Ancient Greek Pottery: History, Development and Designs

Hello and welcome to World History Encyclopedia. My name is Kelly and today's video is all about the history and development of ancient Greek pottery. Don't forget the easiest way to support us is by giving this video a thumbs up, subscribing to our channel and hitting that bell icon for notifications so you don't miss out on any new uploads. World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization and you can find us on Patreon, a brilliant site where you can support our work and receive exclusive benefits in return. Your support helps us create videos twice a week, so make sure to check it out via the pop-up in the top corner of the screen or via the Patreon link down below. Nothing can tell us more about the cultural beliefs, practices and even daily life of the ancient Greeks than the surviving pottery. Looking between circa 1000 and 400 BCE, after the age of the Minoans and Mycenaeans, we have tens of thousands of pots and fragments surviving from this period and it's just lucky for us that treasure hunters saw no value in ancient Greek pottery so it was often left alone when burials or tombs were robbed. Ancient Greek pottery has survived in many, many distinct forms which all would have had specific functions in the daily life of Greece and although these pieces of pottery may be sitting in glass boxes now, in their heyday they would have been used regularly. Not only have decorations painted on the surviving pottery given modern day scholars invaluable insight into cultural and religious beliefs and practices, but they have been super helpful in determining a chronology for ancient Greece. So what did the ancient Greeks use their pottery for, what were they decorated with and who were the people who made them? Stick around to find out the answers and much more. The pottery produced in ancient Greece was for practical use so once physical shapes of different types of pottery had been perfected for a particular purpose, the shape was maintained and copied. Greek pottery was crafted in a bunch of different shapes and sizes and all had specific functions and were used in specific circumstances, from the symposium which was an all-male drinking party, to domestic uses, storage, transportation and rituals. Often the intended usage of the pottery was made clear in the decoration. Here are some examples of the more popular forms of Greek pottery and their specific functions. Let's start with the amphora which is one of the most common forms of Greek pottery. They were produced in a number of shapes and sizes although they always sported two vertical neck handles. Amphorae were used for storage and transporting goods like oil, wine and olives. They often were accompanied by a lid but most of these haven't really survived. This black figure amphora shows Athena in a chariot being drawn by four horses on one side and Dionysus with a satyr and a maenad on the other and dates to circa 540 to 530 BCE. Sticking to the domestic sphere we have the alabastron which is a small vessel used to store perfumes. Often depicted with women on them they were used by women, frequently being carried by a string looped around the neck of the vessel. This particular example is a red figure alabastron with a woman inside her domestic quarters and dates to between circa 440 and 430 BCE. Moving to popular types of pottery used primarily in the symposium, first we have the crater which is a large open-mouthed vessel used to mix wine and water. There are four different types of crater bell, column, calyx and volute and these specific names are based on their shape. This crater we have is a column crater with one side depicting a youth holding an amphora and a calyx or drinking cup and the other side a youth holding a scyphos or deep drinking cup and a fillet or band. This red figure crater has been attributed to the painter known as Mason and dates to circa 480 BCE. Of course once the wine and the water had been mixed it was poured into drinking vessels using an oinukoi or jug. There were a bunch of different types of oinukoi but this one is a red figure terracotta jug dating to circa 400 BCE. Now that the wine is finally ready to drink after being mixed in the crater and is in the oinukoi ready to be poured it's time to get your calyx ready. A calyx is a stemmed cup with two horizontal handles, a stemmed foot and is used for drinking wine. This particular calyx was made in circa 480 BCE. It was signed by the potter Hyron and has been attributed to the painter Macron. On the outside of this red figure calyx is a full illustration of the symposium or all-male drinking party and on the inside an image known as a tondo shows a maenad and a satyr playing the lyre. Next we have a couple of pottery types with specific ritual or ceremonial function starting with the lachythos. Lachythoi were the most popular containers for storing oil and perfumes and were placed in or around graves. By the 5th century in Athens the white ground, so called because it has a white background, cylindrical lachythos like this one was the quintessential funerary base. Since it was used for funeral and burial purposes they were then decorated with related images. This white ground lachythos from the early 5th century and attributed to the Vuni painter shows a woman and a youth at two graves marked by stelae. Next we have the pyxis. The pyxis is essentially a small round box with a lid for holding ceramics and jewelry. They were often decorated with wedding scenes and may have been given as wedding gifts and have also been found at sanctuaries. This particular pyxis from circa 465 BCE is a tripod pyxis with its three concave legs and has been attributed to the Penthesilea painter. It has been painted in the white ground technique and depicts the story of the judgment of Paris. Finally we have a very specific type of amphora worth mentioning known as the panathenaic prize amphora. Every four years in Athens the panathenaic games were held and the winners of the events held during the festival were given a large decorated amphora filled with olive oil. Each panathenaic prize amphora had the same decoration of Athena the patron goddess of Athens on one side and some type of event on the other. Dating between circa 520 and 500 BCE this black figure panathenaic prize amphora shows a chariot race on the other side and has been attributed to the Cleophrades