CERAMICS AND POTTERY
18:40GENERAL INFORMATION
The production of pottery is said to be one of the most ancient arts and in all ages reflect the condition of every art.
The term ceramics or pottery refers to artifacts made of heated earth or earthware.
Keramos, meaning specifically potter's clay, is used to describe a whole body of ware made of clay.
Hardened by fire.
Some pottery or ceramics is primarily design for utility and some sheer for decorations. From the earliest times, each country has had it's pottery making techniques and design.
Fukabachi jar (Sample of fire earth vessels) invented in jomon Japan 12,000 years ago.
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| Fukabachi Jar Chaco bowl –invented by Mesoamerica 5,000 years ago |
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| Chaco Bowl |
Nolan amphora (GREEK
JAR)
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| Amphora Jar |
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| Amphora Jar |
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| Variety of Kylix Jar |
Egyptian Jars
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| Egyptian Jar |
Chinese Jars
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| China Jar black pottery, ancient and famous Chinese pottery |
These forms of art have inspired designers with their extraordinary beauty and as the manufacturing improved, new types of pottery were added to a rich store.
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Examples of modern potteryTHREE MAIN STAGES
1. The Clay stage
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THE GLAZED STATE
Brief History:
Making things from burnt clay
has been part of human experience for many thousands of years. A small figurine
of a woman is the earliest known object made of fired earth, dated to almost 30
000 years ago. The earliest known example of a pottery vessel was made around
18 000 years ago.1 Since then, the craft of pottery has developed in all
parts of the world, both for the practical purposes of making usable vessels
for food and storage, and as expressions of the instinct for art and ritual.
About 7000 years ago the Egyptians discovered the art of glazing their pots.
Subsequently the Chinese steadily improved kilns and so it was possible to
produce more and more highly decorated stoneware and porcelain.
The immense strides in the making of pots were
the result of patient trial and error by thousands of potters over thousands of
years. A scientific approach to the process only became possible in the past
two centuries, initially in establishing the compositions of the materials
used. More recently, with the development of modern analytical techniques, the
elucidation of their structures has been possible. Although much is now known
about the materials and their structures, there are so many variables and the
structures so complex, that the empirical approach still largely dominates pot
making.
Most pots are glazed, ie they are covered by a
thin coating of glass. This can be for aesthetic or for practical reasons,
usually both. It is particularly important for pots holding food. The glaze
usually has three main components:
·
silicon dioxide to provide
the main body
·
aluminium oxide to
enhance the viscosity of the glaze by crosslinking the silica networks
·
fluxes, generally
alkali or alkaline earth metal oxides, to lower the melting point of the
mixture to the temperature of firing.2
In addition, it is common to include
transition metal oxides to provide colour to the glaze.
A potter needs to consider three important
properties of a glaze. These are the texture (rough or smooth), opacity (clear
or opaque) and colour. The first two are best considered together in terms of
the melting properties of solid mixtures.
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| North State Chinese pottery Blue Pitcher |
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| 1930's North Carolina North State Pottery Vase-Cobalt Blue "Crawling" |
MAIN CLASSIFICATION
Earthenware - is glazed or unglazed nonvitreous pottery which has normally
been fired below 1200°C. Porcelain, bone china and stoneware, all fired at high
enough temperatures to vitrify, are the main other important types of pottery
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| Anatolian Earthenware Pot Royalty |
Stoneware - a type of pottery that is impermeable and partly vitrified but opaque. It is a rather broad term of pottery pr other ceramics fired at a relatively high temperature. a modern technical definition is a vitreous or semi vitreous.
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| stoneware pottery by pat parker |
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| stone pitcher |
Porcelain - is a ceramic material made by heating materials, generally including kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between 1,200 and 1,400 °C (2,200 and 2,600 °F).
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| Chinese porcelain |
Hard porcelain – Hard-paste porcelain is a ceramic material that was
originally made from a compound of the feldspathic rock petuntse and kaolin
fired at very high temperature, usually around 1400°C. It was first made in
China around the 7th or 8th century, and has remained the normal material for Chinese porcelain.
