Pottery of Ancient Greece

The pottery of ancient Greece is a form of early utilitarian art that has provided insight into the social and cultural lives of early Greek society. While the term ancient Greece can refer to any time period of Greek history stretching from between 1050 B.C.E. and 330 C.E., Greek pottery reached its high point between approximately 700 and 323 B.C.E., when it faded from Greek society as a signature art form. However, any pottery that predates the Middle Ages period (after the fourth century C.E.) of Greek history may sometimes be classified as being from ancient Greece.

During this period, pottery moved beyond its initial primary value as practical tools for carrying liquids and foodstuffs and became a form of art. Artisans developed a series of distinct designs, including the black-figure and red-figure styles most commonly associated with ancient Greek vase art. Despite the growth of these artistic styles, Greek pottery largely retained its functionality as storage vessels and religious artifacts. In fact, outside of Athens, most pottery was undecorated, as it was deemed unnecessary to decorate items that were going to see heavy use. However, surviving examples of this more utilitarian pottery still provides understanding about the daily lives of the Greek people.

Brief History

Ancient Greek history is often split into several eras. These are generally defined as: the Greek Dark Ages, which is a period stretching from 1050 B.C.E. to 700 B.C.E., when the Mycenaean and Cretan civilizations fell and the Greek city-states rose; Archaic Greece (700 to 480 B.C.E.), when Greek civilization began to coalesce into a distinct collection of independent colonies; Classical Greece (480 to 323 B.C.E.), a period when a coalition of Greek states formed the Delian League during the devastating Greco-Persian Wars; Hellenistic Greece (323 to 146 B.C.E.), the era during which Greek influence was greatest; and Roman Greece (146 B.C.E. to 330 C.E)., which saw the decline of the Greek states into a vassal of the Roman Empire. The creation of ancient Greek pottery was at its zenith during the Archaic and Classical periods.

Ancient Greek pottery began to develop its own distinct artistic aesthetic during the Greek Dark Ages. Historians call Greek pottery from this era the protogeometric style. These pots were more intricate in their construction and painted design than from the Mycenaean and Cretan cultures. The depicted motifs were largely curvilinear and abstract in orientation. Painted pots were mostly restricted to simple designs consisting of concentric circles, lines, and subtle shading, often with large unpainted spaces. The center of gravity of pottery shapes was lower than in previous works.

Between the eighth and ninth centuries B.C.E., Greek pottery adopted more complex painted designs called the Geometric style. Artists increasingly used more black vertical lines and patterns that simulated textile designs. Among these was the maeander (or meander) design often associated with Greek art even into the modern era. This design is a decorative border in which a repeating motif of squared off, upside down L-shapes loop around the top edges of pottery like the bends of the Maeander River, after which the style was named. In the late eighth century B.C.E., Greek art was increasingly influenced by increased trade links with Egypt and Assyria and their more realistically oriented artistic aesthetics. Greek pottery in particular began to incorporate stylized pictures of people and images drawn from nature such as animals, vines, and flowers. These images were often painted in blacks, browns, and reds on a white background. This heightened focus on realism eventually gave rise to black-figure pottery at the end of the seventh century B.C.E., during the Archaic period of Greek history.

Black figure pottery is a form of Attic (or Athenian) vase painting. Artists would apply a type of wash made of liquid clay called a slip. The slip would be painted in the form of classic figures from mythology or scenes from Greek life such as famous athletes and warriors. When fired in a kiln, the slip would blacken in color, while the areas left untouched would remain the color of the original clay. Painters would then articulate the images with painted white lines or incisions. The effect created a silhouette effect that remained popular in vase painting until the sixth century B.C.E.

In approximately 530 B.C.E., red-figure pottery emerged from the pottery workshops of Athens and quickly became the preferred style. The red-figure style of Attic vases used pigments to paint images onto the pots. The background would be given a black wash, so that the painted imagery would have a more three-dimensional appearance. Painted pottery also allowed artists greater latitude in creating imagery. By the start of the Hellenistic period, painted pottery assumed less prominence in Greek culture, although value was still attached to the great works of previous eras.

Overview

Pottery in the ancient world was mostly composed as a set of separate pieces that were later fused together. Potters would begin by shaping the body of the pot on a potter's wheel. Sometimes the mouth and neck (which would be made as a single section), the body, and foot would be thrown separately and then joined together later. This was particularly the case in larger pieces. Once the clay had hardened to the texture of leather, the potter would connect all the various segments into a complete pot using slip. Finally, the potter would add the handles to create the classic amphora shape most regularly used by ancient Greek potters.

Greek pottery is regarded as an especially valuable source of archaeological insight because it is one of the most durable remnants of ancient Greek culture. Unlike other artistic works made of precious materials or viewed as having inherent physical value, such as statues or columns, Greek pottery was not subject to the same sorts of thievery over time. In addition, Greek pottery often had detailed paintings of social scenes, athletic contests, and images of daily life that have contributed greatly to historians' understanding of the period.

For instance, the emergence of protogeometric works in the Greek Dark Ages is considered demonstrative of an emerging cultural stability in the wake of the collapse of the Mycenaean and Cretan civilizations. The growing interest in artistic decoration shows that these early Greeks were secure enough in their development to focus on cultural arts rather than mere survival.

Black- and red-figure pottery was more ornate in style. The best and largest works would often present a full narrative from Greek mythology. Such depictions have helped to illuminate contemporary understanding of period mythology and its role in society.

Eric Bullard

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