painter. Of course there are many many other types of Greek pottery but these are just a small taste into the wide range and styles of ancient Greek pottery. Where we get the word ceramics from is from the Greek keramos which means clay and kerameikos which means pottery. The clay used to make Greek pottery was available all over Greece but the finest clay was attic clay with its high volume of iron giving it the iconic orange red color. Greek pottery was made on the potter's wheel and each part of the pot like the foot the lower and upper body the neck and the handles would all be made separately and then would be joined together later. After the sections were joined with a clay slip it was put back on the potter's wheel to smooth the joints and for its final shaping before being decorated. The choice of decoration depended on a few things including what style was popular at the time and the type of vessel it was. After it was painted it would be ready for the kill which was a very precise skill that could literally make or break your vessel. The vessel would first be oxidized so it was fired in an oxidized fire with good ventilation. This step was to make sure the red orange color came to the fore. Next it would be re-fired but starved for oxygen to ensure the paint especially the black darkened in color. This step was known as the reduction stage. The third and final firing was once again with plenty of ventilation. Unlike the form painters had far more opportunity to exercise their creativity and versatility in the form of pottery decoration. Since so many examples have survived throughout Greece the decoration on Greek pottery can be split into four very broad groups some of which have been already mentioned. Proto-geometric, geometric, black figure and red figure pottery. The proto-geometric designs often included precise circles and semi-circles, horizontal lines in black and large sections of the vase solely painted in black. The upright triangular points which began in the proto-geometric phase would endure for centuries and eventually became a staple of the black figure pottery design. Beginning in Athens but spreading throughout the wider Greek world the geometric style began around 900 BCE and with the circles and triangular points geometric style also boasted bold linear designs, elegant long-legged animals and figures and vertical line decoration. These figures can all be seen on this geometric crater from Cyprus dating to the mid-8th century BCE. Towards the end of the geometric period between the 8th and 7th centuries BCE we see the so-called orientalizing style which became popular in Corinth more than anywhere else although Athens did follow the popular trend. This decoration style saw a greater influence from the near east through their trade connection and pottery began to boast stylized plants like palm and lotus, exotic animals like lions and curved lines copied from ancient Egyptian and Assyrian pottery. By the end of the 7th century BCE the proto-Corinthian pottery had reached new heights of technique and quality and it was with the black stylized figures found on these vessels that black figure pottery was born. Although Corinth first produced black figure pottery it was the painters of Attica that excelled above all others and dominated the Greek market for the next 150 years. Black figure pottery is exactly what it sounds like, figures painted in black on top of a red background although not all figures were painted black with the skin of women often painted white and clothes and accessories painted in purple red. This style focused more on details like muscles and hair and the posture of the figures were given the grace and poise of a person moments before movement or resting after exertion. One of the most famous examples of black figure pottery is the amphora of Achilles and Ajax playing a board game during the Trojan War made in circa 530 BCE. In around 530 BCE the popular black figure technique was replaced by the red figure technique which would endure as the most popular style of decoration for the next 130 years or so. Red figure which is the exact opposite of black figure where the background is black and the figures are red allowed painters to attempt depicting human figures more realistically. Anatomical detail, diverse facial expressions, greater detail in clothing as well as overlapping figures and depicting everyday life like education and sports are all characteristic features of red figure pottery. It was more often than not that the potter and the painter were different people although it wasn't always the case and there are examples of long-lasting partnerships like the potter Ergotimos and painter Kletas. Some potters and less frequently painters signed their work but most Greek vessels were unsigned. Individual artists have been identified through the dedication of professor J.D. Beasley in the 20th century who distinguished more than 500 unsigned artists through careful observation of their individual styles. Beasley's systematic and comprehensive cataloging of Greek pottery has been instrumental in the study of its evolution in techniques, designs and decoration. Painters worked in workshops throughout Greece and were generally under the supervision of one master potter. Many potters and painters made a huge number of vessels with some artists being identified with over 200 pieces. A good Greek vase would have been worth a day's wage and most of the pottery workers would have been paid no more than any other laborer although there were certainly some artists who were more in demand than others which meant their goods were sold both locally and throughout the wider Mediterranean world. Sometimes potters would move to other cities or colonies and they would often take their regional style with them. Based on the comment found on a vase stating better than Euphronius could ever have done it is clear that there was also some rivalry between artists. Do you have a favorite type of ancient Greek vessel? Which design technique do you like the most? Let us know down in the comments below. If you enjoyed this video make sure to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel so you don't miss out on any of our new videos. This video was brought to you by World History Encyclopedia. For more great articles and interactive content head to our website via the link below. 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