Ancient Greek Ceramics: Pottery, Vessel Types, and Vase Painting | Early European History And Religion

ANCIENT GREEK POTTERY AND CERAMICS

lamb rhyton from 460 BC

Ceramics created by the Greeks were far superior to anything made by civilizations that preceded it. The Greeks produced vases, urns and bowls. They were known for their craftsmanship. The most famous pieces were vases with paintings such as Apollo playing a tortoise shell lyre. Unlike oriental pottery which came in all kinds of shapes, ancient Greek pottery was more limited, comprised of only a few dozen shapes that changed little over time.

The art of making pottery was first developed in the Neolithic Period. Coils of clay were used to build up the body of the vase. The artisan would dig up the material from clay beds and get rid of impurities. This was done by a process called levigation- mixing the clay with water so that heavier particles sink to the bottom and lighter materials float on top. The clay might have to be washed several times before there was a sufficient quantity of suitable clay that could then be kneaded by the artisan into ropes suitable for coiling. [Source: Canadian Museum of History |]

“Around 1800 B.C. the potter’s wheel was introduced. As the wheel spun, the clay would be pulled up by the fingers into the required shape. Large pots were done in several sections and the sections joined together by slip (a mixture of clay and water). The joins on the outside of the vessel are usually not noticeable but they can often be seen on the inside of the pot. The foot, the spout and the handles were also produced separately. Like the body sections, the clay was allowed to dry until it had achieved the consistency of leather at which point they were joined with the slip. The parts are so well integrated in a quality Greek vase that nothing appears to be simply “stuck on”. If the vase was to be decorated (and common or coarse wares were not), it was done at this point. |

Websites on Ancient Greece: Metropolitan Museum of Art metmuseum.org/about-the-met/curatorial-departments/greek-and-roman-art; British Museum ancientgreece.co.uk; The Ancient City of Athens stoa.org/athens; Cambridge Classics External Gateway to Humanities Resources web.archive.org/web; Ancient Greek Sites on the Web from Medea showgate.com/medea ; Oxford Classical Art Research Center: The Beazley Archive beazley.ox.ac.uk ;Ancient-Greek.org ancientgreece.com;Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Greece sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Hellenistic World sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Lives and Social Culture of Ancient Greece Maryville University online.maryville.edu ; BBC Ancient Greeks bbc.co.uk/history/; Illustrated Greek History, Dr. Janice Siegel, Hampden–Sydney College hsc.edu/drjclassics

Making Pottery in Ancient Greece

Jeff Gingras and Debby Sneed wrote: The raw material of pottery is clay, which is rarely used in its unprocessed state. A scene decorating a 6th century B.C. cup shows a potter's workshop, including the pile of clay gathered for use in the production of pottery. After it is gathered, the clay is then mixed with a large amount of water in a basin and allowed to settle in a process called levigation. Lighter impurities, such as twigs and leaves, rise to the surface and are removed, while heavier impurities, such as rocks, sink to the bottom. The middle layer of clay and water is then poured off into a separate basin, leaving the separated impurities behind. This process is repeated until the mixture of clay and water has attained a suitable state of purity, depending on the needs of the potter. Some of the water is allowed to evaporate and the clay partially hardens. The plasticity of the clay that is produced at this stage is unsuitable for throwing on a wheel and it must therefore be allowed to mature before it can be formed into a vessel. The mature clay is then thoroughly worked in a process called wedging, which aligns the clay particles and removes air bubbles. [Source Jeff Gingras and Debby Sneed, University of Colorado, Classics Department, June 15, 2018]

red-figure painting

The techniques for constructing a pot can be divided into two categories: hand-building and throwing. Hand-building is the process of forming a pot without the aid of the potter's wheel. Two methods of hand-building a vessel are pinching and coiling. The simplest, and possibly the earliest, method is pinching. In this method, a fist-sized ball of clay is pinched into the shape of a bowl: first an indent is pressed into the center and then the walls are squeezed, or pinched, to the desired thickness. In the coil method, ipre-rolled strips of clay are joined, one on top of the other, to a base. The coil method may have developed out of the pinching technique.

When a potter constructs a pot with the use of the potter's wheel, the process is called throwing. This is the most technically complicated method of pottery production. Larger vessels were too big to be thrown in one piece and were therefore either thrown in separate sections and then combined or were partially thrown and completed with coils.

Regardless of whether a pot was hand-made or wheel-made, it is then allowed to dry to a leather-hard state. At this point, the vessel is turned or trimmed, depending on whether it was wheel-made or hand-made, a process that involves removing excess clay. Finally, appendages like spouts, handles, and lids are added.