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Soft porcelain- Soft-paste porcelain is produced by mixing white clay with
'frit' - a glassy substance that was a mixture of white sand, gypsum, soda,
salt, alum and nitre. Lime and chalk were used to fuse the white clay and the
frit, the mixture is then fired at a lower temperature than hard-paste porcelain.
Bone China - is a type of soft-paste porcelain that is composed of bone, ash, fieldspathic material, and kaolin. It has been defined as ware with translucent body.
ORNAMENTATION IN CERAMIC OR POTTERY
Slip Ware - is pottery identified by it's primary decorating process where slip is placed onto the leather-hard clay body surface before firing by dripping, painting or splashing. Slip is an aqueous suspension of a clay body, which is a mixture of clays and other minerals such as quartz, feldspar and mica.
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| Jar, Giyan IV Type, western Iran, 2500 - 200 BC. earthenware with slip-painted decoration |
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Charger
with Charles II in the Boscobel Oak, English, c. 1685. Such large plates, for
display rather than use, take slip-trailing to an extreme, building up lattices
of thick trails of slip.
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OTHER FORMS OF DECORATION
INCISED
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This wheel-thrown porcelain vase was
carefully incised and fired to Cone 10 in reduction, by Ann Selberg.
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RELIEF/ EMBOSSING
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| Chinese green-glazed pottery jar with an ovoid body, lid had a raised rim with finial, darker green glaze around the rim. it dates to the 19th century. Size: 12" high (30.5 cm) |
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| Decals are also known as pottery transfers |
LITHOGRAPHED
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| Four Ridgeways Lithographed Pottery Plates printed with views of Scotland and isle of Man and a Wood and sons Blue and White Robbie Burns Commemorative Plate |
PIERCED
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| Square wheel thrown porcelain bowl, Keraflax imagery applied for relief pattern. High fired in a propane gas kiln in a reducing atmosphere |
SGRAFFITO
- this is a carving technique used on pottery. The pottery is carved through the slip into the stoneware pot with a small carving tool to reveal the clay's true color; the method is called graffito, which means to carve.
SILK-SCREENED
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| silk screened ceramic plate |
STAMPED
STENCILED - Stenciling is a great decorative technique for
pottery. A traditional method for applying stencils is to cut or tear paper
shapes, adhere them to leather-hard clay and then apply slip over the entire
clay surface. Once the slip dries, the paper is peeled away to reveal the
design.
PAINTED
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Hand painted dishes, platters, trays, vases and mugs are all
individually hand painted in our studio, and fired in kilns.
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PRIMITIVE CERAMICS
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Maya vase depicting a costumed noble;
burial offering. Late classical period (600-900 CE). Copán, Honduras
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Earliest known ceramics are the Gravettian
figurines that date to 29,000 to 25,000 BC
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The Gravettian tool-making culture was a specific archaeological industry of the European Upper Paleolithic era are prevalent before the last glacial maximum.
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An Incipient Jōmon
pottery vessel reconstructed from fragments (10,000-8,000 BC), Tokyo
National Museum, Japan
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The earliest primitive porcelain ware in China so far is found among the
culture relics of the Shang Dynasty in Henan in 1953.
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| This pottery sculpture of a human face is carved in intaglio and the contours are clear-cut. It holds some value in the study of prehistory culture in that area. |
The Zhaobaogou site of Primitive settlements is located in Chinfeng City if inner Mongolia of the Neolithic age. The historical relics unearthed from this site are mostly pottery and stone ware.
EGYPTIAN
Egyptian
Ceramics- pottery in Ancient Egypt served a different purpose other than as
containers for practical or domestic items. They are used in ritualistic rites
that are geared towards the burial ceremony.
Clothes,
shoes, and other favourite items of the deceased are usually placed in
earthenware and buried together with the body because the Egyptians believed
that these items will be needed in the afterlife.
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| Canopic jar, tomb of Senebhenaf at Abydos 2nd Intermediate PeriodCourtesy Simon Hayter |
(Canopic jars were
receptacles of stone or ceramic material used for storing the inner organs
which were removed during embalmment.)
In many cases, the kings who were buried in the Valley of the Kings, as well as high officials and others began
stocking their tombs with good long before their death.
