Ancient Greek Pottery

Where? When? Why? What? Ancient Greek Pottery

Geography of GreeceWHERE? • Greece is a small country in Europe. • Greece is near the Mediterranean Sea. • The main part of Greece in on a peninsula. • The rest of Greece is made up of 3000 islands!

WHEN? • The Classical Period lasts from 776 BC to 323 BC • It ends with the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC • 350 years duration

The Importance of PotteryWHY? • Storage containers, cookware and dishes were as necessary for the Ancient Greeks as they are for us. • Without much glass and with metal expensive, clay was a very handy material.

Form and FunctionWHAT? • Temples / Parthenon (Architecture) • Sculpture (Gods & Goddesses) • Black Figure & Red Figure Pots • Crafted out of clay & fired in a rock oven (kiln)

Periods and StylesBlack-Figure • The Black-figure style really did not dominate until the 6th century BC. • Artists painted black images silhouetted against the natural red clay background. • Details were inserted by etching the black figures. • White or purple paint could then be added.

Periods and StylesRed-Figure • The red-figure style appeared between 530-525 BC. • It was achieved by simply reversing the manner of black figure painting. • The red figures are reserved and the background is painted. • This is more difficult but it allowed the design to be seen better at a distance and it leaves the contour of the pot more visible.

Clay • It is easily worked and can be shaped as desired. • Once fired it is quite strong and waterproof. • It makes an ideal material for containers of all sorts.

HOW? Throwing pots • The clay is next kneaded and placed on a wheel. • As the wheel spins, the potter shapes the clay and forms it into the desired shapes. • Large pots are made in sections. Handles, feet and spouts were also fabricated separately. • Sections are glued together with a layer of thin, watery, clay, known as a slip.

Decoration • Once made, the entire pot is painted with a thin black slip. How this slip is applied will create an image. • The entire object is then fired in a very hot oven called a kiln– in 3 stages.

Pottery Art • Only men were allowed to make pots in Ancient Greece, though women were permitted to paint them. • Pottery was frequently made by slaves (helots). • What survives is often not high art. Really valuable containers tended to be made of bronze, silver or gold. However, little of this survives because the metal was reused. Pottery fragments, having no real value, survive.

Pottery Art • Despite it being a lesser form than metal-craft, some excellent creations exist. • Greek pottery and painting evolved into a significant art form.

Form & Function • Large storage containers were called Amphora and are made with two carrying handles..

Form and Function • Small storage boxes were called pyxis.

Form and Function • Small vases for perfume or oil were called Alabastron.

Form and Function • Athletes kept their oil supply in small containers called Aryballos

Form and Function • Hydria were used to carry water from wells, springs or rivers.

Form and Function • Kraters were bowls to mix water and wine in.

Form and Function • Wine was ladled from kraters into shallow wine cups called kylix.

Form and Function • It was also poured directly out of wine jugs called oinochoe.

Form and Function • Lekythos were used to store oil

Periods and Styles • Pottery is one of the oldest surviving art forms from Ancient Greece. • Works and fragments survive from the 2nd millennium BC to the end of the 1st century BC. • Greek pottery was traded throughout the Mediterranean world and beyond.

Ancient Greek Pottery