After a vessel dried to the point where it is no longer cold to the touch, it was placed in a pottery kiln and fired. The ancient Greeks used a three-stage firing process that consisted of a cycle of oxidizing, reducing, and re-oxidizing the atmosphere inside the pottery kiln. This three-stage process was necessary to achieve the lustrous black gloss of the slip against the natural or augmented color of the clay. The main fuel source in the ancient Greek pottery industry was wood. During firing, the ancient Greek potter monitored the temperature of the kiln visually. This was done either by looking directly into the kiln through a small hole and observing the color or by taking out draw trials, small pieces of clay with slip on them that served as test pieces.

Some vessels, including white-ground lekythoi, were painted in the traditional sense after firing. The paints got their color from plants or minerals and did not adhere to the surface of the vessels in the same way or as well as slip. As a result, these added colors survive only under exceptional circumstances.

Decorating Ancient Greek Pottery

Jeff Gingras and Debby Sneed wrote: In ancient Greece, the surfaces of completed pots were frequently decorated. Incised lines are the earliest form of surface treatment, but the technique of applying the characteristic black slip in decorative patterns was perfected in the Bronze Age and later refined in the 7th century B.C. After decoration was applied in the black-figure technique, which was most popular in the 6th century B.C., or the red-figure technique, which was most popular in the 5th and 4th centuries B.C., the pot was left to dry thoroughly before it was fired. During the drying process, vessels would shrink a certain amount, although the greatest shrinkage occurred during firing. [Source Jeff Gingras and Debby Sneed, University of Colorado, Classics Department, June 15, 2018]

A hadra hydria is a water jar used as a cinerary urn). According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art: “ “Hadra hydriai are typically decorated with black paint, and many of them bear ink inscriptions that identify the deceased and the year in which they died. In some instances, Hadra hydriai are coated with a white slip, and then decorated with polychrome paint. These particular Hadra hydriai are likely the product of local Alexandrian workshops, and they provide valuable information about the customs of Greeks living in Egypt during the reign of the Ptolemies in the Hellenistic period. [Source: Collete Hemingway, Independent Scholar, Seán Hemingway, Department of Greek and Roman Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2007, metmuseum.org \^/]

Ancient Greek Vase Paintings

The earliest ancient Greek vases were decorated with abstract designs and geometric figures (8th century B.C.). During the 7th century the human figures became larger and more life-like and by the 6th century Greek art had evolved into the classical vase art. Many were painted on kraters-ceramic pots that held about 48 liters and were used for mixing wine and water.

The first vessels with figures were made by Cornithian potters in the 7th century B.C. They featured black figures on the natural color of the pottery. The figures were black silhouette with a design scratched out with a needle. White and purple were painted on the black silhouette to highlight certain features.

On the "red figure" vases of the 6th and 5th centuries B.C. the process was reversed with a few red silhouettes and a large black background on which the figures were painted instead of inscribed. The "red figure" style, it is said, was invented around 530 B.C. by the Andokides Painter (so named because he was the favorite artist of the potter Andokides). The details of the bodies were often painted and rendered with skill but featured little or no perspective and depth.

Types of Ancient Greek Pottery Vessels

There are dozens of types and shapes of pottery vessels ranging in size from small perfume flasks to containers which served as large tubs and coffins. Depending on the era and location of production the pottery exhibits a wide range of decoration. The chronology of Greek pottery has been well-established. Even to the untrained eye, there is a very distinctive difference between a proto-geometric vase from Athens produced in the 10 th century B.C. and one produced in the same location in the 5 th century B.C. Here we will just deal with the Black-Figure and Red-Figure pottery for which Athens became justly famous, even in antiquity. [Source: Canadian Museum of History |]

Types of ancient vessels and their relative sizes

Common types Greek vases and vessels included the 1) amphora (a two-handled jar with a narrow neck was used to store or carry wine or oils; 2) krater or crater ("mixing vessel", a large vase known mostly for being used to water down wine; 3) Calyx Krater (a large krater a lower body is shaped like the calyx of a flower with two handles, shaped so a psykter-shaped vase can fit inside; 4) Volute Krater (a krater, defined by volute-shaped handles); 5) .Loutrophoros (meaning "bathwater" and "carry", a distinctive type of vessel with an elongated neck with two handles); 6) kylix (a wide, bowl-like drinking cup with horizontal handles); 7) Oinochoe ( wine jug, derived from ‘oînos,’ meaning "wine" and khéō, "I pour"); 8) Pyxis (a cylindrical box with a separate lid, mostly used by women to hold cosmetics, trinkets or jewelry); 9) Lekythos (a vessel with a long neck and single handle mainly sued for storing olive oil); and Hydria ( a type of water-carrying vessel with three handles). Hydria were often used to carry water from a well to a fountain.

