Ancient Greeks made pottery for everyday use, not for display, the trophies won at games such as the Panathenaic amphorae (used for storage), are the exception. Most surviving pottery consists of drinking vessels such as amphorae, kraters (bowls for mixing wine and water), hydria (water jars), libation bowls, jugs and cups. Painted funeral urns have also been found. Miniatures were also produced in large numbers, mainly for use as offerings at temples. In the Hellenistic period a wider range of pottery was produced, but most of it is of little artistic importance.
In earlier periods event quite small Greek city-states produced pottery for their own locale. These varied widely in style and standards. Distinctive pottery that ranks as art was produced on some of the Aegean islands, in Crete, and in the wealthy Greek colonies of southern Italy and Sicily. By the later Archaic and early Classical period, however, the two great commercial powers, Corinth and Athens, came to dominate. Their pottery was exported all over the Greek world, driving out the local varieties. Pots from Corinth and Athens are found as far a field as Spain and Ukraine, and are so common in Italy that they were first collected in the 18th century as "Etruscan vases". Many of these pots are mass produced products of low quality. In fact, by the 5th century BC, pottery had become an industry and pottery painting ceased to be an important art form of ancient Greece.
The history of ancient Greek pottery is divided stylistically into periods: The Protogeometric from about 1050 BC. The Geometric from about 900 BC. The Archaic from about 750 BC. The Black figure from the early 7th century BC. The Red figure from about 530 BC.
The range of colors which could be used on pots was restricted by the technology of firing: black, white, red and yellow were the most common. In the three earlier periods, the pots were left their natural light color, and were decorated with slip that turned black in the kiln.
The fully mature black-figure technique, with added red and white details and incising for outlines and details, originated in Corinth during the early 7th century BC and was introduced into Attica about a generation later; it flourished until the end of the 6th century BC. The red-figure technique, invented in about 530 BC, reversed this tradition, with the pots being painted black and the figures painted in red. Red-figure vases slowly replaced the black-figure style. Sometimes larger vessels were engraved as well as painted.
Ancient Greek Pottery Designs
Pottery can be used as a classical support for understanding the antique Greek culture and civilization. The graphic illustrations skillfully fashioned on fancy pottery, reflect the manifold aspects of Greek life. The Greek empire from Stone Age to Hellenistic era has undergone quite a lot of changes. These alterations can be examined in terms of seven different eras through which the Greek society has passed. We will discuss in the following paragraphs how the Greek art of manufacturing pottery also underwent changes with the change in the different historical periods.
1 Greek Pottery In The Stone Age-
In the early Neolithic period Greek pottery was unadorned. In the mid Neolithic period people started decorating pottery with red and white geometric patterns. The newly formed and decorated potteries were known as Sesklo wares. Then the Dimni people of Greece in the late Neolithic period made special kinds of pottery which were black or cream in color.
2. Greek Pottery in the Early Bronze Age-
During this period the Minyan ware was found and it was brought by the indo European Greeks. It is a well made ware in a potter's wheel and is plain gray in color. It also has wide range of interesting shapes and sizes which was not found in the Stone Age.
3. Greek Pottery in the Late Bronze Age-
It was the Mycenean period and the Greeks started making designs on pottery. They made geometric shapes, humans, animals, sea creatures in cream colored background. The Greeks in the late Bronze Age made designs in black or red.
4. Greek Pottery in the Dark Age-
In this age the Mycenean civilization collapsed and so also the Mycenean pottery. People lost interest in the manufacturing of pottery. However this age also came to an end and people began manufacturing pots again. The pottery was made with circular drawings on it.
5. Greek Pottery in the Archaic Period-
In the 900 BC which is the archaic period the potters of Athens and Cornith regained their passion in pottery. In Cornith the artisans festooned miniature pots where the figures of mythical animals had been portrayed. The Athenians started painting mythological tales on their pottery and exclusive tales from Homer's Illiad.
6. Greek Pottery in Black Figure-
Gradually the clay pots of archaic period took a different picture as the focus shifted from shape of the pot to more and more scenes on it. A new style of painting developed and as a substitute of making human structures on the sketch, the potters now started to make natives in silhouette. The paintings were solely in black color.
7. Greek Pottery in Red Figure-
The Athenian potters in 500 BC, instead of painting the people black prepared the background of the pot black and made images on this black surface with red color. Though the painting was quite difficult the figures on the pot looked more realistic than ever. But 40 years hence the red figure Greek pottery also became extinct.
Greek pottery, as can be seen, went through many evolutionary stages giving us a wide variety of pottery ware, each unique in its own way.
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