely made object such as a Greek vase.

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Greek pottery has four main types: Geometric, Corinthian, Athenian Black-figure, and Athenian red-figure pottery. Pottery vessels were made for everyday use such as the two-handled amphora for storage...