Many things — including grain, olive oil or wine — were stored and carried amphorae (large clay jars) with two handles near the mouth that made it possible to pick them up and carry them. They generally were two to three feet tall and carried about seven gallons. Their shapes and markings were unique and these helped archaeologists date them and identify their place of origin.

Vessels Used for Wine Drinking in Ancient Greece

Most Greek pottery was connected with wine. Large two-handled amphorae (from the Greek amphi , “on both sides," and phero , “to carry”) was used to transport wine. Smaller, flat bottom amphorae were used to hold wine on the table. Kraters were amphora-like vessels with a wide mouth used to mix water and wine. From a krater wine and water were retrieved with a metal ladle and placed into pitcher and from the pitcher poured into two-handled drinking cups.

The main drinking vessels found at a symposium were: 1) The krater was a large recipient used to mix water and wine together. There were four shapes: volute, calyx, bell, and column kraters. 2) Hydria pottery vessels were used to carry and store water. They had a narrow neck and a handle in the middle for pouring. 3) The Psykter was from its bulbous shape and its high, narrow base, it was used to cool wine by adding cold water or even ice, when available. [Source: Francisco Javier Murcia, National Geographic History, January-February 2017]

4) An Olpe was a common type of oenochoe (wine jug) with a high handle. It was also used to transfer the watered-down wine from the krater to the cups. 5) The Kylix was one of several types of cups used to drink the water and wine mixture. It is broad and shallow with a tall base and two large handles. Kylix showing a man balancing drinking vessels. 6) The Skypos was used for drinking at banquets. A skyphos is a deep cup with a large capacity and two side handles.

Greek Hydriai (Water Jars) and their Artistic Decoration

According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art: “The hydria, primarily a pot for fetching water, derives its name from the Greek word for water. Hydriai often appear on painted Greek vases in scenes of women carrying water from a fountain, one of the duties of women in classical antiquity. A hydria has two horizontal handles at the sides for lifting and a vertical handle at the back for dipping and pouring. Of all the Greek vase shapes, the hydria probably received the most artistically significant treatment in terracotta and in bronze. “These vessels were used not only for water but also as cinerary urns, ballot boxes, votive offerings, and as prizes for competitions held at Greek sanctuaries. [Source: Collete Hemingway, Independent Scholar, Seán Hemingway, Department of Greek and Roman Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2007, metmuseum.org \^/]

“The evolution of the terracotta hydria from the seventh century B.C. to the third century B.C. is well represented in the Greek collection of the Metropolitan Museum. The earliest vessels typically have a wide body and broadly rounded shoulder. Sometime before the middle of the sixth century B.C., however, the shape evolved into one with a flatter shoulder that meets the body at a sharp angle. By the end of the sixth century B.C., a variant, known as a kalpis, developed. With a continuous curve from the lip through the body of the vessel, it became the type favored by red-figure vase painters. Terracotta black-glaze hydriai of the late Classical period were sometimes decorated with a gilt wreath that was painted or applied in shallow relief around the vase's neck. These gilt wreaths imitated actual gold funerary wreaths that were placed around bronze hydriai, examples of which have been found in Macedonian tombs. Hydriai from this later, Hellenistic, period tend to be more slender and elongated. \^/

hydria

“Bronze hydriai consist of a body, which was hammered, and a foot and handles, which were cast and decorated with figural and floral motifs. Sometimes the moldings and other decorative elements of the foot, handles, and rim were embellished with silver inlay. The green patina evident on many Greek bronze hydriai is a result of corrosion over the centuries. Originally, these vessels had a gold, copper, or brown tint, depending on the particular bronze alloy that was used. The cast vertical handles could be particularly elaborate, taking the form of human figures and powerful animals. Images of deities and other mythological figures appear on some of the more ornate vases of the Classical period. A particularly popular type of bronze hydria features a siren at the base of the vessel's vertical handle. \^/

“Sirens—part beautiful woman and part bird—were mythological creatures that often had funerary connotations. Their legendary singing lured sailors off course to shipwreck and death. Frequently, sirens appear on Classical Greek gravestones as if lamenting or watching over the deceased. Perhaps their appearance on the handles of bronze hydriai signifies the vessels' funerary function. Or, more generally, these mythological creatures may stand for female attendants. On the handles of bronze hydriai, sirens are represented with their wings open, as if in mid flight. Perhaps they are assisting in lifting the vessel and pouring out its liquid contents. \^/