In the Valley of the
King, burials usually included the mummified body of the king, which was placed
in a series of coffins nested one inside the other and placed in a stone
sarcophagus. The sarcophagus was most often surrounded by gilded wooden
shrines. But there were also many other items, including magical items to
assist the dead king, and a variety of mundane objects for his use.
The mummy itself was
prepared with various items to protect and sustain the king in the netherworld.
While some funerary items were very beautiful, items such as the mask had
specific purposes. The face mask, a sculpture of the king's own face, allowed
him to be recognized by the deities in his death. Other items found on the
mummy included various amulets, such as heart amulets and vulture amulets
placed around his neck, all of which were to protect the king from specific
threats.
GREEK
TERMINOLOGY
1. Black Figure Ware - figures are painted black on a red background.
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| Heracles and Geryon, 540 BC |
2. Red Figure Ware - figures are painted red on a black background
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| The wedding of thetis, pyxis by The wedding painter, circa 470/460 BC |
3. White Ground Ware - figures are painted either red or black on a white background.
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| Raging maenad by the Brygos Painter. 490-480 BC |
MAJOR KINDS OF GREEK CERAMICS
A. Drinking Cups
a.1 Skyphos- a two-handled deep wine-cup on a low flanged base or none
a.2 Kylix- continuous curve shape is the most common type of wine-drinking cup
a.3 Kylix- offset lip shape
Kylix type A, no turned or "offset" lip; a "fillet" at the top of the short stem.
Kylix type B, no
turned or "offset" lip, nor a "fillet", so the profile runs
smoothly from lip to foot
B. Bowls for Mixing Water
b.1 Column Krater - named for column - like handles
b.2 Volute Krater - handles tightly curled so that they look like volutes on Ionic columns
b.3 Calyx Krater - hanles are placed low on the body, at what is termed the cul. their upward curling form lends the shape an appearance reminiscent of the calyx of a flower.
b.4 Bell Krater - named for the bell-liked shape, has a small horizontal upturned handles just over halfway up the body.
C. Wine Jugs
c.1 Oinochoe- is
appropriate to this shape and illustrations of it in use, and appears to have
been used in antiquity. It is a single-handled vessel, usually taller than it
is wide.
c.2 Oinochous
D. Water Jugs
d.1 Hydria/Kalpis- is
a water-jar with three handles, two for carrying and one for pouring. The
application of the name to the shape is reasonably certain, although such
vessels were not only used for the carrying of water.
E. Oil Flasks
e.1 Lekythos-
is generally a taller
vessel with a small, deep mouth. It appears that it was used for oil-vessels in
general.
e.2 Aryballos- has
a small round or ovoid body and a narrow neck. The typically broad and flat lip
prevents spillage.
F. Storage Jars
f.1 Amphora- is
a jar with two vertical handles used in antiquity for the storage and
transportation of foodstuffs such as wine and olive oil.
f.2 Neck
Amphora- The
neck-amphora is identifiable by its clearly defined neck. The shape is old, recognizable among Geometric and Protoattic vases.
f.3 Pelike-
was used for a number of
shapes, and we do not know what this one-piece vessel with a distinctive
sagging belly was called in antiquity. It is shown in use as a container for
liquids.
G. Wine or Water Containers
g.1 Stamnos- is
a broad-shouldered, round-shaped vessel, with a low foot and a low neck. Its two
horizontal handles usually curl upwards to some degree and it may also have
been applied to other storage vessels, such as amphorae.
ITALIAN
It was in the Early Renaissance that
ceramics were first utilized in Italy. They were influenced by the Moorish
Majolica wares, tin-glazed earthenware, from Majorca in Spain. Florence led the
way in the 15th century production of Majolica. It had a last
flowering at Urbino in the last third of the 16th century, where in
a new, rich decorative style known as Istoriato reached its zenith.
Istoriato
is a type of Majolica where a painted scene, usually mythical, biblical or
historical subjects covers the entire surface.
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| Majolica dish |
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| Istoriato dish with a depiction of the judgement of Paris |
After the
Istoriato production had declined, the so-called Bianchi di Faenza, lightly
decorated white wares made in Faenza, continued the tradition of new designs
and fine workmanship.
