Greek Pottery

Greek Civilization
Ancient Greek civilization flourished from the period following Mycenaean
civilization, which ended about 1200 BCE, to the death of Alexander the Great,
in 323 BCE. By that time, Greek cultural influence had spread around the
Mediterranean and, through Alexander the Great's campaign of conquest, as far
afield as India.
The period between the end of the Mycenaean civilization (1200 BCE) and the
death of Alexander the Great (323 BCE) that significantly influenced later
Western culture in politics, philosophy, and art.
Ancient Greek history is conventionally broken down into three
periods: Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic. Archaic (to the end of the 6th
century bc); Classical (5th and 4th centuries bc); and Hellenistic and Greco-
Roman (3rd century bc onward).
The Archaic Period
Around 1,200 BC, an epoch of discord and upheaval known as the Late Bronze
Age Collapse rocked the civilizations of the eastern Mediterranean. This epoch
saw the demise of the Mycenaean Greek culture, the beginning of the end of
Pharaonic Egypt, and the total and utter destruction of the Hittite Empire. The
culprits behind these events were the so-called Sea Peoples: A confederation of
marauding warriors from the northern Aegean who ushered in the Greek Dark
Ages.

The Classical Period

The Classical Period was much shorter than both the archaic and Hellenistic. But
in many ways, it’s the most Greek of the three periods of ancient Greece. It was
during these years that the world was gifted Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, the
foundations of democracy, the Parthenon, and two new types of Greek columns:
the Ionic and Corinthian Orders. The Classical Period of Greece was bound on
each end by two earth-shattering deaths — that of the last Athenian tyrant in 510
BC and Alexander the Great in 323.
The Hellenistic Period

During the Hellenistic Period, the last of the three periods of ancient Greece, we
see shifts in politics, art, culture, and the role of women. In politics, the
importance of individual city-states dwindled as they were annexed into
Alexander the Great’s empire, and later on into the kingdoms of his successors.
For this reason, the Hellenistic Period is sometimes called an Age of Kings.
In Hellenistic art and sculpture, we see a focus on beauty and precision in
depictions of the human form. This was achieved through showing realistic
anatomy, ornate details, and movement that accentuated forms.

Greek Pottery
History
Greek pottery developed from a Mycenaean tradition, borrowing both pot forms
and decoration. The earliest stylistic period is the Geometric, lasting from about
1000 to 700 bce.
There are four main types of Greek pottery: Geometric, Corinthian, Athenian
Black-figure, and Athenian red-figure pottery. The most famous Greek pottery
is the Meidias hydria: Athenian red-figure hydria (water jug) signed by Meidias
as potter and attributed to the Meidias Painter as painter. Pottery, made in Attica
(Greece), about 420 BC, excavated in Italy. When the Meidias hydria entered
the British Museum collection 250 years ago, it was already a celebrity.
The Greek Pottery known for many aspects of ancient Greek life through
painted scenes, espe. cially on Attic Black and Red Figure vessels. A large
number of these scenes illustrate the myths and legends of the ancient Greeks.

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. 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. 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.

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
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. 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 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.
The Greeks used pottery vessels primarily to store, transport, and drink such
liquids as wine and water. Smaller pots were used as containers for perfumes
and unguents. Greek pottery developed from a Mycenaean tradition, borrowing
both pot forms and decoration.
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.

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.
The 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. 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.
Greek Pottery Designs