Discovering the Past Through Ancient Greek Pottery

Thanks to its durable materials, Greek Pottery has been a key in the world’s understanding of the ancient Greek culture. 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 pottery offers a glimpse into both the mythology and every day life of ancient Greece.

With the dawn of the Minoan civilization that arose on the island of Crete, the culture made significant contributions to Greek way of life; especially, in the artisanship of pottery and vases. The Minoan potters designed pottery for gathering food and storage. Functional necessity became a vehicle for articistic expression, with the potter looking to nature to  influence the designs that transformed the piece creating art from what was once only a utensil.

As time progressed, Minoan’s created vases in shapes that were used for specialized purposes. For example, the Amphora vase is a swollen vase with a large mouth and two opposing handles. It was used to carry and store liquids such as oil or wine. Painted with grass and flowers, and marine scenes, the Minoan’s created the standard for future designs.

During the Protogeometrical Period, Greek vases were decorated with simplistic designs that consisted mainly of patterns of of circles. The emphasis on geometry followed with new motifs, building upon the latter with triangles, wavy lines and meanders. In the middle of the eleventh Century, the first depictions of human figures were seen adorning 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 Syria and the Aegan World. The rise 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 process, artists used iron-enriched clay that turned reddish-orange after firing. They then sketched the design as an outline, and filled it in with clay. The Greek Pottery would be fired in a kiln at a temperature of nearly 800 degrees Celsius. After oxidation, 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 depict 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. At its core, 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 erased during firing, but after the contours remained and were filled with a glossy clay slip.

The Greek innovation for creating pottery resulted in Greek vases that not only inspire potters and artists, but left the world with a path to the past.