Known Italians for
Ceramics
1.
Passeri – an Italian antiquary
of distinction, claims the discovery and introduction of the ware for Pesaro.
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affixes the date 1492 to the
introduction of Majolica ware
2.
Lucca Della Robia – was a
successful goldsmith and sculptor
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Credited to be the one to raise
the production of Majolica from a craft to high art in Italy.
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| Prudence by Della Robia |
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| Madonna and Child by Della Robia |
3.
Master Giorgio Andreoli – was
known to have perfected the luster technique
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| Plate with Cupid by Master Giorgio Andreoli |
4.
Francesco de Medici – grand
duke of Tuscany
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Produced an inferior type of
soft-paste porcelain during the 16th century
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| Francesco de Medici |
5.
Francesco Vezzi – established a
porcelain factory in Venice which produced hard-paste porcelain
Doccia Ware – imitation of the Majolica and
successful reproduction of the bas-reliefs of Lucca Della Robia in porcelain.
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Founded by Marchese Carlo
Ginori
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| Doccia Ware Cup portraying the flaying of Marsyas |
Capo dii Monte – made a soft-past porcelain
body that is characterized by a pronounced creamy color and an unusually glossy
clear glaze making it a particularly successful medium for undecorated
porcelain.
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| Capodimonte Ceramic |
Comedia dell’arte – a type of improvisational
street theater
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Provided a seemingly limitless
source of subjects for both porcelain modelers and painters in the 18th
century.
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| Pulcinella's mask: one of the principal characters of Comedia dell'arte |
References
404 ÌáʾÐÅÏ¢. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://china.com/chinaWH/html/en/History239bye3081.html
Abbey Museum Collection | Archaeology Museum Brisbane | Abbey Museum. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://abbeymuseum.com.au/abbey-museum-collection/
Adding Dimension to Stenciled Imagery on Pottery | Ceramic Arts Daily. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://ceramicartsdaily.org/pottery-making-techniques/ceramic-decorating-techniques/adding-dimension-to-stenciled-imagery-on-pottery/
Amphora - Ancient History Encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ancient.eu/Amphora/
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Carving with Care: Tips for Incising and Glazing Pottery | Ceramic Arts Daily. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://ceramicartsdaily.org/pottery-making-techniques/ceramic-decorating-techniques/carving-with-care-tips-for-incising-and-glazing-pottery/
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Chinese Green-Glazed Pottery Jar from dynastycollections on Ruby Lane. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.rubylane.com/item/712421-36/Chinese-Green-Glazed-Pottery-Jar
Chinese Green-Glazed Pottery Jar from dynastycollections on Ruby Lane. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.rubylane.com/item/712421-36/Chinese-Green-Glazed-Pottery-Jar
Column-krater - The Classical Art Research Centre. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/tools/pottery/shapes/column.htm
Egypt: What Egyptians Took to the Afterlife. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/equip.htm
FOUR RIDGWAYS LITHOGRAPHED POTTERY PLATES, printed with views of Scotland and Isle of Man and a W. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/capes-dunn/catalogue-id-srcap10055/lot-e8fe5378-47a8-42ac-856d-a456002b1127
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contributions:
Golingay, Beatrice - created the blog and compiled and edited the information to make the post
Loreto, Alyssa - gathered information on Italian Ceramics
Kabahar, Therese - gathered information on Greek and Egyptian Ceramics
Faunillan, Feljun - gathered information about Ornamentation in Ceramics and Primitive Ceramics
Ho, Florante - gathered information about the Three Main Stages and Main Classifications
contributions:
Golingay, Beatrice - created the blog and compiled and edited the information to make the post
Loreto, Alyssa - gathered information on Italian Ceramics
Kabahar, Therese - gathered information on Greek and Egyptian Ceramics
Faunillan, Feljun - gathered information about Ornamentation in Ceramics and Primitive Ceramics
Ho, Florante - gathered information about the Three Main Stages and Main Classifications
1 comments
The article is all about the description and characteristics of each ceramics. The also discussed the different ways of how to decorate such pottery. These helped readers assimilate what ceramics is.
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