“Like its terracotta counterpart, the kalpis became the most popular form of bronze hydria in the fifth century B.C. These metal vessels were used not only for water but also as cinerary urns, ballot boxes, votive offerings, and as prizes for competitions held at Greek sanctuaries. The occasional inscription on a rim describes their use as an offering to a god or as a prize for an athletic or music competition. Many well-preserved examples of these bronze vessels have been found in tombs. \^/

“Like many Greek vases, the hydria typically had a lid that is seldom preserved. This cover could be quite tall and taper to a point. When a hydria was used as an urn, the lid might be made of another material, such as lead, that was simply flattened over the rim of the vessel. Plaster was also used to seal the cremated remains. At other times, the lid was made of the same material as the rest of the vase. \^/

“In Hellenistic times, during the third and first half of the second centuries B.C., a new regional type of hydria developed, known as the Hadra hydria (water jar used as a cinerary urn). These vessels take their name from the Hadra cemetery of Alexandria, Egypt, where many examples were first discovered in the late nineteenth century. However, scientific analysis and research have revealed that the Hadra hydriai were made in western Crete, and exported to Egypt. They were also used for burials on Crete and have been excavated in tombs at Phaistos. \^/

Ancient Greek Bronze Vessels

bronze calyx

According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art: “In ancient Greece, vessels were made in great quantities and in diverse materials, including terracotta, glass, ivory, stone, wood, leather, bronze, silver, and gold. The vases of precious metals have largely vanished because they were melted down and reused, but ancient literature and inscriptions testify to their existence. Many more bronze vessels must have existed in antiquity because they were less expensive than silver and gold, and more have survived because they were buried in tombs or hidden in hoards beneath the ground. [Source: Amy Sowder, Department of Greek and Roman Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 2008, metmuseum.org \^/]

“Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin, sometimes combined with small amounts of other materials, such as lead. Copper was widely available in the ancient Mediterranean, most notably on the island of Cyprus. Tin was scarcer; it was available both in the East, in Anatolia, and in the distant West, in the British Isles. Herodotus, a Greek historian from the fifth century B.C., refers to the British Isles as the "tin islands" (Histories 3.115). Tin combines with copper to produce a metal alloy that is stronger and easier to shape than copper alone and also gives the otherwise reddish copper a golden hue. The ratio of copper, tin, and added materials can be manipulated to produce a range of aesthetic effects. In his Natural History (Book 34, Chapter 3), Pliny writes that bronze made in Corinth was particularly renowned for its fine coloring. Today, most surviving bronzes exhibit a green patina, but in their original form, bronze vessels would have had a golden sheen. \^/

“Bronze vases were made primarily with a combination of two metalworking techniques. The bodies of the vases usually were made in a process called "raising," which involved repeated heating, hammering, and cooling. The handles, mouths, and feet of the vessels often were cast from a mold. First, the craftsman made a wax model and covered it in clay. The clay was fired, and at the same time, the wax melted out. Molten bronze was then poured into the cavity of the clay mold. After cooling, the clay mold was removed and the surface of the bronze was polished smooth. The wax model often could be shaped into animal or figural motifs or decorated with geometric or floral patterns before firing. The craftsman was able to refine the ornamental additions with cold-work after firing. The decorative motifs sometimes were enhanced with the addition of other materials; silver accents were especially popular. The cast parts were attached to the hammered body of the vase with rivets, solder, or a combination of the two methods. In many cases, the thin, hammered bodies of the vases have disappeared entirely or are extremely fragmentary because of the corrosive effects of the soil in which they were buried. The solid handles, mouths, and feet have fared better. \^/

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons except the vessel type chart, Pinterest

Text Sources: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Greece sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Hellenistic World sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; BBC Ancient Greeks bbc.co.uk/history/; Canadian Museum of History, Perseus Project - Tufts University; perseus.tufts.edu ; MIT Classics Online classics.mit.edu ; Gutenberg.org, Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, Live Science, Discover magazine, Natural History magazine, Archaeology magazine, The New Yorker, Encyclopædia Britannica, "The Discoverers" and "The Creators" by Daniel Boorstin. "Greek and Roman Life" by Ian Jenkins from the British Museum, Wikipedia, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, AFP and various books and other publications.

Last updated September 2024