Greek Pottery and Vases Key to Archaeology of the Region
With it's durable nature, Greek Pottery has been a crucial element in the world’s knowledge of the ancient Greek society. Mostly found in the Etruscan Tombs, Greek Vases and Greek Pottery are canvases that paint a portrait of the world of ancient Greece. While much of ancient Greek art is forever lost, Greek vases offers a glimpse into both the mythology and every day life of ancient Greece.
Starting with the Minoan civilization that existed in Crete, the culture made significant contributions to Greek way of life; especially, in the creation of pottery and vases. The Minoan potters created pottery for gathering food and storage. Functional necessity became a vehicle for articistic expression, with the potter often inspired by nature to influence the designs that beautified the piece creating art from what was once only a tool.
As time passed, Minoan’s created vases in forms that were used for specific purposes. For example, the Amphora vase is a swollen vase with a wide mouth and two opposing handles. It was used to carry and store liquids such as oil or wine. Painted with grass and flowers, and life of the sea, the Minoan’s created the standard for future designs.
During the Protogeometrical Period, Greek vases were adorned with uncomplicated designs that consisted mainly of patterns of of circles. The emphasis on geometry followed with new patterns, building upon the latter with meanders, spiraled patterns and triangles. In the middle of the 11th Century, the first depictions of human figures were seen painted on the Greek vase, and by the end of the artistic era, mythological figures told their stories while decorating the pieces.
The Orientalizing Style came after trade-links with Asian Minor islands. The popularity of human depictions settled during this time, and the artisan used the Greek vases for depicting lions, griffins and sphinx with lotuses as accents.
Through the Corinthian invention, the Greek black-figure technique, artists used iron-rich clay that turned reddish-orange at high temperatures. They then sketched the design as an outline, and filled it with clay. The Greek vases would be kiln fired at a temperature of around 800 degress Celsius. The pottery would turn a reddish-orange color. Next, the temperature was raised another 150 degrees, and the vase would turn black. Finally, the kiln vents were opened to let in oxygen, and the pottery would return to the reddish-orange color, but the layer that was painted would keep it's black finish.
The Corinthian used these vases to show images of animal friezes. It was the Athenian painters who developed a narrative method, depicting battle scenes, mythology and legends.
Following the black-figure method, the red-figure method was introduced in Athens. Simply, the process is the direct opposite of the black-figure method. Scenes were applied to the Greek vases, but to unfired pieces after they were dried. The Athenians drew outlines on the pottery or vase with a blunt tool. It was removed during firing, but after the contours remained and were filled with a glossy clay slip.
The Greek methods for creating pottery resulted in Greek vases that not only inspire potters and artists, but left the world with a path to the past.
